Wednesday 17 October 2012

E is for EDITOR


If you’ve trawled the bestseller charts in the past twenty years, chances are you’ve read a book my editor was behind. He’s worked with thriller veterans Len Deighton and Gerald Seymour; launched new writers like Conn Iggulden and Philipa Gregory; and most recently guided David Nicholls to a mega-hit with One Day. I was also delighted to discover he used to be Flashman’s editor! His name is Nick Sayers and as another publisher once told me, ‘he’s the best in the business’.

Nick & I at Clays where TAR was printed

1) Nick wanted the structure of the book tweaked, so that the reader would get to the alternative history sections more quickly. There are two extended passages of them (one explaining Britain’s peace with Nazi Germany, the other about the Casablanca Conference). In my edit these appeared, respectively, in chapters 8 and 12. Ultimately this became 3 and 8. I have to say that although I found my original structure more elegant, I can understand why getting some explanation in early was beneficial.

2) He also suggested that further context be added: details about Nazi Africa. I had already included plenty, but Nick insisted on more, everything from agricultural policies in Kongo to the ethnic mix of the conquerors. This had an implication on the text which I’ll come back to in ‘F is for...’

3) The use of the word ‘nigger’. I realised this was a contentious and sensitive subject so had employed it sparingly despite the virulent racism of the characters; originally it appeared 42 times (in a 120 000 word book) Nick felt this was too much, so I trimmed it to 26. Any more and the Nazis would start sounding a bit too PC, something one could never accuse Hochburg of!


4) Finally, and perhaps this was the point Nick was most adamant about, he wanted Burton to be more morally upstanding. My original vision of him was in the Leone mould. He was utterly amoral, disinterested in what the Nazis were doing, a man who killed for money with little principle. His assassination of Hochburg had nothing to do with right or wrong, simply a desire to avenge. The only chink in this was Madeleine: I liked the juxtaposition of his amorality with love. Patrick was similarly unscrupulous. Nick said he struggled to work out who was good and who bad and that the ‘heroes’ had to be more clearly defined as good guys. I tried to argue my case but was advised it would be commercially risky, so I relented and made Burton the more morally buoyant character who appears in the novel (though hopefully as I’ve shown there remains a certain ambiguity to his character). In retrospect this is the one change I have some regret over. My original plan for the trilogy was to have Burton begin as amoral and gradually change till the final showdown at the end of Book 3. By then, and influenced by his experiences, he would be attached to a more Manichean code.

Once implemented, the above changes amounted to less than 2% of the book. I think they were the right ones for the time (remember I was struggling to get my first publishing deal!) and in retrospect I don’t think they harmed the book, they simply made it different from my original. Whether readers would have reacted differently to that vision is something I’ll never know...



E is also for EL REICH AFRICANO

Once the book had been commissioned in the UK the next question was whether it could be sold abroad. To date four territories have bought the translation rights, not bad given that many big book markets such as Germany, Russia, Poland etc had understandable issues with the Nazi content. I’m reliably informed that one German publisher blanched when they got to the Schädelplatz!

The first to buy it was Spain where the book went to a three-way auction. Whether it was because of this… the superb trailer my Spanish publisher (Ediciones B) made for it… the publicity tour I went on to Madrid and Barcelona… or just because the cover matched my original design, EL REICH AFRICANO has a special place on my bookshelf.


26 comments:

  1. Gawd, I know its supposed to be an 'instant classic' by I cldn't stand One Day. Funny how one editor can be behind such different books. Philipa Gregory too! Yrs rocked!

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    1. Anon – although I don’t mind people posting anonymously, I always prefer it if you leave something to identify yourself by, even if it’s just an initial.

      Since I’ve only work with Nick I don’t know if other editors have such varied lists of authors. The link with my book and Len Deighton seems obvious, but me and David Nicholls…? Nick clearly has diverse tastes!

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  2. Only a month later than promised! I hope you've been busy with AR2 rather than eating cake/trifle. LOL. I for one can hardly wait for the sequel. I can't imagine Burton any other way, even if you had him as more amoral.

    Lou

    PS, I loved One Day but agree with previous poster about an editor having such a diverse portfolio
    PPS, Facebook has been quiet too

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    1. Louise – yes, I did promise this much earlier, didn’t I? (see comments on ‘L is for…’). My excuse is that I’ve been so busy with TAR2 I’ve not had a chance to do this before. I shall be a hostage to the future now and say I’ll have the next entry written before the end of the month…

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    2. I suppose writing TAR2 is a good enough excuse! LOL. 7 days and counting for the next entry. Looking forward to it.

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  3. As a writer who is currently struggling to place a book all of whose protagonists are morally compromised, I'm particularly interested to read your comments about having to define the white hats and black hats more clearly to please your editor. It seems to me sad evidence of the race to the bottom that currently seems to be going on in publishing, and personally, I'd love to read the version in which Burton is an amoral lover!

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    1. The race to the bottom is also a contest to homogenise everything: art in whatever medium reduced to an easily digestible formula because - apparently - that's what people want, or at least that's what sells which may/may not be the same thing. This happened in the film business years ago and now seems to be pervasive in all art forms. X-factor, anybody? Like you say, a sad showing and I fear it will only get worse. Isn't this what Orwell predicted in 1984 for books?

