The "How to Write Your Book" Series was published in its original form in Writer’s Digest Magazine in 1997 and 1998 as “The Evolution of a Book,” and later reprinted as a long special section in the 1999 Writer’s Yearbook Extra titled “How to Write Your Book.” I revised the articles for online publication.

Part Four

Working with Your Editor

How to collaborate in achieving your best book

© 1997-2000, Paul D. McCarthy All rights reserved.

My previous three articles in this series, Part One: From Concept to Outline, Part Two: From Outline to Complete Manuscript, and Part Three: From Complete to Fully Revised Manuscript, described the creative progression from the idea for the book to the revised manuscript that's ready to be sent to your editor.

In this concluding article, I'll describe: 

Now, though, I want to share some thoughts about editors. I've been a book editor and a writer for many years. I have edited and been edited, and while I think I've helped my authors, I know without question that my editors have been an enormous help to me. Therefore:

Never forget how valuable your editor can be, and take full advantage of what good editors offer: skillful analysis, a solid understanding of your audience, great imagination in suggesting ways to improve your book, and a deep commitment to helping you as much as possible.

Anything your editor does that helps you make the book better is worth having, and of course, the more help you get, the better the book will be.

Editors are chronically overworked. Your editor will do the best he can but it will be a struggle. You can make it easier for him by being receptive to his thoughts and suggestions, patient, appreciative, and motivating. In turn, he is likely to try to do even more for you.

Maybe you feel you shouldn't have to work so hard to get your editor to do his job but that's up to you. Remember though, your ultimate goal is achieving the best book, and if appreciating and motivating your editor, gets you closer to that goal, then appreciate and motivate. In the end, you'll be the one who gains the most anyway.

Presenting The Fully Revised Manuscript To Your Editor

As a courtesy, let your editor know ahead of time that you're sending in the revised manuscript, and confirm that this is a good time for him to be receiving it, that he can read it and later edit it in a reasonable amount of time. If he's crazed, it may be better to wait a bit.

When you send it in, share with your editor, by phone or letter, your thoughts about the revised manuscript-strengths, weaknesses, and anything else you'd like him to be thinking about while reading.

Your editor will probably respond in two stages: read the manuscript and discuss it with you, then do the actual editing.

It's appropriate to ask your editor, when you send in the manuscript, how long before he reads it so you'll know when to expect his initial, important response.

Now, you wait, as patiently as you can. Take a break from the book. Recharge. There will be plenty to do once the editing comes in.

If your editor's very late in responding, follow up but diplomatically. Your patience will certainly be appreciated.

After Your Editor's First Reading

When your editor has read the manuscript and called you, ask him for enough time to have an extended discussion because there are a number of important questions you'll want to ask:

1. What are his general thoughts about the book, not only what needs work but what you've done well, and about anything else that came to him while reading?

His editorial perspective and thinking will help you understand your book better.

2. How close is the manuscript to acceptability, to the extent that he can tell after one reading, and therefore how extensive does he think the editing is going to be? Minimal, massive, moderate?

Since the acceptance of the manuscript means that the publisher has committed to publishing the book, this is a significant issue. If the book needs only a little work or extensive revision but will certainly be acceptable once the revisions have been made, that's a relief.

If the book needs massive revision, and your editor can't be sure yet about ultimate acceptability, that's very hard and scary to deal with but at least you know what and how large the problem is, and you can therefore address it more effectively.

You and the editor/publisher have the same goal: a book that will achieve the maximum critical and popular success. While protecting your creative interests, keep the publisher's interests in mind, and remember that the editor's only there to help you. Don't lose that advantage by shutting him off.

Keep a completely open mind to everything your editor requests or does, consider all of it deeply, and then make your decisions on the basis of what you think is best for your book but also what your editor thinks will be most successful.

3. What is your editor's ambition for you and your book? That ambition on your behalf may go beyond acceptability. Your editor may confirm that you've turned in a good book that will be acceptable with only minor revisions but then go on to express his vision of an even better book which you can achieve with considerably more work.
You may decide to do only what's necessary to make the manuscript acceptable, but even then, there's still a chance that as you keep working, you'll find new motivation and go back to your editor ready to be challenged.

However, if you understand and agree with your editor's vision, or at least his ambition even if not all the particulars of what he has in mind, if you're willing to stretch, risk, engage in extensive further development and revision, and in every other way rise to your editor's creative challenge to you, then commit to working with your editor until you achieve your full creative potential by developing and revising the manuscript until it's the best book you're able to write at this time and with this particular material.
Whatever you decide, tell your editor now so he knows how to proceed.

