Week8
We’d like to start this week’s blog off with more comments on the editing process from our Editor in Chief Nathaniel.
“This week was one filled with many edits. Rami’s manuscript in particular has developed exponentially. As of Wednesday, all edits have been finalized except for the order each poem will be featured, however a first selection has been made and should be finalized by this evening. It has been such a wonderful experience working with him. Not only did we find our own author-editor rhythm after our first meeting, an impressive feat in my opinion, we also were quickly able to get on the same page about where poems should be taken. I would like to give him a shout out for being extremely cooperative and giving me as much leeway as he did. Not only was he open to my opinion and the changes I had to offer, he trusted in my understanding of the poems enough to help direct capitalization and punctuation; both being an extremely important part of poems. I began by having him integrate capitalization and punctuation where he might see fit and then added my editorial touches. Throughout the edits, we often discussed capitalization and punctuation where I thought it absolutely necessary not to wait, which helped me get a feel for the way Rami saw his poems, even more so than I had before.
I believe Rami is such a creative poet with a very unique style. I particularly love the way he has this knack for developing titles that seemingly don’t go with a poem at first but the further you read the more you understand the meaning behind it and the way it both relates and adds to the poem. As an individual who is honestly quite lacking in the creative title department, this is an capacity I envy. He also has this amazing ability for writing about specific events in a way that are abstract and not, allowing readers to relate to them so deeply. He doesn’t even shy away from subject matter such as suicide, self-harm, depression, substance abuse, and other similar subjects, and in my personal opinion the way he writes about them makes one feel welcome and understood instead of triggered by the content. When reading a few of his poems upon his submission I knew right away that I was going to pitch his manuscript to the team because when reading some of his poems about depression, instead of feeling sad, I felt like someone was giving me an actual hug and telling me: ’It’s okay. I’ve been there, and what you felt and are feeling is okay.’ I felt at home and content to be exactly where I am and have been and that is not an easy thing to accomplish especially with me.
As for Jack’s manuscript, things are moving a little slower. The nature of the content simply requires more attention and more maneuvering. Like my experience with Rami, working with Jack has been pleasant. I’ve worked with them beforehand and know the type of author they are. That being said, there isn’t much to tell at this point as we are only in the first few rounds of edits and we’re still marking our way through the author-editor dance till we find our rhythm."
Regarding the rest of the press, we officially have a Spotify account where our readers can go check out our author playlists which help provide listeners with an insight into our authors and their books. Grace has also provided a behind the scenes special of her cover design for Bandaid by Jack Benedict on our Twitter page so please feel free to check that out. As always, don’t forget to take a look at our Author Spotlight and Literary Reviews.
Finally, we’d like to send you off with your weekly dad joke from our editor:
“I went to a Halloween party as the Joker but I couldn’t see anyone there. It was a Dark Knight.”
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