Fabianspace: Behind the Scenes with Editor Penny Ehrenkranz

Penny Ehrenkranz is a line editor for MuseItUp and a dear lady. I thought for the book tour, it'd be fun to ask her about her experiences editing and especially about editing Live and Let Fly. She's also an author in her own right, so check out her books!

1. What is your job at MuseItUp? What kind of editing do you do?

I am a line editor at MuseItUp. As such, it’s my job to look for spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors. I also try to help the authors weed out extra words like “that” which tend to creep into everyone’s manuscripts. I will also keep a lookout for inconsistencies that might have slipped by the content error. I will also offer a second opinion if the author and content editor might not agree on how something should be written.

2. What do you like about it?

There are a couple of things I like about my job. First, I am an avid reader. What could be better than a job where I get paid to read all day long? It’s an almost perfect job. Second, I have always enjoyed the English language and all its nuances. Even when I’m reading a book for pleasure, I’ll notice errors that an editor didn’t catch, even from some of the big houses. It happens, but it also proves to me that line editing comes natural to me.

3. You were already a fan of Vern and Sister Grace. How did that help or hinder you in your editing?

I am indeed a fan of Vern and Sister Grace. I think it probably helped my editing, knowing the characters. I could better tell if something fit or seemed out of character. It always helps in editing if the editor enjoys the story she is working on. Vern and Grace are such delightful characters; I look forward to both reading and working on the stories to tighten them up for publication.

4. What was the best part of editing Live and Let Fly?

I enjoy working on books where the author has a sense of humor. That’s not to say I don’t like reading dark and mysterious books, but it’s a nice change. Live and Let Fly didn’t disappoint me. Karina’s writing style always gives me a chuckle as I’m reading. Vern just cracks me up sometimes with what comes out of his mouth.

5. What was the most challenging part?

That’s hard to answer. Karina is cooperative and open to suggestions. By the time it got to me, the manuscript was in pretty darn good shape. Chris, as content editor, might have had more of a challenge than I did.

6. Tell us a little about your own works.

I have three very different romance stories publis

hed this past year by MuseItUp: Love Delivery, a contemporary romance, Lady in Waiting, an historical romance, and Mirror, Mirror, a time-travel romance. Sam’s Dot Publishing released a collection of my short stories in January of 2011, A Past and A Future. My children’s books are all under contract with 4RV Publishing and will be released the end of this year and through 2015: Ghost for Rent and Ghost for Lunch are middle grade paranormal mysteries, and Boo’s Bad Day and Many Colored Coats are both picture books. Here are links:

Love Delivery

http://tinyurl.com/4ajo9wz

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005GPRQEC