appease the evil editors

You were right when you read your marked up manuscript and said to your significant other, "that bitch must be a sadist."

It's true. Editors enjoy catching those mistakes! They love it. They cackle like happy, evil-genius children when they find that anachronism in your manuscript. They hum with pleasure when they root out your repetitive words. (You know you have them.) Every now and then a small "aha! I was right!" escapes their smiling lips. You know that means other people --you -- were wrong.

They love their jobs.

I know, because I work in the same space as a few (fiction and non-fiction) editors and they rub their hands with glee when they catch your mistakes -- unless you make too many. If you made a botched job of your draft, then they wear the look of a martyr as they plow through it. So make an editor happy today. Give your manuscript a few mistakes (misplaced modifiers are their favorite) but not too many.

If you make too many mistakes, the editors' sighs and quiet groans of despair are painful to listen to.