What not to say to an editor – guest blog by Jane Holland of Embrace Books
February 18, 2011
I’d like to offer a warm welcome to my brilliant guest today. Jane Holland is a poet, novelist and editor of Embrace Books – a new romantic fiction imprint launched this week.
If you’re aiming for publication (or perhaps, ahem, already published), Jane’s post is a great guide to Dealing with Your Editor. (I’m now going to hide behind the sofa.)
Jane Holland
What not to say to an editor
So you’ve got your book ready – or at least some of it – to show to an agent or publisher. That’s fantastic. You’ve already come a long way towards achieving your goal of publication. However, when making your approach, or even once you’ve got a book in play with a publisher, there are some useful things to bear in mind about the author-editor relationship.
Don’t open with Dear Editor or Sir/Madam
Unless you’re submitting to the vast impersonal machine of an international mega-publisher – and why would anyone wish to entrust their beloved novel to a publisher who sees writers as interchangeable? – make every effort to discover the current commissioning editor’s name and use it. Correctly, thank you.
Don’t spam with your submissions
Some writers take an anonymous scattergun approach to submissions, especially when it comes to emailed manuscripts. This does not excite a desire in the editor’s breast to open your unexplained attachment or spend hours poring over work by someone who could not be bothered to type a few words to accompany it. So don’t just attach your work to an email and send it without a covering message. Check what is required before sending. If it says send a CV with your ms, then send a CV. Not three lines of bio at the bottom of your email. Be polite and succinct, and don’t include irrelevant details that will bore the editor before she’s even opened your attachment. But do mention anything genuinely useful – a writing prize, for instance. Even if it does not get your book a sympathetic reading, it should at least persuade the editor that you are serious about getting published. They may not like this submission, but might ask to see another.
Don’t gush or be over-familiar
Each editor is different, but most prefer to maintain a certain amount of distance between themselves and their authors. So don’t be over-familiar or over-casual in your covering message. This applies particularly when first approaching a publisher or agent. Even if you met the head honcho at a recent conference and spent half the night snorting vodka-cokes and playing push ha’penny with her in the college fountain, try to sound polite, restrained and extra-normal in your initial approach. Above all else, editors want authors who are not mad and who won’t turn out to be a liability. Being a published author requires a sober head when it comes to business, so demonstrate some friendly professionalism upfront – especially if things got out of hand at the party. Once you’re established with that firm, you can swop jokey emails. But until your feet are under the table, play it cautiously.
Don’t get so excited that you forget to listen
Once you’ve been asked to send in your full manuscript, or have even been offered a contract, don’t forget to listen carefully to what is being said. It can be easy to miss important facts in those first heady days, so don’t just shoot off your manuscript by return. Slow down, listen to every word the editor says to you, and perhaps even ask a trusted friend for their opinion first. You may have been asked to make major changes to your story before sending your full manuscript, or offered terms that you don’t understand or which seem problematic on a second view. No editor worth working with is going to expect an immediate response, especially if changes have been requested. So take your time, and try to get things straight in your head before querying your offer. Otherwise you may ask questions which were actually answered in the response you received. Be particularly careful about wording. Don’t assume something is definite if it’s only a possibility, or you may end up angry and disappointed. A request for a full manuscript, for instance, is not an offer to publish. But it is one step closer, so make the most of that opportunity, sort out what you need to ask, and try not to bombard the editor with emails.
Don’t demand, ask politely
In these troubled times, it’s rare for authors to stay with one publisher throughout their career. Bearing this in mind, if you want to stay with your current publisher once your foot is in the door, this will depend not only on the quality of your writing and ability to accept editorial input, but also on your general behaviour. Sadly, for some newbie authors, success goes to their heads quicker than a champagne cocktail. Almost before their first book is out, they are either demanding the editor’s attention with endless complaints and queries, or refusing to give way on quite basic points of revision. If you’re brilliant and your sales are going through the roof, you can expect most editors to bend over backwards to accommodate prima donna behaviour (though once your sales drop, better be ready to pack your bags). For lesser mortals, however, being a nuisance emailer, or being rude and unreliable over deadlines or revision requests, will not prolong your time with that publishing house. You may feel okay about that, of course, if you were unhappy there and are desperate to move on. But it’s a small world, and your reputation within publishing is one of the most important things you will ever own as an author. So try to remain polite and gracious when things go wrong, even if you would be justified in throwing a hissy fit. Take difficult situations on the chin and don’t send rude emails, unless you’re being seriously mishandled. And if you’re multi-published, never compare one editor’s approach unfavourably with another’s. That’s like being married second time round and complaining ‘I prefer the way my first husband did it’. Ouch.
