The Value of Working With an Editor
Many beginning writers find it hard to relinquish their work for professional editing. Ego has no place when it comes to getting help with a manuscript! A good editor can give your book the boost it needs in order to be noticed and accepted for publication. I was very lucky last year to get an introduction to a professional book editor through a mutual friend, and I'm very thankful I got the chance to get that caliber of assistance.
What can a good editor do for you? Well, a good example is mystery writer Patricia Cornwell (Body of Evidence, etc.). She started her writing career with Scribner New York. She received a few thousand dollars for her first manuscript, and six million for her second. While at Scribner, she had an excellent editor. He reshaped her work and made it readable - her first few books went to press in excellent form.
She then changed to Penguin Putnam in 1995 because they offered her better advances and royalties. When she made the change, she lost the editor with whom she had been working, and the quality of her writing dropped noticeably.
A good editor can make a good manuscript excellent. Writers who object to changing their work to fit the expectations of an editor are doing themselves a disfavor.
Anyone who wants to be published must, must, must submit their work to an expert, or at least to someone with knowledge of what constitutes good writing, for opinions and suggestions. When a manuscript is read by someone who knows what they're doing, mistakes become apparent. The writer can't see those mistakes because he or she is too close to the work, and trying to self-edit is an exercise in futility.
Write, rewrite, and polish your own work, but don't try to self-edit. It just doesn't work.
Professional editors are expensive, yes, but isn't it worth it in the long run if it leads to your work being accepted for publication?
What can a good editor do for you? Well, a good example is mystery writer Patricia Cornwell (Body of Evidence, etc.). She started her writing career with Scribner New York. She received a few thousand dollars for her first manuscript, and six million for her second. While at Scribner, she had an excellent editor. He reshaped her work and made it readable - her first few books went to press in excellent form.
She then changed to Penguin Putnam in 1995 because they offered her better advances and royalties. When she made the change, she lost the editor with whom she had been working, and the quality of her writing dropped noticeably.
A good editor can make a good manuscript excellent. Writers who object to changing their work to fit the expectations of an editor are doing themselves a disfavor.
Anyone who wants to be published must, must, must submit their work to an expert, or at least to someone with knowledge of what constitutes good writing, for opinions and suggestions. When a manuscript is read by someone who knows what they're doing, mistakes become apparent. The writer can't see those mistakes because he or she is too close to the work, and trying to self-edit is an exercise in futility.
Write, rewrite, and polish your own work, but don't try to self-edit. It just doesn't work.
Professional editors are expensive, yes, but isn't it worth it in the long run if it leads to your work being accepted for publication?
posted
by easeandgrace
