Suggested reading: Who Is Mary Sue & Why Don’t Readers Like Her?
Tbh this is why I so enjoy editing any author's first novel. They have poured their heart and soul into the MC, often after years of reflection and experiences that end up in the text.
This is one reason first-time authors might feel apprehensive handing over their copy to an editor. Not only is this the first time their work is getting judged read by anyone in the publishing industry, but it can feel like handing over your own child.
They have made their first MC in their own image; it's only natural. It can be scary to hand that copy to a stranger, especially when it's that stranger's job to perform surgery on that copy!
So as editors, it is our job to help the author feel safe in handing over their child. They need to be included in the process (if they want to), and they need to be assured that their editor will bring out the very best of their own voice. They need to be assured that every aspect of themselves they have poured into their MC will ultimately be communicated even more clearly and more faithfully in the final copy.
