NANDEGE SHARON,THE ART OF EDITING.

Editors are great people. They sweep in, square away errors, and help writers stay on track.

The editors eye fixes a lot of mistakes which miraculously improve a book.

We interviewed Nandege Sharon the 

editor of BEFORE DAWN and C.E.O 

Sarts Graphics .

Still a student at Kyambogo University by the time of the release of this book, 

she majors in Art and Industrial Design,

owns Sarts graphics a printing, branding, and Graphics company

Kampala Uganda.

QN: ARE THERE ANY BOOKS YOUR NOT INTERESTED IN EDITING? 

Yes, there books I wouldn’t edit because for us as a company, ethical considerations are very important. this can be seen when I read through the authors message to the public. 

I would refrain from editing any book that contains information that isn’t ethical or if a message is not in line with our core values as a company. 

QN: HOW DID YOU PERCIEVE THE PROPOSAL TO EDIT BEFORE DAWN? HOW WAS THE PROCESS? 

Having looked at the book on a large scale, it was very exciting being considered to be an editor of Before dawn. 

To begin with, I worked on the broad aspects of the book rather than on specific details. Then edited the text on a line level, ensuring sound logic, grammatical correctness, and consistent style. I later made sure that words are spelled correctly, that formatting is consistent, and that punctuation is used correctly. So, I took off days of reading through each poem, to get a clear picture of what the author was trying to say through poetry. 

QN: WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS OF FOR EVALUATING THE QUALITY OF A BOOK BEFORE IT’S PUBLISHED?                                                          

At the very start I look at the authorship, is their publication relevant, in relation to the time they

 

are publishing it. Is the information still relevant? 

Then I review the table of contents and the index 

to confirm the information I require is covered in 

the book. 

Purpose, answering what the author’s motivation 

is in writing the book, who are the intended readers. 

The content will vary depending on the book’s 

targeted audience. It could be very general and 

introduce the readers to a subject. Conversely, the 

content could be very specific, aimed at other scholars 

in the field. I also look at the bias where the author 

may represent only one side of a topic or argument. 

QN: BEFORE DAWN, THE VOICE IS ABIT HOPELESS AND ANXIOUS DID YOU ENJOY THE PROCESS OF EDITING IT? 

YES, I enjoyed the entire process of reading through each poem, and looking at how the author picked instances and topics relating to our day-to-day ways of life and daily activities. 

To me that was very interesting picking out on directly the people’s life experiences that are more relatable and draw the readers to feel more attached to the book. 

QN: FEMINISM IS ONE OF THE MANY TOPICS ADDRESSED BY THE AUTHOR IN BEFORE DAWN, AS A WOMAN TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU AGREE WITH THE AUTHOR AND WHATS YOUR TAKE ON FEMINISM AT LARGE TODAY? 

Feminism being the belief in full social, economic, and political equality for women, as a woman in this generation, I think its ok for ladies to have a chance to participate in the different disciplines of life. 

QN: IF YOU SAW A BOOK THAT YOU EDITED ON A BOOKSTORE SHELVE, WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU PROUD? HOW WOULD YOU FEEL AT LARGE? 

The feeling is of pride If I noticed a piece of the work of your hands on a shelf. I would be delighted that I was part of the great master piece of literature. 

QN: WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU NOTICED A SIGNIFICANT ERROR IN A BOOK YOU’D ALREADY RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC? 

In a perfect world, unfortunately, mistakes have a way of sneaking into even the most thoroughly checked manuscripts. Errors are a big reason why a self-published book might get bad reviews but in such an instance, I Make the updates/corrections to the original file and fix the errors. Then re-upload this file in order to republish. 

This will be like another edition which will give assurance to readers that any mistakes have been rectified as an updated copy. 

QN: DID, YOU GET TO KNOW THE AUTHORS INTENTIONS IN BEFORE DAWN? 

In my opinion, the author is addressing the day-to-day events of our lives through poems. Expressing people’s lived experiences, problems, difficulties and opinions but most importantly the poems are giving hope. 

QN: HOW WAS IT WORKING WITH THE ILLUSTRATOR AND THE AUTHOR INDEPENDENTLY ON ONE PROJECT? 

It was wonderful working with them both as it allowed me get immediate feedback from both the author and the illustrator whenever I got stuck along the way. Their responses were always very helpful as we continued to exchange ideas on the different things throughout the editing process. 

QN: WHATS YOUR FAVOURITE POEM IN BEFORE DAWN? 

Calamity and Sanity, its gives hope to recover from the many challenges that life brings our way and it speaks to my life too.