Hello! I've been trying to take the plunge into writing for a while now (years) and I was just wondering - at what point do you get an editor? Is it after you have finished writing? During? Do you pay them? Or does a publisher sort this stuff for you? Agh :( daunting. Love from a writer with commitment issues x
Hi nonny,
This is a bit of a complex question, and twofold. The first part of your question pertains to writing, and the second pertains to publishing. Although writing and publishing are related, they are actually two separate things. I’ll try my best to tackle one at a time.
As for the first: whether or not you write is a personal decision that I, nor anyone else, can make for you. But the advice I can give is this: write because you want to, not because you seek publication or external validation. Write because you want to tell yourself stories you want to read. Write because it brings you joy. Write because you want to, because there is no guarantee you will be published.
Now, onto publishing. Publishing, unlike writing, is a business. Writing is a craft and an art, but primary purpose of publishing is to make money. This is neither good nor bad; it just is. I tell you this because I want people to take their first steps toward publishing—either traditional or self—fully informed and aware of the magnitude of the decision. It’s not a decision to be made lightly.
I come from the traditional publishing side, so my perspective will necessarily be biased towards that. Before I became an author, I was an editor, so I’m pretty well-acquainted with the entire process. So…at what point in the traditional publication process do you get an editor?
Answer: After you’ve written your book.
The way acquisition at big publishing houses works is this: an editor reads a manuscript, loves it, gets other people at their imprint to read it and love it, and if all goes well, then the editor persuades the publisher to let them have some money to buy the book. If the author accepts the offer, then the two of them work together to strengthen the manuscript and get it ready for publication. The publisher doesn’t assign an editor because the editor is generally the one buying the book. But the editor can’t acquire your book if you haven’t finished writing it.
I actually co-host a podcast about publishing and writing at Pub(lishing) Crawl, where I and my friend Kelly van Sant (a literary agent and publishing contracts expert) try and de-mystify the process for neophytes. (Here’s the link to iTunes.) Hope this helps.
