I’ve worked with editors most of my life. I’m thankful for this. My writing has grown stronger because of editors. Editors are the gatekeepers to being published. It’s important to understand what an editor wants and how to give that to him or her. I’ll steal from Stephen Covey: “Begin with the end in mind.”
As a writer, I realize I am one cog in the publishing process. True, I create the content. But I am just that – a content creator. There are millions of others in the market who can create content. There are thousands who submit. There are hundreds of those editors can replace me with.
So, it behooves me to be cooperative in the editing process and understand the big picture. First, I want to ensure my copy is as clean as it can be. Spelling and grammar aside:
- I want the thing to be rock-solid from beginning to end.
- I want names to match. I want them to be spelled correctly.
- The plot line should make sense from front to back. There should be continuity, rhythm and pace.
In other words, I want to do my due diligence on the copy before it reaches someone else’s hands. Anything else makes me careless and irresponsible.
There’s also the idea of being courteous and responsive to an editor’s needs. I may be working through several revisions before my story gets to print. I try to ask smart questions. I also try to remember that an editor is helping me get my copy to print; not hinder that process. So, keeping cool when someone is cutting “my darlings” and can be challenging, but is important to the end product.
Which brings up another valid point: editors have bosses, too. So, in looking at that bigger picture, I force myself to understand that there are bigger agendas in play and sometimes, the editing process will be longer or shorter depending on that process. I also realize that anything can change during that process; I’m obligated to what is printed on the contract. So is the publisher.
Besides, the company’s paying me. I’m a contracted employee. It wants first rights to my published work because it believes it can make money from it. Why would I want to do anything other than help that process along and, in fact, improve it as I go? It doesn’t mean I want to lose my independence as a writer. It simply means I want to give my work the best chance at reaching a buyer’s hands.
As an aside, I also want to understand the publisher’s process. In doing the query process, I do a bit of research. However, there’s probably more under the hood then what’s learned in the query process. How much do you really know about your potential publisher, its titles, its reach and its staff?
This isn’t usually possible when you start, but i know it’s probably okay to ask questions as I go along. I also want to know a bit about the publisher’s marketing strategy. For one, I don’t want to do something counter to that when the times comes for me to start my own marketing.
Working with an editor is one step in getting a story to print. Beginning with the end in mind and keeping the numerous steps and challenges that exist not only for me, but for the people who work with my story along the way, helps ensure success.
Worked with editors? What’s your experience?
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good context to the overall environment, JT, regardless of the purpose or outlet for the writing. I’d also stress that writers can’t take edits personally. There’s a certain pride of creation we take in our work, and especially for younger writers, it can be hard to accept changes or criticism, often subjective, to that work.