      Greene would doubtless depressed.

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    2. Sarah – the irony is if you pick up any book on how to write, one of the first rules is not to make you’re characters too black or white (no pun intended!).

      Quite why publishers seem to think this (moral certainty) is what the public wants is beyond me and of course, as you point out with Graham Greene as just one example, literature is full of examples that contradict this. Time for a revolution, I think…

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  4. Your earliest AR draft chapters are still on youwriteon so in case anyone would like to read and compare?

    I think the book as it stands now is just perfect - I think Burton in the final AR is even more appealing and substantial. I think in a world run by such evil, the good guys need to hang on to their humanity more so because we know they are doomed whatever they do (well Burton and co were) and any small triumph (Nelia killing her nemesis - hooorah!) I as a reader welcome with faith restored. So yay for your editor.

    I wish publishers in these countries you mention would trust their potential readership a bit more and take a chance with your book.

    Take care
    x

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    1. Ah, but does goodness = humanity, Kitty? One of the questions readers aren't given the chance to think about when conventional morality is imposed on the novelist. Not sure, for example, that I can imagine Graham Greene being obliged to have this conversation with his editor...

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    2. Kitty – you’re right, the original chapters of TAR are on YWO. I advise everybody to ignore them!

      It also would appear that plenty of readers do like the book exactly as is, so perhaps my editor is right (he certainly has been very successful, so probably knows a thing or two!).

      I really do wish the book could get published in Germany. Aside from another helpful advance ;o) it would be fascinating to see the German reaction

      x

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  5. Really interesting post, Guy. I think the changes you've mentioned sound like reasonable things for Hodder to suggest, and it's a sign of your skill that you made the changes without us readers noticing any unevenness in the text.
    K

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    1. K – I’m glad you can’t notice the changes in the text. Alas, with my privileged position, whenever I read the MS back the changes are GLARING, like a hammer blow to the face. Several in particular I find utterly egregious. I won’t say which!

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  6. As with the Norwegian photo you'r wearing what appears to be the same black top. SHould we be worried? ;o)

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    1. Anon – same ‘Anon’ as above?

      The black top is pure coincidence and probably reflects the fact I’m an impoverished writer with a limited wardrobe than any political leanings! ;o)

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  7. Sorry to be a grammar Nazi but shouldn't the first photo caption read 'Nick and Me'?

    When is the sequel out?

    Cheers

    Steve

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    1. Steven – quite possibly! The caption was actually meant as a vaguely humorous nod to ‘The King and I’. I'll let you decide which of us is Yul Brenner

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    2. PS - Working on the sequel as we speak, hopefully due for release next year (2013)

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  8. Re: 2), personally I would have liked even *more* context and historical detail, to me the alternative history is most interesting aspect of the book, more so than the action. I liked the irony of the ethnic mix of Africa: conquering lands when there weren't enough people to fill them. Harris does similar with Soviet Union in Fatherland.

    Where is 'F' as I didn't undertsnad the implication in the text.

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    1. GN – others have said similar. There was actually plenty more I could have put in, but then my worry was that the plot/pace would suffer. Lucky, with two other books to come I’ve got room to add these details elsewhere.

      The ‘F is for’ refers to an upcoming blog entry that I’ve yet to write but will hopefully explain my intent with the book.

      Thanks for your other comments elsewhere on the blog.

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  9. Do you know about Dominion?

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0230744168/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1HS9K50D1RN8SECNMK7C&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=317828027&pf_rd_i=468294

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    1. Will – thanks for this. I didn’t know about DOMINION. Have to say the opening line of the blurb sounds VERY familiar! I’ve done a Facebook posting on it – see there for other people’s thoughts:

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  10. Un comentario sobre El Reich Africano merece un comentario en español.

    El Reich Africano también ocupa un lugar especial en mi estante. No sólo porque me encanta la portada, sino también porque el libro es único. Deja una huella imborrable. Una mezcla perfecta de personajes fuertes y un argumento interesante, la historia recibe un trato muy atento. Todo lo que busco en un buen libro.

    ¡Al próximo!

    MG

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    1. MG - Gracias por el comentario y tus amables palabras. ¡Me alegro que creas que el libro es único! El próximo está pronto en camino…

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  11. Guy -

    Another fascinating post, thank you so mcuh for sharing all this detail with us. I've often wondered how these these are negotiated between author and editor and how much influence editors have on novels.

    I'm unconvinced by the first point. Flicking through my copy of 'Fatherland', Harris doesn't get to the explanation of his alternative history to page 112, quarter of the way through the book! When it does come, it's a lot less detailed than yours. So I'm not sure that change was needed.

    Ron

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    1. Ron - interesting you should pick this up as I argued that other alternative history novels tend to have relatively short explanations of how their world came about.

      The respective scene in FATHERLAND comes quite some way in the book (don't know if it's the one you're talking about on p.112). It's the one with the refrain 'a triumph for the Fuhrer's [whatever] genius' etc.

      Like I say, I don't think it harmed the book, merely shifted it ever so slightly from my original vision.

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