I have noticed at times newer writers and a bunch of readers blaming the problems of a published book on the editor. As if the editor has much to do with it. Yeah, right. This thinking just shows a real lack of information about how editing and publishing works in New York publishers.
I was going to do a blog post about it, maybe one of the Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing posts, but then I found a wonderful post by long-time novelist Laura Resnick exactly on the point.
You can find her home page here.
And you can find the blog on this very topic at Novelist Inc. right here.
And you can find the home page for Novelist Inc. right here. (Hint, they do some great blogs by experienced professionals such as Laura, and they even let me write guest blogs for them every-so-often.)
So go to the blog from Laura and learn why blaming the editor for a bad book is just silly thinking. The writer writes the book. Laura says almost exactly what I would have said. Frightening, just frightening.
And then always remember, it’s the author who is in charge. When a bad book gets into print, only the name on the cover is to blame. Or, as we tell our students over and over and over:
You are responsible for your own career.
Thanks, Laura, for the great post. Saved me a bunch of time.
Cheers, Dean
I write erotica and a lot of e-publishers do little or poor editing. People love to complain about that, but I don’t mind. It’s forced me to become a better and better self-editor, and thus a better writer. The one pub edited without the whole STET opportunity thing, and I wouldn’t submit to them again until they promised to track changes. I’m not real picky, but I looked at my work and there were all these commas that changed the meaning of every sentence! Drove me nuts! I looked like an idiot! I mean, my beginning stuff out there already makes me look like an idiot, LOL… I don’t need to add more fuel to the fire.
My pulp culture essays have an awesome editor. Sometimes someone just saying the equivalent of “you can do better” is pure gold. I have what I call a “professional crush” on her.
Hi, Dean!
I viewed a report in my Google Analytics today showing that traffic has come to my website directly from HERE in recent days, so I came to pay a visit. And I’m glad you liked the Ninc post I wrote!
I’m often amazed at the godlike qualities that many people seem to assume editors have. It’s a position with modest-to-poor pay and benefits, long hours, no prestige or recognition (after all, how many people can even -name- who edited the HARRY POTTER novels? the TWILIGHT novels? Neil Gaiman’s various works? Nora Roberts’ many #1 NYT bestselling novels? etc.), and limited opportunity for advancement. Some excellent people are in this field because they love books and love publishing; more are in it, however, simply because it was a job they could get and keep, and they lack the skills or motivation to move on.
At entry level, most editors start off as receptionists and dogsbodies in publishing houses. My first few editors were all typical of the profession in that they’d answered “help wanted” ads from publishing houses in New York after being unable to find work in their chosen fields (one wanted to be a photographer, another wanted to be a school guidance counselor), and some were biding their time while deciding what to do with their lives (my first two editors quit the business to go to grad school) or waiting to get married, have kids, and stay home full-time (my fourth editor and the editors of many of my friends).
Most editors simply don’t have the background, training, talent, or even the interest level to be able to understand how to make a MS better. Some do, but they’re like any effective person in an underpaid, unglorified field that has no particular training or licensing or requirements: the exception to the general rule. And even the good ones these days, of course, get to spend very little time evaluating MSs–their jobs have overwhelmingly become about the administrative tasks of packaging, marketing, and moving product, evaluating the fiscal results of this work, and contemplating the estimated risks and rewards of investing in more product.
LauraR
Thanks, Laura, for the great comments. Glad people are reading your super post about editors. As a former editor of both books and short fiction, I’m agreeing with you completely. I always get startled looks from newer writers who knew I was an editor when I say I can’t spell worth a lick. And am horrible at proofing manuscripts, as if that’s what is important with editing. You are right, completely, as to what their job is. So thanks, you saved me writing an almost exact post about the topic. (grin)
Cheers, Dean
Last winter, I was complaining about a bestselling novel that I threw against the wall after a few chapters, hating everything about it, from its major flaws to its very minor ones, including lots of really poor phrasing (ex. “they had relocated to a new location.”). And when an aspiring-writer friend said, “Oh, phrasing like that is the EDITOR’S fault,” I began realizing just how misinformed people are about the writer’s and editor’s respective roles.
The dam finally burst recently, after nearly a year of noticing lots and lots of such comments, and so I wrote the blog–out of chronic irritation!
LauraR
Hi Dean,
I’m going to be the usual broken record here
but THANKS for the great post/pointer, and thanks to Laura as well. Very informative and insightful posts. I always look forward to what you have to say.
D.