Fear of editing is one of the Marks of the Wannabe. The real, red-blooded Author can deal with it--either he'll grind up editors and make tacos, or better yet, he'll take what they say, consider it, use it, and--get this--make the book better.
I've walked away from a publisher because I felt the book would be trashed if I did what the editor wanted me to do to it. (Turned around, sold it immediately to another house, eventually got World Fantasy nomination. It's nice to be right.) I have also, going on three dozen times now, taken my revision letters and processed them and done the rewrites and ended up with a stronger book than I started with.
Publishers aren't evil. Editors aren't the Antichrist. What publishers do is pay you money to write books. Often quite a bit of money. And editors provide quality control. I've seen enough self-published and POD books to have concluded that conventional publishers, even when they publish dreck, are still hitting a higher standard of quality, page for page, than the alternatives.
Vanity presses are about gullibility. And ego. And impostor syndrome. You want evil? That's where it is--taking money from vulnerable would-be writers who could be making money instead.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2004-08-04 09:24 pm (UTC)I've walked away from a publisher because I felt the book would be trashed if I did what the editor wanted me to do to it. (Turned around, sold it immediately to another house, eventually got World Fantasy nomination. It's nice to be right.) I have also, going on three dozen times now, taken my revision letters and processed them and done the rewrites and ended up with a stronger book than I started with.
Publishers aren't evil. Editors aren't the Antichrist. What publishers do is pay you money to write books. Often quite a bit of money. And editors provide quality control. I've seen enough self-published and POD books to have concluded that conventional publishers, even when they publish dreck, are still hitting a higher standard of quality, page for page, than the alternatives.
Vanity presses are about gullibility. And ego. And impostor syndrome. You want evil? That's where it is--taking money from vulnerable would-be writers who could be making money instead.