Editor Etiquette for Newbie Author!

[littleCleo]

Hiya,

I've read a lot on Lit but only recently joined to try writing so I'm fuzzy about lots of things, especially when it comes to etiquette. I've read about some good-to-know rules in other posts and have had a look at the FAQ's, but I wonder if there's a set of 'best practices' when it comes to how an author corresponds with editors that I'd only find out after being yelled at or testing someone's patience.

• Is it okay to receive feedback on my work, then send back just the relevant bits that I adjusted due to feedback? Is it even okay to have an ongoing back-and-forth like that with editors, or is there an unspoken limit to the number of replies and requests for revision?
  
  
• If an editor doesn't set expectations in their editor page, what's the lowest limit that it's polite to request an editor get back to a writer by, at least for the first interaction? Two, four weeks? More? Less? Do people actually message Lit admins when an editor takes yonks to reply so they can check if the editor's okay?
  
  
• Are editors okay with broadly unfinished work? I don't mean, 'oh hi here's my literally first draft', but more like, a story that's clearly meant to be very long or part of a series, but the author only sends the first part, or sections they want to submit for review?
  

 

[StillStunned]

The simple answer is that it will depend on the individual. Once you find an editor, communicate up front about what you'd like out of the relationship, ask what their expectations are, and work from there.

One common complaint, however, is that many of the volunteer editors don't respond, or go AWOL after agreeing to edit a writer's story. The thing is that editing is hard work, and I think many people who volunteer underestimate quite how much time and energy it takes. And then they think the problem is with them, and they're embarrassed, so they stop replying.

As far as I know, Lit won't become involved between writer and editor. Just try and find one and hope for the best.

But remember that plenty of writers here don't use editors. We're all amateurs, and there aren't any expectations of producing a professional story. Do your best and write the story the way you'd want to read it.

One tip I'll offer as a professional editor is to use Read Aloud or another text-to-speech tool before you publish. Sit and watch the highlight jump from word to word. It's tedious, it's time-consuming, but it's effective.

 

[barefootgirl69]

Make sure they know where you want their focus to be. Punction, grammar, spelling. Or just read through to make sure there's no obvious blunders in names, places, the story.

 

[littleCleo]

One tip I'll offer as a professional editor is to use Read Aloud or another text-to-speech tool before you publish. Sit and watch the highlight jump from word to word. It's tedious, it's time-consuming, but it's effective.

Thanks for your reply! That's all very fair and yes it does sound like time-consuming work to be an editor, kind of why I wanted to get this right. But thank you, and I'll see about trying a TTS tool, at least. I haven't thought about that before and I'm a little embarrassed about reading my stuff aloud so I'm surprised I didn't think of that before.

 

[Comentarista82]

Hiya,

I've read a lot on Lit but only recently joined to try writing so I'm fuzzy about lots of things, especially when it comes to etiquette. I've read about some good-to-know rules in other posts and have had a look at the FAQ's, but I wonder if there's a set of 'best practices' when it comes to how an author corresponds with editors that I'd only find out after being yelled at or testing someone's patience.

• Is it okay to receive feedback on my work, then send back just the relevant bits that I adjusted due to feedback? Is it even okay to have an ongoing back-and-forth like that with editors, or is there an unspoken limit to the number of replies and requests for revision?
  
  
• If an editor doesn't set expectations in their editor page, what's the lowest limit that it's polite to request an editor get back to a writer by, at least for the first interaction? Two, four weeks? More? Less? Do people actually message Lit admins when an editor takes yonks to reply so they can check if the editor's okay?
  
  
• Are editors okay with broadly unfinished work? I don't mean, 'oh hi here's my literally first draft', but more like, a story that's clearly meant to be very long or part of a series, but the author only sends the first part, or sections they want to submit for review?

1) Much has been said, but as for your first point, that's more like beta reading, where you ask someone to read through a piece and perhaps comment on pacing, if different parts connect with the audience and if not, why not and make suggestions as to what might work and regarding the story premise. I helped an author beta-read a work, but I was one of 4; one of the females in question ONLY commented 5 times in 58 pages about something OOC (out of character) for one story personality and spotted only 2 developmental inconsistencies.

2) Google docs do allow for collaboration via sharing, but that's only good if the person suggesting properly uses in-suite tools to notify the author. I would doubt it often happens an editor does something live while the author's online.

3) If you want your work back quicker, at least look it over and fix what you can. This way you know what you couldn't fix and can ask someone to focus on that. It wouldn't be best for any author to write a work in stream of consciousness mode and submit for revision; that would be a nightmare, and I've edited Spanish writings that weren't far off where the author used zero punctuation and sometimes no capitalization.

4) Definitely give it your best, and if an editor suggests removing something and it seems unclear why, ask. I don't know why someone would refuse to answer a legit question of someone wanting to improve.