The Fear of Editing

The two thing I hear most often as a book editor are “I’m scared my book will be unrecognizable” and “my last editor ruined my book beyond repair.” Essentially, the editor changed too much.

Writers want an editor who will work WITH them—someone who understands their book and will guide them on the journey of turning it into the best version of itself.

Sometimes, as unfortunate as it is, a book will need a complete rewrite from page 1. As someone who’s been working with writers for about a year now, I’ve only come across one client who needed to start from page 1 again.

As an editor, my goal is to help writers learn and improve their work as they go through the editing journey.

A wise editor never tries to turn a manuscript into something it is not meant to be. A wise editor provides strong suggestions in making a story stronger, but they will not try to turn a Mark Twain into Shakespeare. A wise editor treats a work the way it should—on its own terms.

The moral of the story, find an editor who will WITH you and for the better of your story so you can create the best draft possible 🖤

Xo,
Ashley