We’ve spent the last several posts looking at what happens when you put your manuscript in an editor’s hands.
How does an editor know what your manuscript needs?
What can you expect after editorial feedback?
What am I missing when I read my own manuscript?
Can an editor be wrong about your manuscript?
Why do two editors provide different feedback?
And why does editing feel so personal?
Those questions are important because editing isn’t simply a matter of finding mistakes and fixing them.
But there’s another question underneath all of them:
What happens when an author and editor have to work together?
I asked two authors I’ve interviewed for this blog about their experiences working with editors, and their answers made one thing especially clear:
The relationship matters.
The Right Editor Isn’t Just the Right Editor on Paper
When I interviewed children’s book author Stephanie Riley about working with an editor, she talked about finding someone she clicked with.
That phrase stayed with me.
She didn’t simply say that her editor had the right credentials or knew children’s books. She talked about being able to communicate openly and honestly with her editor and about building a relationship that helped reduce the stress of the editing process.
That’s something authors don’t always think about when they’re looking for an editor.
You may compare experience, services, genres, qualifications, and rates.
You should.
But you’re also going to have conversations with this person about something you’ve spent months or years creating.
You need to be able to talk to each other.
You need to feel comfortable asking questions.
And you need to know you can tell the editor when you don’t understand something or see it differently.
If you’re wondering how an editor’s experience and judgment come into play when evaluating a manuscript, How Does an Editor Know What Your Manuscript Needs? explores that question in more detail.
You can also read more about Stephanie’s experience in The Children’s Book Editing Process: An Interview with Author Stephanie Riley (Part II).
The Wrong Experience Can Change What You Look For
S. P. Brown’s experience shows the other side of this.
Her first experience with an editor wasn’t a good one. When she later needed an editor for her children’s book, she approached the search differently.
She wanted someone with relevant experience, but she also looked for someone with a background in English and teaching. She ultimately found her editor through a recommendation from another author.
Her second experience was very different.
She described her editor’s feedback as honest but constructive and found the style sheet helpful because it gave her a better understanding of the editorial decisions being made.
Her experience led her to a strong conclusion:
“The choice of editor will dictate whether your editing process will be a positive one.”
I think that’s worth remembering.
Hiring an editor isn’t only a decision about the manuscript.
It’s a decision about who you’re going to trust with the manuscript.
Read more about S. P. Brown’s experiences in Working with an Editor: Author S. P. Brown Shares Her Experiences (Part II).
What Does “A Good Fit” Actually Mean?
There’s no formula for this.
The editor who’s perfect for one author may not be the right editor for another.
You may want an editor who explains everything. Another author may prefer someone who makes concise comments and lets them work independently.
You may want regular communication throughout the project. Another author may prefer to receive the completed editorial letter and manuscript and work through them on their own.
Some authors want a lot of conversation.
Some don’t.
That’s why I don’t think “finding the right editor” means finding the editor everyone else likes.
It means finding an editor whose way of working fits what you need.
That requires some honesty on your part, too.
What kind of help are you actually looking for?
Do you want someone to explain the reasoning behind the feedback?
Do you want someone who will ask questions rather than provide solutions?
Do you need an editor who understands your particular kind of book?
Do you want an editor who can also coach you through the revision?
Those are useful questions to answer before you hire someone.
A Good Relationship Doesn’t Mean the Editor Makes You Comfortable All the Time
This is an important distinction.
A good editor may make you uncomfortable.
You may receive feedback you don’t like.
You may discover that the manuscript isn’t as finished as you thought it was.
You may have to rethink something you were certain about.
None of that means the relationship is bad.
In fact, a relationship in which the editor never makes you uncomfortable may not be giving you much.
What matters is what happens next.
Can you think about the feedback?
Can you ask questions?
Can you disagree?
Can you go back to the manuscript and work?
Do you still feel that the editor is working with you rather than against you?
That’s a very different kind of comfort.
I’ve written more about why editorial feedback can hit so close to home in Why Does Editing Feel So Personal?
Trust Doesn’t Mean Agreement
I don’t think an author needs to agree with an editor in order to trust the editor.
You can trust that your editor knows what she’s seeing and still decide not to make a particular change.
You can trust that an editor understands your genre and still explain why you made a particular choice.
You can disagree about a sentence and still have a productive relationship.
Trust means you believe the other person is approaching the work in good faith.
It doesn’t mean you surrender your judgment.
And disagreement between an author and editor doesn’t necessarily mean that one of them is wrong. As I discussed in Can an Editor Be Wrong About Your Manuscript?, editorial judgment involves interpretation, experience, and context.
The same is true when two editors respond differently to the same manuscript. Why Do Two Editors Give Different Feedback? looks at why that can happen.
Those differences don’t have to make an editorial relationship adversarial.
They can give the author more to think about.
The Editor Needs to Trust the Author, Too
This part doesn’t get talked about as much.
An editor also needs to trust the author.
Not necessarily to agree with every recommendation, but to think about the feedback.
To ask questions.
To make decisions.
To do the work.
An editor can point out a problem, but the author is the one who has to decide how to solve it.
Sometimes the solution will be the one the editor suggested.
Sometimes it won’t.
Sometimes the author will find a better solution that neither of us had considered.
That’s part of the process.
My job isn’t to make every decision for the author.
