on the importance of editors

At a book signing a few months ago, I was seated next to a couple of writers who were published locally. I like hearing publication stories, so I asked the two of them how they had found their publisher. One told me the editor was a friend of a friend, the other said that he had submitted to a handful of publishers and been accepted by this one.

Then they told me that their manuscripts had been printed within a number of weeks from the day they were accepted. I asked how many rounds of revision they had gone through. The answer: essentially none. The manuscript was ready to go as written in first draft form, and they seemed surprised that I didn't go through the same process with a national publisher. Why on earth would it take me two full years from first draft to publication? Wouldn't a national publisher move more quickly than a local one? The answer, rather simply, is no.

I think there are lots of good books that get published through a local publisher for numerous reasons. But I think that because these authors had never gone through a long editing process with a true professional, they had no idea of how their manuscript would be shaped and vastly improved. Let me tell you, there is a huge difference between my first draft and what is published. There is a pretty big difference even between the second-to-last and the last draft of a manuscript. And I am not talking about spelling corrections or changing words around in a sentence. I am talking about plot changes, character changes, inventing new chapters, cutting out swathes of boring parts, and on and on.

I sometimes have a bit of a chip on my shoulder when it comes to locally published stuff in Utah. But when reading these locally published novels, I have decided that I need to be a lot more sympathetic. These are first drafts. If my first drafts were published, they would have a lot of problems, too. I think the editor of a book should get a credit somewhere inside the text of the book. Maybe on the cover of the book. It's not that I feel like my editor writes my book for me, but she "gets" my book in a way that pushes me to make it *more* the book it was meant to be.

Local publishers here in Utah want to get books out immediately to deal with a perceived demand, so they don't have time to wait for a full editing process. But sit back and think about it--your first draft, published. Some people certainly have cleaner first drafts than mine, but everyone needs feedback. The most brilliant authors are made more brilliant by brilliant editors. It's like the difference between youtube video quality and something on TV, or between your sixth grader making smores and you making gourmet brownies.