Why I Thank My Editor First
Not really a Reader Mail thing, but a family member picked up a copy of House of Stone and read through the Acknowledgments, and asked why my editor at Samhain, Anne Scott, was first on my list.
The short answer and easy answer is that just it's professionalism. Open up a lot of books and you'll often find the first people thanked are either the author's editor or agent. They do a lot for you, and they deserve a little credit for it.
The longer answer for me I kind of touched on in a previous post, but maybe it needs a little more, so I'll open with this.
When I get back the first round of edits on a manuscript I feel like a no-talent hack. Everywhere are continuity errors, echoes (my greatest writing vice), word misuses, run-ons, extraneous information, badly flowing scenes... I feel amazed any publisher would look twice at it, honestly. But the notes from my editor aren't hurtful, or spiteful, they're all constructive and professional, which in turn encourages me to be more professional myself. It's one of the things they don't teach much about in college and grad school, not the craft of writing, but the profession of writing, which I've learned plenty about from my editors past and present.
I thank my editor first, because my editor likes my book and wants to help me make it even better, because my editor believes that I'm a skilled writer and wants to show me how I can hone my skills even sharper, because even though my editor is reading the same manuscript line-by-line for the 3rd or 4th time in a 2 month period, there are still positive things in the new notes.
So I sit down to write the acknowledgments, and feel bad because the most I feel I can do to thank my editor for all of her hard work is to put her first, which seems like the least I could do.
So, thank you, Anne Scott, I finally feel like a professional writer. :)
The short answer and easy answer is that just it's professionalism. Open up a lot of books and you'll often find the first people thanked are either the author's editor or agent. They do a lot for you, and they deserve a little credit for it.
The longer answer for me I kind of touched on in a previous post, but maybe it needs a little more, so I'll open with this.
When I get back the first round of edits on a manuscript I feel like a no-talent hack. Everywhere are continuity errors, echoes (my greatest writing vice), word misuses, run-ons, extraneous information, badly flowing scenes... I feel amazed any publisher would look twice at it, honestly. But the notes from my editor aren't hurtful, or spiteful, they're all constructive and professional, which in turn encourages me to be more professional myself. It's one of the things they don't teach much about in college and grad school, not the craft of writing, but the profession of writing, which I've learned plenty about from my editors past and present.
I thank my editor first, because my editor likes my book and wants to help me make it even better, because my editor believes that I'm a skilled writer and wants to show me how I can hone my skills even sharper, because even though my editor is reading the same manuscript line-by-line for the 3rd or 4th time in a 2 month period, there are still positive things in the new notes.
So I sit down to write the acknowledgments, and feel bad because the most I feel I can do to thank my editor for all of her hard work is to put her first, which seems like the least I could do.
So, thank you, Anne Scott, I finally feel like a professional writer. :)
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