OBC Review Editing

[gali]

Good idea!

[bookowlie]

I agree, great idea! When I first started editing, I quickly realized there were some words that appeared incorrect (example: she fitted vs. she fit), but were commonly used in other countries. When in doubt, Google can be your friend.

[amybo82]

I love it! I think Scott's totally right--there do not seem to be many (or any, really) resources for international editing. I recently checked out a book on editing from the library. I was confused by some of the rules he was putting forth because they contradicted somewhat with some of the things I'd read elsewhere. I started doing some additional research, and I found out the author of this particular book was Australian, and I thought about how difficult it must be to publish something in multiple countries. Starting a discussion here on the site about these issues might lead to a very useful resource for many professionals and non-professionals who are interested in international publishing.

[bookowlie]

I also think Pasha made some good points in his recent post. We should make allowances for writing style and not be petty. It's good to take everything in consideration.

[bluemel4]

This is a wonderful idea!

[Duende Knocking]

I had a general question in regards to the comments I received about my most recent review and am not sure if it warrants a new thread. This one seems to be along a similar vein, so I thought I'd mention it here...

My most recent review was not my best in terms of grammar/awkward sentences, and I fully understand that part of the commentary I received. However, I also was critiqued on some things that I found to peculiar. For example, I lost points for having my rating at the beginning of the review. I often do this, and have never been penalized for it before. I don't see anything anywhere declaring that it must be at the end, so I found this to be rather subjective.

This was the first of many problems regarding subjectivity with it. I won't list them all here because I'm not sure if this is the right place for it (I can PM them to Scott or start a new thread if necessary!). I understand that one mediocre review isn't the end of the world, and I'm not concerned about my score, but I just felt that the editorial comments were rather unfair and the person seemed to be basing my score off of rules they made up.

[gali]

I had a general question in regards to the comments I received about my most recent review and am not sure if it warrants a new thread. This one seems to be along a similar vein, so I thought I'd mention it here...

My most recent review was not my best in terms of grammar/awkward sentences, and I fully understand that part of the commentary I received. However, I also was critiqued on some things that I found to peculiar. For example, I lost points for having my rating at the beginning of the review. I often do this, and have never been penalized for it before. I don't see anything anywhere declaring that it must be at the end, so I found this to be rather subjective.

This was the first of many problems regarding subjectivity with it. I won't list them all here because I'm not sure if this is the right place for it (I can PM them to Scott or start a new thread if necessary!). I understand that one mediocre review isn't the end of the world, and I'm not concerned about my score, but I just felt that the editorial comments were rather unfair and the person seemed to be basing my score off of rules they made up.

You are right, it doesn't really matter where you place the rate. I don't know what other issues there are, but I suggest you pm Scott about it.

[amybo82]

I think there is a lot of subjectivity that goes into editing the reviews. @Duende Knocking-Like your editor, I was thinking that for some reason, the rating had to be presented in the last paragraph. However, I looked back at the guidelines, and I haven't been able to find anything that says it has to be at the end! Maybe Scott can shed some light on this one! Also, I think this thread is a good place to discuss questions like what you've posed. I started the thread with that in mind.

[bookowlie]

I don't think there is any rule about where to state the rating. However, what if there was a lot of opinion given about the story before the summary. That would seem topsy turvy to me. I have seen reviews where the reviewer starts talking about how much they loved the book and gave a detailed opinion of what they liked or didn't like about the book. Then they would present the summary. That seems out of whack to me because I have no idea what they are talking about when reading the opinion first. For example, why are they saying that John is such a wonderful character - who is John? What are they talking about when they say how touched they were by the romantic scenes. Are they talking about a married couple, an illicit affair, people who find each other in a nursing home after being apart for 50 years? I don't mean to exaggerate, but you get my point.

Duende Knocking, I am not trying to say that's what happened in the case.

[gali]

There is no rule about where to place the rate, nor does it matter really. I don't think points should be taken for the placement of the rate either.

[Scott]

There is no rule about the rating being in the last paragraph.

I think it is just common because it usually flows a lot better like that. The rating and general level recommendation is essentially the conclusion of the review. Conclusions usually go at the end. That's just my guess.

I do think it is good for the editors to slightly adjust the scores based on their overall subjective opinion of how pleasant the review is to read and how much they like the style of the review and the kind of thing. If editors don't like a certain idiosyncrasy that isn't against the rules, I don't think it's bad for that to affect their score by a point and for the editor to mention it. Such a small thing in and of itself and such a small change in the rating would have little affect on the total score in itself. Sometimes the reviewer can disagree and disregard such minor feedback, especially if the overall editor rating is very good. It's a waste of everyone's time for the editors to not try really hard to provide some constructive criticism no matter how great the review is. For great reviews, this will start to mean the little constructive criticism offered will be very subjective and minor. In a deeper sense, that itself can be regarded as a compliment.

This is also why--in the reviewer scoring formula--the editors do not have to give a reviewer's reviews perfect scores for the reviewer to get a full points for review quality.

Similarly, it is why a reviewer does not need to get 100 out of 100 points to be level 6.

Nothing is perfect. Not me, not the reviews, not the editors, and not the formula.

[TarinaJ]

I was looking for a forum to ask, "Who do I contact if I disagree with an editor's comments?" and this seems to be the best topic to do so. To whom should I direct the question? HOW do I direct the question? I understand editors don't want to quibble about every little detail, but if they are wrong shouldn't we reviewers have a forum in which to dispute their feedback?

Thank you,
~TJ

[gali]

I was looking for a forum to ask, "Who do I contact if I disagree with an editor's comments?" and this seems to be the best topic to do so. To whom should I direct the question? HOW do I direct the question?

Thank you,
~TJ

You should contact Scott by pm.

[amybo82]

I'm kind of obsessive about my reviews. I hate it when I get lowered ratings, but I get it. Sometimes the other editors don't like my writing style, and sometimes I miss technical elements in my proofread. One thing I do not get, though, is when editors are pedantic or patronizing. I am a professional freelance writer and editor. I don't need anyone talking down to me like I don't know what I'm doing. I think it's fine to point out mistakes and errors. However, that needs to be done in a polite and respectful way. As Scott mentioned, none of us are perfect, and we're going to make mistakes. I think it's important to remember that, as editors, we are trying to help people get better, not shame them for doing something wrong. TJ-I hope your issue gets resolved. Scott is great to contact with any questions or concerns. He always shows great care for the reviewers and authors!

[bookowlie]

I'm kind of obsessive about my reviews. I hate it when I get lowered ratings, but I get it. Sometimes the other editors don't like my writing style, and sometimes I miss technical elements in my proofread. One thing I do not get, though, is when editors are pedantic or patronizing. I am a professional freelance writer and editor. I don't need anyone talking down to me like I don't know what I'm doing. I think it's fine to point out mistakes and errors. However, that needs to be done in a polite and respectful way. As Scott mentioned, none of us are perfect, and we're going to make mistakes. I think it's important to remember that, as editors, we are trying to help people get better, not shame them for doing something wrong. TJ-I hope your issue gets resolved. Scott is great to contact with any questions or concerns. He always shows great care for the reviewers and authors!

I agree that there is a respective way to point out errors. As for writing style, there's constructive criticism and then there's just plain picky and patronizing. I once had another editor (I am also an editor) edit one of my reviews and say that it was very well written (yay!). Then at the end of the edit, he/she said it's well written, but I used simple, basic words. Huh? So...as I previously said, there's constructive and then there's patronizing. By the way, the particular review I am referring to became wildly popular with respect to views and comments, so go figure. I guess simple and basic wasn't so bad after all.