Bad Editors: The Silent Rewriters

I saw a post on here a few days ago from another editor talking about her own editing statistics, and I thought that was super cool! Then, this morning, I saw multiple people on a FB writing group talking about how an editor isn't really all that important, and I had to chime in. "Do I really need an editor, though? I'm a grammar nerd, and I KNOW my story is pretty top-notch." "But just because someone is a 'professional' doesn't mean they know more than me!" "But editors are just looking for commas, right? I can do that on my own and save myself the money." Umm, no. Here's a breakdown of a few of my books from 2025: (line edit) YA Fantasy: insertions: 2170 deletions: 2406 comments: 614 word count: 160k This averages out to one editing suggestion about every 35 words. I also gave back over 30 pages of extra documentation in deliverables. (line edit) Romance: insertions: 2225 deletions: 1911 comments: 614 wc: 98k average: ~24 words deliverables: 21 pages (copyedit) Business Self-Help: insertions: 1611 deletions: 2186 comments: 270 wc: 70k average: ~19 words deliverables: 5 pages (line edit) Medical Nonfiction: insertions: 1607 deletions: 1762 comments: 475 wc: 73k average: ~22 words deliverables: 11 pages This is not at all to say that these writers weren't "good" writers. The sheer number of edit suggestions on a manuscript is not at all a testament to the author's writing ability. Instead, it speaks to my thoroughness as an editor and how clean a manuscript is when I receive it--how many rounds of self-editing/beta reading/developmental or line editing it's already been through. Every single book, regardless of genre, NEEDS an editor. The most successful writers in the world have editors. JK Rowling, Stephen King, Agatha Christie, James Patterson, Danielle Steele--they ALL had an editor, multiple editors actually. So, listen, Linda...do you need an editor? Well, are you a writer? Are you hoping to send your story out into the world for people to see? Then the answer is yes, you absolutely DO need an editor. There are so many editors on here. There are even more with the Editorial Freelancers Association and ACES: The Society for Editing. There are far too many great (and affordable!) editors out there for people to be so cavalier with their story—the one they've poured their blood, sweat, tears, and years of their life into—as to send it out into the world without at least one extra set of professional eyes on it. This doesn't even mean that the editor "knows more than you do." I do this for a living, and my writing always gets edited by someone other than me! If you're ready for that extra set of eyes on your writing, message me. I'd love to talk about it! #freelancer #freelanceediting #writingadvice #writinghelp #editing #copyediting #lineediting

Editors: Is collaboration part of your editing philosophy? Writers: Is a collaborative editor important to you? Perhaps the best compliment I ever received from a client is about my “willingness to walk with me, not in front of me.” To accomplish that level of collaboration, I foster a communication climate in which we share detailed, two-way feedback on a timely and regular basis. My favorite clients are those open to my ideas whether or not they eventually accept them; those who share in an honest discussion of what works and doesn’t work in their manuscript; those who understand that an editor who only praises—a “yes-person”—does them no service. Without open and honest communication, the client’s voice and intent can get lost, the project stalls, and money is wasted. It is also important for me that there is no blame, only respect. Every single writer does their very best with the tools they have to produce a well-written, easy-to-understand piece. If the piece has issues, the writer is not at “fault.” Blaming authors will never improve the work. That disrespect will only bruise their egos, causing the hurt and anger that will destroy the relationship and make collaboration and, more importantly, a better document impossible. I'd love to hear more from editors about your editing philosophy and from writers what you look for in an editor. To read more about my editing philosophy and to read my blog about editing and writing, please visit my website: 🌐 www.checkmateediting.com #CopyEditing #AcademicEditing #EditingHelp #ContentClarity #Editing #Editor #NonfictionEditing #BookEditing #ArticleEditing #FreelanceEditing #LineEdit #Developmentaledit #Writing #Writers

This is insightful and I really need to do it more. I'd add that writers do tend to recognize the compliment of intense engagement with their aims.