It’s to give the author useful information and help them think through the manuscript.
That’s one reason having another reader can be so valuable. In What Are You Missing When You Read Your Own Manuscript?, I wrote about how difficult it is to see your own work with the same distance a new reader brings.
An editor isn’t replacing the author’s knowledge of the manuscript.
The editor is adding another perspective.
Communication Matters Before, During, and After the Edit
A good relationship doesn’t begin when the editor opens the Word document.
It begins when you first talk about the project.
That’s when expectations can be established.
What kind of editing is needed?
What does the author hope to accomplish?
What does the editor actually provide?
What will the process look like?
How will questions be handled?
What happens if the scope of the project changes?
Those conversations may not be as exciting as talking about the manuscript itself, but they can prevent misunderstandings later.
And communication doesn’t stop when the edited manuscript is returned.
Sometimes an author needs time to sit with the feedback.
Sometimes questions come up during revision.
Sometimes the author discovers something that wasn’t apparent during the first conversation.
A good working relationship leaves room for that.
The Relationship Should Serve the Manuscript
There’s one more thing I think is important.
The author-editor relationship isn’t the end goal.
The manuscript is.
The relationship exists to help the author make the best decisions possible for the book.
That means the editor can’t become so attached to a particular recommendation that it becomes more important than the manuscript.
It also means the author can’t become so attached to a particular sentence or idea that the book’s needs no longer matter.
Both people have to be able to step back.
What’s best for this book?
What’s best for its intended reader?
What is the author trying to accomplish?
Those questions should keep bringing the conversation back to the work.
Sometimes a Good Relationship Lasts Beyond One Manuscript
When an author and editor work well together, there’s no reason the relationship has to end with one project.
The editor learns how the author works.
The author learns how the editor thinks.
Communication becomes easier.
The author may begin to recognize some of the issues the editor would have pointed out.
And the editor may need to explain less because the author has learned what to look for.
That’s one of the things I like most about working with authors over time.
The goal isn’t to keep them dependent on me. It’s to help them grow.
If the next manuscript comes in stronger because the author has learned something from the previous one, that’s a success.
So, What Does a Good Author-Editor Relationship Look Like?
After all these posts, I don’t think there’s one simple answer.
It doesn’t mean the author accepts every recommendation.
It doesn’t mean the editor is always right.
It doesn’t mean the author never feels frustrated.
And it doesn’t mean the two people agree about everything.
Those questions have already had their own posts.
For me, a good author-editor relationship comes down to something simpler.
Can we talk honestly about the work?
Can the author ask questions without feeling foolish?
Can the editor raise a concern without the author feeling attacked?
Can the author disagree without the editor becoming defensive?
Can the editor explain a recommendation without insisting that it’s the only possible solution?
Can both of us recognize that we’re looking at the same manuscript from different positions?
And when the project is finished, does the author feel that the manuscript is stronger and that they understand it—and their own writing—a little better?
That’s what I’m looking for.
Not a relationship in which the editor becomes the authority and the author becomes the student.
Not one in which the author hires an editor and expects the editor to fix everything.
A working relationship.
Two people bringing different knowledge and experience to the same manuscript.
And enough trust and communication between them to make that difference useful.
That’s what a good author-editor relationship looks like to me.
It’s professional.
It’s honest.
It’s respectful.
And, ideally, by the time the work is finished, the author has a stronger manuscript and a better understanding of their own writing.
That’s the kind of editing relationship I want to offer.
It’s also why I believe the relationship should begin before the editing does—with a conversation about your manuscript, your goals, and what kind of editorial support will actually help you move forward.
If you’re looking for an editor who will work with you rather than simply hand you a list of changes, I’d love to hear about your manuscript. Tell me about your project and what kind of help you’re looking for, and we can talk about whether we’re a good fit.
Editing should strengthen the writer, not just the manuscript.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do I Know Whether an Editor Is a Good Fit for Me?
Look at more than an editor’s credentials. Consider their experience with your type of book, the services they offer, how they communicate, and whether you feel comfortable talking with them about your manuscript.
What Should I Ask an Editor Before Hiring Them?
Ask about their experience with your type of manuscript, the kind of editing they provide, how they approach feedback, how the process works, and what communication you can expect during the project.
Does a Good Author-Editor Relationship Mean We Have to Agree?
No. A productive relationship can include disagreement. The important thing is that both author and editor can discuss their different perspectives respectfully.
Should I Expect My Editor to Explain Every Change?
Not necessarily. The amount of explanation depends on the type of editing and the agreement between you and your editor. You shouldn’t need an explanation for every comma, but significant editorial decisions should be understandable, and you should feel comfortable asking questions when you need clarification.
Can I Work With the Same Editor on More Than One Book?
Yes. Working with the same editor over multiple projects can make communication easier and allow both the author and editor to build on what they’ve learned from previous work.
About Cassie Armstrong
Cassie Armstrong is the owner of MorningStar Editing LLC and has more than 19 years of experience helping authors strengthen their manuscripts through manuscript evaluations, coaching, copyediting, proofreading, and mentoring.
She specializes in children’s books, cookbooks, and craft/how-to books and combines her publishing experience with a teacher’s perspective to help authors grow as writers.
Her philosophy is simple:
Editing should strengthen the writer, not just the manuscript.