4. Is there anything you should be doing or thinking about while he gets to and then does the editing?

Perhaps he suggests additional research, or asks you to work on the title, or prepare a list of portions of the book that could be cut for pace, for him to consider when he's doing the editing. But if there isn't anything, go back to relaxing. Later, you're going to need all that energy you're storing.

5. What form will the editing be in? Written, verbal or both? 

Depending on which is most effective and comfortable for both of you, your editor may discuss his thoughts with you so you have the opportunity to respond immediately to everything he says, or give them to you in writing, so you can consider them and perhaps discuss them with him later. He may also combine the two approaches, calling first and following up with written notes, or first writing and then calling.

If your editor has added to, rewritten, restructured, or cut the manuscript, he'll give you the edited manuscript showing his changes so you can review them, perhaps explaining his changes in a call or by letter.

6. Will he do the editing all at one time, or does the extent and nature of the development and revision require that the editing be done in stages?

Your editor may feel that it's best to address all the problems and possible changes at one time so you have a full understanding of everything that he's suggesting you do or approve.

Alternately, perhaps there are major problems so evident that your editor wants you to address them first, before he does extensive or detailed editing. There may also be smaller, specific problems that he can describe and get you started on, while he finishes other work he's doing.

7. What is his schedule? Approximately when does he think he'll be able to give you his editorial thoughts and notes and the edited manuscript?

His response allows you to begin planning an approximate schedule of work.
After you've finished your discussions, if there's work you need to do now, do it. Otherwise, prepare yourself to receive, consider and act on the editing when you get it.

Receiving & Considering the Editing

At some point, your editor gives you his response, asking questions (why like this?), making suggestions (perhaps do it this way) and comments (this doesn't work, or this is terrific), and perhaps explaining the minimal or extensive changes he's made in the manuscript.

Whatever your editor's response, and whether it comes all at once or in stages, make sure you fully comprehend his thinking and intentions, and his overall vision of the best book you're both working towards.

Of course, you have your own vision, which guided you during the writing, completion and revision of the manuscript before you sent it to your editor, but you're now ready to learn how your editor's thinking enhances and changes your own, so that you can appropriately revise and refine your vision of your book.

In the course of your discussions, you may both change your thinking about what constitutes the best book, and mutually develop a new combined vision.

For example, you may have written an objective, balanced biography of a very controversial scientist. Your editor though feels that you've gone too far in your effort to be fair, to the point of ignoring or minimizing some of the scientist's most offensive beliefs, and asks you to add more information about the scientist's dark side, so the biography is more psychologically comprehensive.

You understand your editor's point but you feel that he's going too far in the negative direction, so you persuasively explain your reasoning, and the two of you adjust your idea of what the biography should be and settle on adding more of the dark side but not as much as he originally asked for.

If you're working with your editor by phone or in person, keep talking until you're satisfied that you know exactly how he sees the final manuscript and what he's asking for, whether you agree with it or not.

If you get his thoughts in writing along with the edited manuscript, read and reread the questions and comments in the editorial notes, and consider carefully his changes. Then, clarify with your editor whatever you're not sure about, and discuss with him whatever you may disagree with, choose to do differently, or would like his further thinking on.

It's only by understanding totally your editor's thinking that you can make the best creative decisions about the manuscript. Your editor has a reason for everything he does or suggests, and if you know that reason, you can incorporate it in your own thinking about the manuscript. Even if you decide not to act on a suggestion or approve a change, the suggestion and change may well have stimulated your imagination and helped you see your own ways to improve the book.

You don't have to get everything worked out ahead of time but clarify as much as you can now, and have a strong idea about the work you're going to do next. The more concrete your vision of the best book is, the more easily you'll see how to achieve it.

Later, as you work, discuss with your editor anything you're not completely sure about. It's much better to get your editor's thinking early, while you're still deciding, than to get it much later, long after you've done the work and perhaps gone in the wrong direction.

Developing & Revising In Accordance With the Editing

Once you've considered the editing and clarified as necessary with your editor, you're ready to plan your work and set your goals.

Since one of your goals is acceptability, your work and creative decisions should be guided in large part by what your editor has told you needs to be done to make the final manuscript contractually acceptable. You may decide to do even more but you should at minimum achieve acceptability, or the book's not going to get published.

Your work will also be guided by whether you receive the editing in stages or all at once.

If your editor has worked comprehensively, considering every aspect and element of the book, your own work will be comprehensive and final, subject to your editor's review of the fully revised manuscript, when a little more may be asked for.

In this case, your goal is to do all of the necessary development and revision. That may range from only a little rewriting, to greatly expanding what's already in the manuscript, adding a lot of new material and ideas, rearranging or deleting small and large parts of the manuscript, and massive rewriting.

