Why your developmental editor can’t be “with you every step of the way”

I am your developmental editor. I want your book to succeed. So if I’m really committed, I should be with you every step of the way, right?

Not quite. And I’ll explain why.

What I’ll hold your hand on

If you have a book idea and you don’t know where to start, I’ll help you with that.

I’ll be with you as you decide on a title and subtitle.

I’ll guide you as you choose a publishing model and introduce you to publishers, agents, and other service providers who I trust.

I’ll help you build a table of contents.

I’ll suggest the best ways to do research.

Obviously I’ll review and make suggestions on your drafts (but there are limits on that, as I’ll get to in a moment).

I’ll help you manage your manuscript through the publishing process.

And I’ll help as you ramp up your book promotion.

Most of that is not editing per se. And a lot of it, like advice on publishing models, I do for free.

But I’d consider it malpractice to say, “Hey, I review the manuscript, that’s all I do.” Authors need help with lots more than that, and as a knowledgeable person who’s been through the process many dozens of times, it’s on me to help you out.

It’s not only the stand-up thing to do, it’s a way I can make sure you don’t drive into a ditch that would create problems for the project later.

What I won’t do

I won’t review every bit of content you create in every version.

I won’t read eight different revisions of your description of your book concept.

I won’t read a bunch of fragments you wrote that you hope will end up in the book somewhere.

I won’t read your version of Chapter 3 three times, including the times where you kept taking chunks of Chapter 4 and putting them in there to see if it works.

Is this because I’m selfish? No. Frankly, I could make a lot of money charging you by the hour to review every driblet of content you create and revise.

The reason I won’t do this is because it serves you poorly. You are asking me to enter your own chaotic process, which I can’t keep straight (and frankly, you probably can’t keep straight either). I can’t read the same thing four times and expect to come to it as fresh as if I’m a reader who’s never seen it before.

My job as your developmental editor is to review your manuscript (or some large hunks of that manuscript) and tell you whether a naive reader will find it interesting and useful, and if it doesn’t do that job well, how to fix it.

I can do that on my first read through the manuscript.

If you fix the problems, I can review what you wrote a second time and see what still needs improvement.

I can probably read what you think of as the final manuscript a third time and catch a bunch of little things that ought to be fixed.

But the scarce resource here is my ability to come to the text with a fresh set of eyes, as a new reader would.

Every draft I read consumes that resource. Being with you “every step of the way” would use it up quickly, long before it could make the most impact.

If you show me everything you create, you will eventually have captured my editorial viewpoint. My understanding of the content will become closer and closer to your own. I will no longer be able to give an objective view of what’s wrong with it.

That might make you feel nice, if I can no longer criticize your work. But it’s not worth paying for.

So if you value an editor’s judgment, don’t ask your developmental editor to think along with you every step of the way.

Save us for major drafts where we can be the most useful.