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EDITORS — CARE AND FEEDING OF

The major drawback of having your book accepted by a publisher is that this attracts the attention of an editor. The word derives from the Latin adere edit, meaning to put out. This meaning survives in the author’s feeling quite put out when the editor returns the work for correction.

It is like having your newborn — which you produced as a perfect act of creation — being brought in from the maternity ward all marked up on parts considered to need improvement. And God is mocked.

Now, the novice writer is apt to be so affronted by this gratuitous intrusion, by this nitpicking harvest, that he or she, in a double-breasted snit, is tempted to tear up the contract and send the manuscript to a different publisher.

Probably a bad idea. The second publisher may have the same editor as the first publisher, only using a different name and wearing a false moustache. And, of course, finding the same alleged blemishes on the ms. Plus a few more for spite.

The ugly fact is that publishers trust their editor’s judgment more than they do the author’s. Insufferable, yes. But it is a fact of literary life that must be lived with. Sticking pins in a voodoo doll won’t cause your editor to shrivel up and blow away. The atrocious meddling must be tolerated. And — the plus side — may be blamed if the publication gets roasted by critics.

In murder mysteries, the butler did it. In book publication, the editor.

Chances are that your publisher will farm your manuscript out to a freelance editor, often a writer desperate for income and ready to accept any job, repugnant though it may be. If you are a freelance writer, you may be drawn into a joust of freelancers, each getting up on his high horse and levelling snide margin notes at the adversary. Monitor your blood pressure.

After the toxic dust settles, it is traditional for the author to preface the work with an expression of thanks to her or his editor. A more sincere note might be struck with: This book was published despite gratuitous meddling by a certain person masquerading as an editor. However, in publishing as in other relationships, honesty is not always the best policy.

Also, there is a chance that you, your writing career put on hold by a shortage of food, may find employment as a casual editor. The job isn’t terribly well paid, considering that it has a health-hazard rating right up there with lion taming. But as long as you avoid places where authors are known to hunt for food or drink, you may earn real money. Blood money, yes, but Safeway must be served.