What It Means to Be an Editor
It means being humble, and it means being bold.
Can you guess the single most important resource of an editor? It’s not the dictionary, the computer, or the red pen. It’s not their language skills or their knowledge of the subject or genre.
It’s the author’s trust.
If you’re editing a book, paper, or even just a blog post for an author who doesn’t trust you, you’re wasting your time. There is no point in doing the work, as the author will not implement any of the changes you suggest.
If you’ve ever written anything other than a diary entry or an e-mail, you know writers are protective of their work. They get attached to certain words, phrases, or pieces of content. If they’re going to take someone’s advice on what to change (and especially on what to cut out), it better come from a person they trust.
But how do you show an author you‘re serious about their work?
For an author to trust you, they must first believe that you, too, want the best for them and their work. Therefore, my first rule of editing is:
Be Respectful
I have heard so many authors talk about traumatic editing experiences. They see their editors as dictators who come in and delete everything they don’t like…
