Last time, I talked about how to find the right editor for you, but now let’s assume you found the One and it’s time to actually work with them. What do you need to know? This is especially for those who haven’t ever worked with an editor, but if you have and you read this like, “this…doesn’t sound like the way my editor did it,” don’t worry—all editors do things a bit differently, and if it worked for you, then hey, you obviously found the One!
The two things that should be there in any editor-author relationship: mutual respect and honesty. Both will help you get the best results from your editing experience.
Sending your MS to your editor
To that idea of mutual respect, please send your MS in on (or before!) the date you and your editor agreed upon. Editors get if the writing gremlins have got you and the story just isn’t ready yet, but a heads-up that you’re not going to make your editing date is much appreciated beforehand (i.e. as soon as you know it’s not going to be possible to hit the deadline) so that we can make sure that we can reschedule you as soon as possible and give you another date to shoot for and so we can possibly book in someone else to make up the lost income.
When you do hand in the MS, hopefully on time, what should it look like? It should be a clean draft—i.e. you’ve proofread it carefully so that the editor can dive right into the story and not have to try to make sense of it stylistically first.
In terms of formatting, it absolutely does not matter to me what font you use or if you double-space or anything like that—those things are easy to change if they really bother me (no one has yet sent me a manuscript in Comic Sans), and more often than not, I usually just leave it the way it was sent to me.
Cartoon: Man giving paper to another man: “I couldn’t decide whether to use Papyrus or Comic Sans…so I used both!”
Something I really like to see from my clients is a note about anything that they’re worried about in the manuscript—if something doesn’t feel like it’s working, if they’re uncertain if something should stay, if the ending comes up too fast. It gives me an awareness of what their major concerns are so I can address them and either offer suggestions to fix it or reassure them it’s not a big deal. I also love when writers tell me what they’re really proud of in the manuscript (toot your own horn!) and if there are certain bits they really need to stay in there (for example, one of my clients wanted to keep an inside joke she snuck into the MS for her husband and left me a comment on it saying “KEEP THIS!!!”).
When you get edits back
After you send your MS to the editor, you first get to test your patience waiting for it to be returned! Once it does come back, the first thing to do is to brace yourself. It’s hard to receive criticism, even if it’s constructive, and I don’t think it necessarily gets easier the more you do it. (And friends, there will be criticism; that’s unavoidable—if your editor comes back with hardly any edits, you aren’t getting your money’s worth.) Your editor should be laying down some real talk and being totally honest with you in their assessment, even if it stings a bit. Most of us tend to feel the bad first and more intensely, but you should also hold onto the good that they pull out too.
Read the edits through, and then take a breath and read them again to really absorb what the editor is saying. Does each point feel valid? If it does, great; you can incorporate that feedback into your rewrites. If it doesn’t, figure out why. Is it uncomfortable because the editor is right and it’s going to mean a lot of work to fix it and dammit, that sucks? Or is it uncomfortable because it’s pressing you to make a decision that you don’t think will work for your story? I said this last time too, but trust your gut. Your editor is offering their take on your story from a professional, objective (well, as objective as anyone can be about art) point of view, but you are the one who knows the story best. Possibly there’s something that’s not being communicated properly, either in your words or in the editor’s feedback, so make sure you address this with the editor.
Good communication is so key to the editor-author relationship, so do not be shy in asking the editor to explain their edits further or tell you why they’ve made a change. Often when I’m editing, I’m doing it very instinctively—"okay, so cut this section here, move this word here, query this sentence…” But once I go back, I can always identify why I’ve made those edits (cut because of repetition, moved because the word better amplifies something earlier in the sentence, query because I’m confused about the motivation, e.g.). It’s never just “well, it just sounds better this way.” There’s a reason why it sounds better, and any editor worth their salt should be able to tell you why. Definitely ask any questions of the editor that have come up for you in the edit. Anything you don’t understand or you’re confused about, just ask.
Camaraderie with your editor is also really essential, and it’s something an editor should foster. This is rooted in trust, so make sure from the beginning you trust your editor to have the best interest of your story at heart. As part of one of my editing packages, I include a video call after dev edits, and this is truly my favourite part of editing, when the author and I can sit down and discuss the story in real time. and It helps to make sure that we’re both understanding each other by watching facial expressions and listening to tone, and it’s also so amazing to bounce ideas of each other in real time: “okay, okay, so wait…what if we did this?” “Ooh, okay, that would go well with this thing that happened at the beginning, and that makes sense for her because of X! Yes!” It’s incredibly exciting to watch the story come together right in front of us and energizing for the author to have a clear direction to go forward. No matter what kind of editing you get or if you have face-to-face communication or not, you should have a sense that your editor is as invested in your story as you are and in making sure the editor-author relationship is harmonious.
As much as it’s good to be on the same page with your editor, you will not agree with them on everything, and the editor doesn’t expect you to at all. (I would honestly be concerned if there was nothing in the edits that an author didn’t like or disagree on!) Honestly, I really love it when authors push back on a point—we can discuss it and both state our case and try to convince the other who’s “right.” When I push, I’m doing it not for my ego but to best serve the story, in my opinion. It doesn’t have to be—and shouldn’t be—a battle royale or anything; one person is going to win out, or there’s going to be a compromise somewhere. I only push when I really feel strongly about an edit, but if you’re self-publishing, ultimately you as the author have the final say on what stays in, so listen to the editor’s arguments and see if it makes sense for you and the story first before you decide what to do with that point.
Anna Kendrick driving gif: “Are we in a fight?”
Post-edit
After you’ve gotten the edits back and asked all your questions of the editor, it’s now on you to incorporate the edits that you feel work for your story. Technically, your editor is off the clock at this point, but most don’t mind answering quick questions in email as you go through your edits to clarify things or to ask their opinion on something. (I don’t mind, but check with your editor first.) Depending on the kind of edits you went through and the extent of changes needed, you might need to do a ton of reworking (dev), some rework and a lot of smoothing out (line), or reviewing and accepting (copy). After dev edits, I usually recommend a line or copy edit to make sure the dev edits have been seamlessly integrated in without hurting flow and/or continuity and introducing more errors in.
So to review: the things you really need when you’re working with an editor are trust, respect, communication, and an open mind. With all of this in place, you will hopefully have a really great editing experience that paves the way for a really great book.