By the end of September, Lexi had gotten into a comfortable routine at New York University. She was used to her classes, as well as working at Barnes & Noble again. When she wasn't in school or at work, she would spend time with either Isaac or their friends— or both. Things were going well for her, much to her delight. School was good, work was good (or at least as good as any retail job can be), her relationship was going well, and her friends were also well. Her first month back in New York City had gone better than she had expected.
After finishing another paper for one of her classes on a rainy Wednesday afternoon, Lexi decided to stop doing schoolwork for the day. She was caught up on her assignments and was even ahead in a couple of her classes. It brought on a huge sense of relief to know that this semester was going as well as previous ones. While it was still early yet, there was no doubt in her mind that things would stay this way going forward.
I should focus back on my book, she thought as she stretched her arms over her head in her desk chair. It's gathered a lot of dust lately.
Lexi grinned as she pulled up her manuscript on her laptop. After writing the first draft last March, she'd decided to take a break from it for a couple of months in order to focus on last semester's remaining assignments, as well as her final exams. She didn't look at her manuscript again until after she had returned to San Diego and settled back into her life on the West Coast. She then spent all of her summer break self-editing and re-writing her manuscript when she wasn't spending time with friends or family or working as a fill-in receptionist at the law firm her mother worked at.
The task of self-editing her manuscript had been massive, not to mention hard on her both emotionally and mentally. Lexi had cringed several times at what she'd written, nearly breaking down in tears at one point or another. But she had managed to stay relatively calm as she carried out the painful yet critical task. It was necessary to get it done if she wanted to become a published author.
Lexi had finished self-editing her manuscript by mid-August. Once the task was complete, she decided to leave it alone to focus on getting ready to move back to New York City for college. But now that she was back at school and into a routine she was used to, the time felt right for her to focus on her manuscript again.
I need to find someone who will edit this thing, she thought as she scanned it. She knew that, despite how much time and energy she'd put into self-editing her work, it needed a second set of eyes from a professional. Every manuscript needed a professional editor looking at it before it could be pitched to any literary agent or publishing house.
With that, Lexi closed her manuscript before going to the Internet to try and find a professional editor. She needed to find someone who specialized in thrillers; or at least would be comfortable in editing a manuscript from the aforementioned genre. She scoured online for any potential candidates that would fit the bill. Whenever someone popped up that seemed to be a good fit, she made sure to write their name and email address in her notebook.
God, there are way more people who edit thrillers than I thought. I can't believe I'm even doing this right now! This doesn't feel real whatsoever, Lexi thought as her heart rate went up. Her blue-green eyes fixated on her laptop screen, unable to look away from all the editors she had found.
She sat back in her desk chair and took a deep breath. It seemed silly for her to get so anxious over this, considering that this was something she had been working towards for a few years now. But she couldn't help it— she had worked so hard and so long on writing her manuscript that the idea of sending it off to a professional editor left her in a mild state of shock.
Whoever ends up editing my manuscript is totally going to tear it apart.
Lexi blinked hard and ran her hands over her face, smudging her mascara in the process. She cursed herself for that, having forgotten that she had makeup on in the first place. But she disregarded this fact to focus back on compiling a list of editors.
A couple of hours later, she glanced down at the list of people she had scribbled out in her large white notebook. There were nearly two dozen names on her list— more names than she had expected when she had begun her search. But this was probably for the best on the off-chance that she received a lot of rejections.
Lexi shuddered upon thinking that very thought. She tried to let it go; after all, rejection was all too common when it came to going the traditional publishing route. But the mere thought of it frayed her nerves just enough to freak her out. Then again, she wasn't about to give up after getting this far in the process.
After looking over her list, Lexi decided to email half of them for now. She didn't know what to expect from emailing any of the editors on her list. Would she only get rejections? Would several of them be interested in her manuscript? There was no way for her to know. Emailing some of them instead of all of them seemed like a great place to start. She scanned the list of names and picked a dozen that seemed the most promising.
Lexi proceeded to spend almost half an hour emailing people to pitch her manuscript to. Once that was done, she decided to get off her computer and go for a long walk. She needed to burn off the nervous energy that had built up inside her before she exploded.
