Editorial Toxic Traits...
How to spot them and avoid them!
I wear a lot of hats as a self-employed creative. I teach editing and writing courses, I edit books for authors just starting out and for bestsellers alike. I ghostwrite, coach, counsel, and mentor. One of the areas that I spend a lot of time doing that doesn’t exactly fall under the umbrella of the things I’ve already listed is…fixing. Maybe cleaning! Here’s what I mean.
Editors are like plants... Some are healing, some are toxic!!
What I’ve found working with both authors and aspiring editors is that editing is a skill that requires far more than superb reading skills. Here are the top three “toxic traits” that I’ve seen damage the editor-author relationship.
The editor over-edits/over-edits for the stage the work is in.
This might sound like a dream problem to have, right? Someone cares enough about your work to go deep and get in there! In reality, each type of editor needs to know their role and execute that role effectively.
Here’s what I mean. Imagine you hire a copyeditor to tidy up the grammar and punctuation of your nonfiction title. You should expect an expert copyeditor to deliver exactly that: technical corrections that fix errors and improve the readability of the work.
What if you receive a document with all kinds of Tracked Changes that includes revisions of your voice, your message, and your work?
Here’s an example from a recent project I supervised. (I changed the details to protect the author and editor!)
Original sentence from a memoir: Sitting in my home office, the cloud-filled sky matched my mood.
Now, I can tell you that there is a dangling modifier in this sentence. Sitting in my office should modify ME (the narrator), not the sky. The simplest revision of this sentence and the one that preserves the author’s voice would be to flag the dangling modifier in a comment and offer a revision NOT inline but in that comment.
I might have edited this with this comment: Sitting in my home office is a modifier that needs to sit directly next to “you,” the narrator, in this sentence. A simple revision would be to add the word as: As I sat in my home office, the cloud-filled sky matched my mood.
By changing the adjective clause in the opening, I’ve offered the least aggressive correction that preserves the author’s tone and fulfills my duty as a copyeditor.
Here is the revision that the editor working on this piece made:
As I sat in my home office, I felt the darkness of my past gather like the storm clouds in the sky outside.
Now, you might like this revision, and that’s okay! But the editor here added a lot to the work that was not there before. We don’t have context for this short example, but what if the author’s intent was not to reflect “darkness” but something else? What if the clouds were not storm clouds? Now you might assume that the context would lead the other editor to make informed choices, but in this case, that did not happen. The editor overlaid her own impressions of what should have been in the text based solely on their interpretation of what would “sound good.”
If you were the author, would you be grateful that someone overwrote your words and added content—whether directly through new words, or indirectly through connotations and subtext—that had not been part of your original?
Maybe yes… I’m not saying that’s not possible or an effective editor-author relationship. But if this memoir had already gone through line edits and content edits, the copyeditor might be opening a whole bag of worms at a very late stage in the process that creates more work, drama, and stress for the author.
An impactful editor should stay within the constraints of the assignment based on not only the type of edit they are offering but also the stage the work itself is in!
If your editor makes objective changes based on technical corrections or structural concerns, they should be able to articulate why they recommend that change. If the change is subjective—meaning based in that editors’s opinion—they should not only be able to explain why the revision is meaningful but appropriate for the stage of editing the work is in!
The editor is unable to educate you on the nuances of the current publishing market.
When I read a work as a developmental editor, I’m not simply reading for something subjective like my taste. I bring to the work a sense of not only the market expectations for that genre/sub-genre, but trends that factor into my feedback.
I recently provided a manuscript assessment to an author who thought romance would be a fun genre to break into. My assessment recommended some very aggressive changes. Not because the writing was bad or the story did not check all the boxes a romance reader would expect.
The piece wildly departed from the contemporary romance reader’s expectations regarding consent and protection.
When training editors, I always stress the importance of offering a client objective education as well as subjective feedback. What you like, what works, and what doesn’t can certainly be part of an editorial assessment. But if your editor cannot educate you on the genre or sub-genre you’re writing in and the ways your work fits that space or falls short, your editor is little more than a beta reader! (And you should be paying beta reader rates for their work!)
Trends change fast, friends. You need your editor to understand how POVs have changed in the thriller space if you’re writing a thriller, how to build a series arc if you’re writing a romance duology versus a series, and what mistakes first-time memoirists make every single time. Ask your editor what they read in your genre—not just what they edit.
Like effective authors must find time to read in their genre, so must effective editors! But more than just reading what we like, editors need to be informed so we can apply that data to our clients’ work.
The editor doesn’t run a professional practice.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve rescued projects from clients whose editor disappeared, didn’t communicate, didn’t finish the work, or simply blew a critical deadline.
Look, life happens. And in the freelance space, when life happens, sometimes the work will suffer. I’ve gotten Covid, had family issues, or had deadlines unexpectedly stack in ways that had me scrambling. I’m not saying editors need to be perfect or superhuman.
What editors must do, however, is communicate with clients and have a functional business that allows for the fluctuations inherent in the work we do.
Some projects that I estimated would take me 20 hours took 45 hours—because the first chapter that I used as a sample to base both my rates and the time allowed for that project was the cleanest chapter of the work. This happens. But because I have tools in place to manage my schedule, I can accommodate the unexpected without too much impact to my health and balance and my other clients’ needs.
When hiring an editor, please, please consider the following:
Do they have a professional website? I know this seems basic, but many editors offer under-market rates because they do not invest in the infrastructure required to run a business. Not having a website where you can view testimonials and vet that the person is reliable should be a sign that perhaps when the going gets tough, it will be “easy” for that editor to ghost you. Their website should include Terms of Service and outline any policies such as payment terms, refunds, cancellations, etc.
Do they offer wildly undermarket rates? I know it can be very tough to afford pro editing, especially if you’re an indie just starting out. But you will likely find that you get what you pay for and then some when you hire an experienced editor. When I get busy, I refer work to other editors. In order to know if I’m too busy, I rely on tools that I spend money on every month to keep me on schedule and on deadline. I could not do that if I didn’t charge fair but competitive rates for my time. If you don’t know what the market rates for your editor are, you can use the guidelines posted by the Editorial Freelancers Association as a guide. (And remember, editors with experience and infrastructure often offer payment plans!)
Can they provide testimonials and references? Many authors want free samples edits from editors they consider working with. A free sample edit is just one of the many factors that should go into an author’s decision. Knowing who that editor has worked with and what that other author’s experience has been is key to knowing not only that you’ll be a good fit editorially to that person, but to feeling confident that the editor is professional in all other aspects of the relationship they will have with you!
Editors are not all created equal. There are some folks early in their career who can’t yet afford the tools that a more experienced editor has in place. For years, I didn’t have a website and only worked on projects that were referred to me by publishers! But once I opened up to individual clients, I knew I had to ensure that I was not only ready with the skills the clients would need but the tools.
Have questions about hiring or finding an editor? Have a horror story? Or are you looking to become an editor and want to know how to receive practical training? Post a comment or question and I’ll help!
I think I'm in good hands based on this post. haha Well done, as always, Jeanne.