The Edit Letter
On Tuesday, I hit a milestone in the publishing sprint/marathon/turtle-crawl. I got my first edit letter. This is book 2 for my series, but book 1 never had an official letter – it was mostly verbal “Can you change this” or “Let’s go back to this version” etc etc. Book 2 was going to be my first, honest to goodness edit letter.
I was terrified to think of what it might contain. There’s always the horror story lurking in the back of your mind:
Dear Jill,
Start Over. Really. This blows.
Love,
Your Awesome Editor
Luckily, this wasn’t the case! My edits were actually pretty light, and the letter clocks in at 7 pages. For those of you wondering what the edit letter contains, here’s a quick and dirty breakdown of what mine has:
Page 1: Editor tells me how much she liked my book and a broad overview of what I did right. Yay!
Page 2: A broad overview of what I need to fix in the story. For me, I short-changed two subplots and have questionable motivation for two characters. Still easy fixes.
Page 3-7: Page notes. For example: “Page 231, you say “200 years but it’s really 400” or “Page 76: Man, she’s kind of being a jerk right here, isn’t she?”
All really great stuff. I printed my manuscript and have started working on it already. I wasn’t sure what my reaction would be – I’ve heard stories of authors weeping, calling their agents ranting about cruel editors, and all over the spectrum. Here’s basically how I reacted:
Page 1: This doesn’t sound bad…
Page 2: Ohmigod – that’s EXACTLY WHAT MY BETAS said. Wow. She caught that!
Page 3 – 7: Er…wow…there are a lot of notes here. 
In all seriousness, I love my notes. My editor knows exactly what I’m trying to do with the book, and there wasn’t really one single thing I disagreed with. She pinpointed my weak-spots with laser accuracy. And sprinkled into the letter are comments about parts that she found funny (which I loved) and parts which were…not (which made me realize I am not as funny as I think I am, hee).
I have difficulty with constructive criticism at the day job, so I was worried I’d be really upset at her notes. As in, must lay in bed and stew for 24 hours before I can possibly read these notes ever again (cue back of hand against forehead). But after reading her notes, I am totally pumped. 100% excited and ready to fix this bad boy.
Here’s the thing, though. You think critiques are hard? Those tough beta-readers? Those agents that gave you feedback that made you curl up into a fetal position? Those editors that passed on your submission because they didn’t like it?
Suck it up, because it doesn’t change now that you have a contract. Your editor is going to ask you to change a lot and she’s only going to sugar-coat it on page one. Your book is now a Product (Yes, I said the “P” word), and she’s going to expect you to act like a professional.
My letter is absolutely great, but my editor doesn’t pull punches. She gives it to me like an adult. If my character acts like an asshole in chapter 20, she tells me. If I write an idiotic phrase, she points it out. And not with “Oh dear, special snowflake! You might have made a mistake! But it’s okay!! I love you!” Nope. Your editor is not there to lovingly stroke your hair and tell you that you are the bestest writer evaaaaaaaarrrr. She is there to make your book successful. And she already thinks you’re awesome because she bought your book. And if she thinks you wrote a moronic subplot in on page 157, she’s going to tell you to take it out, no matter how much you might love it.
If you want petting and love and sympathy, talk to your agent (well, maybe) or your parents (definitely).
But you’d still better fix that shit in your book, or the copyeditor is going to tear you a new one.
(And I got agent notes on a different project yesterday. She didn’t stroke my hair either, come to think of it! But she pegged everything I thought was questionable. Love that. Best Agent Ever.)