I seriously doubt that anyone is gonna get back to me today or even tomorrow, she thought before she left her apartment. But I need to get away from my computer before I start refreshing my email hundreds of times like a fucking maniac. That's not going to do me any good to my mental health. I need a break anyway.
***
Over the following days, Lexi received only a few replies from the editors she had previously emailed. Much to her dismay, they had all been rejections. A couple of them said that they had too much on their plate right now and couldn't take on her manuscript— something that didn't bother her whatsoever. The others that had bothered to get back to her had said that they weren't interested in editing her manuscript without offering any explanation as to why.
I wish someone would give me some sort of reason why they won't edit my manuscript, even if it's total bullshit, Lexi thought as she deleted her latest rejection whose response had fallen under the latter category. I don't get it, but it is what it is, right?
Even as she received rejections or no response whatsoever, Lexi refused to give up. She decided to email the remaining candidates from her list on the off-chance that one of them said yes. While she had planned to wait to do that until next week, she wanted to get the ball rolling on having her manuscript professionally edited.
It wouldn't be until the following Tuesday morning when Lexi suddenly noticed that she had received an email from an editor she had pitched her manuscript to. She had been in the middle of taking notes on her laptop during a lecture when it came up. She thought about leaving it until class ended, but decided to take a peek anyway.
It read:
Hi Alexandra,
Thank you for sending me this! The premise sounds incredibly intriguing. I'd love to edit your manuscript.
I like to be clear with everyone who works with me that I require a deposit paid upfront prior to sending your manuscript over. Once we're done going back and forth with edits, then another payment is due a week from that day.
The total cost to edit an over 100 000 word manuscript is $3000. You'll be paying $1500 now, and $1500 again once everything is completed.
If you're still interested, please e-Transfer $1500 to the same email. You can also email me your manuscript.
Look forward to hearing from you!
Best,
Marcus Kingston
It took everything in Lexi to not gasp out loud in the middle of class. She quickly searched up Marcus online to try and remember who he was.
Upon finding his website, Lexi scrolled through to see who she was dealing with. He was a white man who looked to be in his late 40s or early 50s. According to his About page, Marcus had been a ghostwriter who had written many short stories before becoming an English professor at Barnard College, also located in New York City. Nowadays, he only taught creative writing part-time so that he could also edit manuscripts. His resume looked impressive yet intimidating.
I can't pass this up, Lexi thought as she carefully composed a response. I'd be crazy to say no.
Before hitting send, she sent the money through as requested, her heart jumping into her throat as she did so. She knew that getting her manuscript professionally edited would be expensive, but to send someone so much money was something she'd never done. Fortunately, she'd been saving for this expense between working at Barne's & Noble and her mother's San Diego law firm. It wouldn't hurt her wallet too much.
Lexi finally hit Send on her well-written response:
Hi Marcus,
Thank you so much for getting back to me, and for agreeing to edit my manuscript! This is excellent news.
I've just sent the deposit over. Please let me know if it went through properly. I've also attached my manuscript to this email. If you have any issues with the file, please let me know and I'll look into it. It should be fine, though.
Again, thank you so much for this. I truly appreciate it! I'm excited for us to work together. Also, feel free to call me Lexi if you wish.
Talk soon!
Best regards,
Alexandra
Lexi quickly turned her attention back to the rest of the lecture. She made a mental note to grab notes of what she had missed from one of her classmates, Jessica Radford. They were acquaintances who usually traded class notes whenever one of them missed a lecture— either because they were sick or skipped for one reason or another. She knew Jessica wouldn't mind helping Lexi get caught up on what she had missed from today's class.
It wasn't until the lecture was wrapping up that Lexi received a reply from Marcus:
Hi Lexi,
I'm happy to hear that! The deposit went through and the file worked fine. Thank you for taking care of all that so fast.
I'll get back to you in a couple of weeks with my edits. If you don't hear from me two weeks from now, please feel free to email me for an update. I may have forgotten to send your edits to you, as my memory isn't what it used to be.
Until then, enjoy your day.
Best,
Marcus
Lexi smiled at the email just as class finally ended. She was quick to pack up her belongings and leave the lecture hall. Getting Marcus to edit her manuscript was a step in the right direction to getting published— albeit a terrifying one.
It needs to be done, she reminded herself as she exited the building and began walking to her apartment. Here's hoping that all goes well.