Don’t Be Too Easily Impressed with Your “Editor”

by Carolyn Madison ~ March 19th, 2010. Filed under: Publishing Basics.

“I left a message at the self-publishing company and an editor called me back …”

“I completed a form on the Web site, and the next day I got a call from an editor …”
“My editor called and said … “

Comments such as these make me smile. And I hear them all of the time. The first reason I smile is because I am glad that so many people are happy to hear from editors. Growing up, I always thought editors were cool, because it seemed that people were usually interested in what editors had to say.

I eventually obtained the appropriate academic qualifications, worked as a researcher and writer, and eventually become an editor. But no license, test, or certification was required to call myself an editor. In fact, I noticed that pretty much anyone who wants to do so can deem himself “editor,” whether employed as a professional editor or not. There is no law against it.

Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines “editor” as: someone who edits, especially as an occupation.

That’s right; editors edit.

What kind of an editor do you have?

Does your editor actually edit?
Is he employed as a professional editor?
What genres are her specialties?
Which style guides is he familiar with and does he use regularly in his work?
Is he familiar with the style guide that is most appropriate for editing your manuscript?
Is your editor a developmental editor, a line editor, a managing editor, or a Web content editor, or some other type of editor? (There are many types of editors.)
Does your editor edit books to be sold to the public or academic books to be sold to college biology students?
Does your editor have any experience editing any type of book manuscript at all?
And, does your editor actually spend her time editing manuscripts, or does she talk on the phone in a consulting capacity most of the time?

Although there are many kinds of editors, the one who edits your book manuscript should ideally be one who actually spends time editing book manuscripts in your genre, and one who regularly uses the style guide most appropriate for your manuscript. Is that person the one whom self-publishing authors need to speak with on the phone? Not necessarily.

You may not need to speak with the editor who marks up your manuscript using Word Tracking, because his comments and recommendations are there for you to see. If you have questions, you simply need to speak to someone who knows what those recommendations mean and the reasoning for them. Of course, if you have a question that only the editor who read your entire manuscript can address, arrangements should be made to obtain that editor’s input.

The point is that the editors who do the best job of editing manuscripts tend to spend a lot of time doing just that—editing manuscripts. They do not tend to spend much time talking on the phone to their clients. Many of them don’t even especially like to talk on the phone much.

So, as the author, just be aware that the “editor” you are talking to on the phone may not be an editor who works on manuscripts most of the time. Hopefully, you are talking with an “editor” who also spends or has spent a lot of time working on manuscripts—someone who knows a lot about editing manuscripts and can give you good answers to your editing questions.

I caution you to not assume that the person you are speaking with on the phone has that kind of editing experience, however. Keep in mind that anyone can call herself an “editor,” and there is a tendency for salespeople or consultants to want to call themselves editors; it boosts their perceived credibility with authors.

It is more costly to hire actual editors to speak to authors and potential publishing clients on the phone. So why not just put people without book editing experience on the phones and call them editors? That will save money—and inexperienced authors won’t know the difference anyway. Right?