Working with writers: The case for strengths-based editing. As editors, we work with writers to fix problems. While it is satisfying to identify problems and help writers improve their work, one of the hazards of editing is focusing only on what is wrong and forgetting to acknowledge what is right. https://lnkd.in/g_NEDpp6

What do editors do? If I'm honest, I wish I got this question more because I often find that people have a bit of a distorted picture of what editors do. Of course, editing is a huge spectrum, depending on what services you're looking for, but what I find is that, at some point in their career, every author has thought that an editor is a person you hand a manuscript to and then they hand it back fully polished and ready to publish. Editing is one of those jobs in publishing that just isn't talked about enough, so it's not a surprise that this is what people think is happening. I like to think of an editor as a collaborator. While I might fix your small mistakes (mostly things that have clear rules--punctuation, grammar, misspelled words, etc), if I come across something substantial I think needs fixing, I'm going to let you know it needs to be fixed and then let you at it. If I know it needs to be fixed, why wouldn't I just fix it myself? Because I believe an author's manuscript should be 100% theirs alone. I might change a word here or there, rephrase a sentence, etc. But anything more than that and I risk putting my own style into someone else's work, and that's definitely not what we want! I want to be a guide. I want to help an author learn . If I hold all my knowledge in without imparting it to my clients, how can I help them grow as artists?

Developmental editing. Line editing. Copyediting. Proofreading. Four different types of editing, and if you hire them in the wrong order, you'll end up paying for the same work twice. Freelance editor Adaobi Obi Tulton breaks down what each type actually does and how to figure out what your manuscript needs. Read it on the Field15 blog → https://lnkd.in/ew28S9EK #Editing #BookEditing #WritingCommunity #Publishing #Nonfiction

The Difference Between Editing And Rewriting You send back the original draft with so many changes the writer barely recognizes it. You called it editing but it was meddling in diguise. Editing respects what's already there. Improve clarity, tighten the language, remove the fluff—that's it. The writer's voice stays intact. The thinking remains clear. You're a gardener, not an architect. Rewriting replaces what's already there. You're no longer improving their thinking, you're replacing it with your own. The writers voice disappears. What comes back isn't their voice anymore. It might be better but it's totally wrong. You're a transmitter, not a silencer. The confusion between the two is where most editorial relationships break down. The writer feels unseen and threatened. The editor feels targeted and under appreciated. Both are right. They're just talking past each other. The questions you could ask before touching someone's work: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺? 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵? If it's language—then edit. If It's the thinking—have an honest conversation about it before jumping in. Without clarity in thinking—the language will only create more confusion. The best editors give the feeling—𝘈𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦—to the writer instead of—𝘖𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘢𝘮. If you need your writing to sound like you—only sharper—my DMs are open. #Writing #Editing #ContentCreation #Ghostwriting #WritingTips

Excerpt: "Editing isn’t just typos. I use an outsider’s viewpoint and my professional judgment to point out where improvements could be made. And then I align everything to make it all consistent" #authors #writers #speechwriters

Editing is a collaborative process. I admit to my peers that just because I'm a good editor, it doesn't automatically make me the strongest writer. I edit as a teammate and as someone who knows they're not the expert in a lot of the content I work with. My job isn't to strike through every run-on sentence with a red pen and make you feel bad about your writing—it's to find and remove the pesky errors so that your great work shines even brighter. 🌟

Lots of edits do NOT mean you failed as a writer. If you’ve ever received a ton of edits on your work, you’ve probably had a moment where you think, “Oh my god! How could I have missed ALL of these mistakes?” It’s OK. There are 2 really good reasons for all those changes on a piece you thought was flawless: 1. I’m LOOKING for errors. Very specific ones. Editors are trained in what to look for, where, and how. We go through a document methodically in pursuit of inconsistencies, errors, and problems that almost nobody thinks about when they’re doing the writing. 2. As your editor, I don’t just catch “mistakes.” Editing isn’t just typos. I use an outsider’s viewpoint and my professional judgment to point out where improvements could be made. And then I align everything to make it all consistent. I’ve had my own work edited, too. I know that it can be a humbling experience sometimes. But your editor isn’t judging you—they’re just doing a job that not everyone knows how to do.