Don’t forget to say thank you
Editors have been behind some of the best novels ever written – including Jane Austen’s oeuvre. Yet they are often unnamed and unthanked, even when their attention to detail may have transformed a reasonable novel into a cracking story. I don’t mean you have to thank them in your acknowledgements – though that’s quite common when the book is a major one – but more that you should always remember to send a thank you note to your editor once a book is done and dusted. Generally speaking, editors love their jobs and are more than happy to see shiny new books going out without any need to be thanked. But quick, friendly gestures like that keep the wheels oiled and turning, and make your author-editor relationship happier and more accommodating. In fact, thank anyone who was heavily involved in putting your finished novel out there. This isn’t just good manners, it’s also good sense. Today’s junior assistant could be tomorrow’s commissioning editor.
And finally
Some authors, of course, are a delight to work with. Ideas flow freely and all is good. Those are the lasting relationships most editors are looking to build when they contract a new author. Your job, as a new or learning writer, is to facilitate that. With any luck the editor you hook will prove worth the effort.’
Thank you, Jane for a very insightful post – I know from recent experience, that editors – both your own and potential – visit author websites and blogs and they do take notice. So, I’ll say nothing more than I’m a Paragon of Virtue. Truly. 🙂
Visit the Embrace Books website for submission guidelines.
Posted by Phillipa @ 5:25 am | Leave a Comment
Rachel Lyndhurst Says:
Coming out from behind the sofa to say ‘excellent advice’!
It’s been a mad week for you and Embrace,Jane, but I’m sure I can speak for all the launch authors when I say none of it could have happened without you. How DO you do it all?
Now that would be another unmissable post …
Put your feet up at some stage, won’t you?
Rach.
XX
Sally Clements Says:
I agree with Rachel, it’s been a very busy and exciting week, and Jane, you must have been rushed off your feet dealing with all us writers! Great blog post, and a great guest, Phillipa!
Jessica Hart Says:
Straightforward, sensible advice – thanks, Jane. I’m teaching a writing course at the moment, and when we get to the last session on submitting a manuscript, I’ll be referring all my students to to this blog!
Jane Holland Says:
Thanks, Jessica!
It’s been an interesting week – not only the launch of Embrace Books, of which I’m the editor, but it’s also the last few days before revisions on my own novel have to be turned in (to MY editor!). So I’ve been swopping hats almost hourly with an air of Carry On confusion. Editor, author, editor, author. Lol.
Hope some of this makes sense, though. Jx
Elizabeth Ashworth Says:
Good advice, Jane – and it must help to be wearing both those hats. What is it with you and hats? Is that the secret of your success?
Ranae Rose Says:
Great advice! 🙂
Phillipa Says:
Many thanks, Jane, for taking time to give such good advice – and to everyone else for visiting the blog.
Love the hat too. 🙂
Debs Says:
Thank you for the great advice and congratulations on the launch of Embrace Books.
Talli Roland Says:
Fantastic advice, Jane! Thank you and congrats on Embrace!
Rachael Moore (@karamina) Says:
Dear Sir/Madam,
Let me be the first to thank you for your –
Oh. Never mind. Fab advice, as ever.
Kym Lucas Says:
Ms. Holland, thank you for a great post.
Phillipa (perhaps I should say Ms. Ashley?), thanks for having such an excellent guest!
Phillipa Says:
She was a great guest, wasn’t she? Thanks, Jane
Rosy Thornton Says:
Some great advice and insight there, Jane – and many congratulations on the launch of Embrace Books.