Editing Anxieties: What if my book editor’s mean?

This post is part of a series on different worries authors mention when talking about editors. You can read the rest of the Editing Anxieties series here.

I think we’ve all heard the stories about terribly unkind editors with their red pens, hacking and slashing at novels and writing comments like “Boring,” “Drivel,” “Try not to be so droll,” etc. (Okay, except with maybe a little more modern language than that.)

Getting feedback on your book is already daunting enough without knowing that your editor is going to be super harsh.

So is this stereotype true? Are editors really that mean?

Editing doesn’t have to be harsh or unkind.

I think we as a society associate the truth with being harsh. Thus we believe feedback can’t possibly be true if it isn’t delivered as bluntly and unkindly as possible. We believe feedback has to hurt to be valuable.

But that’s just not true. Feedback, even critical feedback, can be both true and kind. And harsh feedback isn’t true just because it’s harsh—it can be untrue feedback too.

Often feedback does hurt a little, even if delivered as kindly as possible, but that doesn’t mean we can’t diminish the hurt wherever possible.

This societal belief is especially applied to editors, I’ve noticed! I can’t count the number of times authors have apologized to me for their typos, as if I might be personally offended at each and every one.

But the truth is that most of us editors are a pretty easygoing, kind bunch. At least the ones I hang out with are! We love words and stories, just like you do. And though we’re good at spotting mistakes, we’re not out here criticizing you for making them in the first place. Otherwise we wouldn’t have jobs, obviously.

With that being said, though…

Yeah, some editors are mean.

Just like every other profession or passion, there’s all sorts of personality types in editing. You can find jerk editors just as easily as you can find jerk authors, jerk dentists, or jerk cashiers. People are people, after all, and editors are no exception.

But I will admit that editing as a profession seems to draw in nitpickers and pet peevers. I think a lot of these people are looking for a “socially acceptable” way to release their pent-up aggression, so they do it on authors, the same way someone might become a fitness instructor so they can yell at people for being out of shape all day.

It’s not fair, but there are people out there like that.

I also think some newbie editors themselves believe the stereotype that editors are harsh and critical, so they adopt that persona for themselves, thus perpetuating the cycle.

So how do you avoid mean editors?

Take your time and vet them!

The first thing to do is look at everything they’ve put out for the public to read. Do they have a website? A blog? A social media account?

Do some poking around.

Read their website, their blog, their social media posts. Subscribe to their email newsletter if they have one.

As you read, ask yourself these questions:

• How does this person talk about their job? Do they seem happy and enthusiastic, or do they seem annoyed all the time?

• How does this person talk about the authors they’ve worked with? Does it seem like they think their clients are idiots, or do they show a lot of respect and admiration for their clients?

• How does this person talk about editing? Do they complain a lot? Do they act like editing is a major burden on them?

• How does this person talk about books and the publishing industry in general? Are they super critical of the books they’re reading? Do they constantly criticize a certain publishing path or genre?

If their public postings and persona look good, that’s a good sign! But you still don’t want to jump all in yet.

Next up is first contact!

• Send an inquiry email and pay attention to the editor’s response. Are they short with you? Do they seem annoyed at having to answer your questions? Are they dismissive of your concerns? An editor should be happy to speak with a potential client, so if you’re getting tetchy vibes from the very first email, that’s not a good sign.

• If you make it past the first email, ask the editor to tell you more about their editing style. Do they mention words like “harsh” or “stickler” or “strict”? These are hints that they could be a mean editor. Proceed, but do so with caution.

• Ask the editor if they have any pet peeves. If they enthusiastically get back to you with a giant list of things that bother them, that’s not a good sign. It’s fair for an editor to have one or two things that particularly bother them (we are human, after all), but a miles-long list is not a good look, and often means they’ll be way too harsh on your book.

• If you’ve made it past the initial communication step, ask for a sample edit if the editor offers them. Not all editors do—that in itself is a caution flag but not a red one. Some offer paid sample edits instead of free—this is also normal. But if the editor seems annoyed or angry that you even asked, that is a red flag, and I’d drop that editor and look for someone else.

• If the editor agrees to the sample edit, assess the sample when you get it back. Are the comments helpful and/or informative? Or are they just harsh or blunt? How does the tone of the comments come off? Do they feel professional, if not kind or warm? Or do they just feel judgey and annoyed?

If you’ve made it this far with no signs of irritability or harshness, then it’s probably safe to say that this isn’t a mean editor! Congrats!

What if I already hired my editor and they turned out to be mean?

It’s crushing to get your book back with all kinds of harsh and unkind comments all over it. I’m really sorry that happened to you, and I hate that there are editors out here doing this to authors. Really makes my blood boil more than any typo ever could!

Here’s what you can do:

If you’re willing to keep talking to them, ask them to clarify any comments that weren’t helpful.

For example, if they highlighted a passage and wrote “boring” in a comment, ask them, “What exactly was boring about this passage? How exactly do you recommend I fix it?”

You can do this via email, or if there’s a lot of comments like this, you can just reply to them within the document and send the whole thing back with your replies, asking them to check your replies and respond.

Best-case scenario here, the editor will reply to your questions with more details, and you’ll at least get some useful feedback out of the experience, even if you didn’t have a good time overall.

If the editor asks for a testimonial or has a feedback form, tell them how you felt about the edit honestly.

Obviously, you don’t have to be as harsh to them as they were to you, but you can say something like “I’m not satisfied with the editing I received, so I’m not comfortable giving you a testimonial. I felt belittled and judged by your comments, and I’m even more confused after your editing than I was beforehand.”

Also, ask them not to add your book to their portfolio, if they have one: “Please don’t add my book to your editing portfolio.”

Sometimes feedback like this can be a wake-up call that spurs someone to change their ways. A lot of times it’s not, but if you’re comfortable giving it, it can be a good learning experience for the editor as well.

Don’t forget to take another look at your contract. (You had a contract, didn’t you? I hope you did!) There might be some information in there about what happens if you’re not satisfied with the editing you received. Maybe it won’t work work out in your favor, but it could be that you can get a partial refund or a re-edit if you’re unsatisfied. Always worth a check!

And the last thing to do is tell others about your bad experience. I wouldn’t put the editor on social media blast unless they did something truly unethical (you could open yourself up to a defamation lawsuit), but the whisper network is your friend. When author friends ask for editor recommendations, be sure to DM them and mention who you don’t recommend. Protect your friends from having the same experience!

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If you vet your potential editor well, your chances of working with a mean editor are way, way lower. There are plenty of kind ones out there, me included! If you want to work together, take a look at my editing services for fantasy and sci-fi authors: editorial evaluations, custom story bibles, and copyediting.

My feedback is always both honest and kind. Just because I’m nice doesn’t mean my feedback’s frivolous or insubstantial. Let’s get your book to be the best it can be together!

And if I’m not the editor you need? Best of luck on your editor search! I know you’ll find a great one!