In working on the manuscript, your editor may have done as much or little as he's asking you to do. He may have added a few words and revised a couple of sentences, or done considerable cutting, reordering, and rewriting. 

Your response to the editing and plans for revision depend on how much you're being asked to do and approve. Minimal or light editing isn't hard to respond to, but if massive development and revision are requested, you may feel overwhelmed. Therefore, simplify. Divide the work into stages, perhaps all the rearranging at one time and reviewing the editorial changes at another time. Because it helps you focus on and clarify what you need to do at each step, this dividing is a good approach to take anytime, even with moderate editing.

Now, decide what order to do the work in.

Generally and for the same reason (because it's the most productive and efficient way to proceed), follow the same order in this final stage of improvement that you did earlier in developing and revising the complete manuscript. Start with any major expansion and addition, go on to the minor development, delete and rearrange the larger chunks of manuscript, then the smaller, do the necessary rewriting, and conclude by going through the whole manuscript one last time, considering everything and finishing whatever's been left undone.

Don't feel required though to follow this progression. If at the beginning or as you go, you realize or decide that the revisions will go better or be easier if you do them in a different order, change your plan, and follow the most productive flow of improvement. Perhaps tremendous expansion is necessary but little change in the existing structure and text, so you make the small changes first, just to get them out of the way, and then concentrate on enlarging the book. Or maybe most of the work is going to be revision of the text, so you start rewriting, and making or approving other changes as you proceed.

Also, you may prefer to start with your editor's first note, and work straight through his notes and the edited manuscript, doing every form of the work as you get to it. 

Before you begin, set a deadline for turning in the final, revised manuscript, confirming with your editor that your deadline fits the publication schedule for your book. If your editor needs the final manuscript sooner or can wait, he'll tell you now and you can make any necessary adjustments to your work pace. Also, keep your editor informed of your progress or difficulties as you go, so he can make adjustments on his end.

If, however, your editor is working progressively, presenting you with the editing in stages, each time focusing on different problems and areas, your work varies accordingly and is also in distinct stages, with particular goals for each stage. Your editor usually determines the sequence of revisions by the order in which he gives you the editing but you may also decide jointly what the stages and order should be.

Your editor may begin by asking you to cut drastically your gardening book, perhaps by 150 pages or more, because there's an excessive amount of information, or the enormous length might make the book too expensive for the intended audience.

You start cutting, keep going until you're done, and then give the reduced manuscript to your editor who may suggest further cutting, or decide that it's time to move on to the next stage, which may be reordering portions of the manuscript, or developing further some of the gardening themes and ideas.

Also, your editor may have gone through the first 50 pages tightening and polishing the writing to improve pace and style. He shows you those edited pages, and asks you to decide if the line editing has improved your work. If you think it has, then you can ask him to continue that editing for the rest of the book, or if you want to do the work. yourself, you can tell him that you'll revise the rest of the manuscript in the same way.

Because you're getting the editing in stages, you can't know everything the editor is going to request or suggest. Don't anticipate him. Don't jump ahead and do a lot more than he's asked for. You could be making unnecessary or damaging changes. Instead, concentrate on what you already know you have to do, and when you're finished, wait for the next batch of editing.

An advantage to working in stages, whether in response to comprehensive or progressive editing, is that as you make revisions in the first and subsequent stages, current and additional problems may be clarified or resolved, and the direction of further work becomes more clear because you're building on improved material.

However, when you're getting the editing a little at a time, it's difficult to set a final deadline because you don't know how much more work you'll have to do. What you can do though is set deadlines for each stage, conferring with your editor, and then as you get near the end, set the final deadline.

Once the various stages of work are concluded, your editor may decide to edit the revised manuscript one last time but this time working from beginning to end, considering everything simultaneously, as he was not able to do previously when he concentrated on specific problems, and factoring in the effect of all of your improvements. While there's probably little left to do, he may ask for a few more changes.

Though while you're doing it, the revision process may seem endless and your editor impossible to satisfy, at some point, you'll have done everything possible, and your editor's last reading confirms that you are indeed done.

Finally, with the editor's assistance, you've achieved the best book you're capable of writing. Take some time, celebrate, and get ready for what's next: the publishing process, which I describe in Inside Simon & Schuster: A Publishing Story about an author, her book, her agent, and her editor. It's going to be an exciting ride, so hold on tight.

Return to the start of Part Four or see the other sections of series:

And then go on to the story Inside Simon & Schuster: A Publishing Story.  After reading the story, see the background articles on:

 

You may also DOWNLOAD A PRINTER-FRIENDLY version of the entire How to Write Your Book series in MS Word format or in plain text.