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machine_dove at 12:02am on 05/09/2008
machine_dove at 12:02am on 05/09/2008Dear Authors of the World:
I appreciate that you’re the greatest thing since peanut butter met jelly, or at least think you are. A healthy ego is a bonus in your profession, and if you’ve managed to reach bestselling status, clearly there are enough others out there who agree that your feeling of vindication are probably not just your inner narcissist talking. However – and I mean this in the nicest possible way – YOU NEED AN EDITOR. Unless you’re Zeus, genius does not spring fully formed from your head, ready to kick ass, take names, and sell millions of copies. It takes rewrite after rewrite, where you may have to change parts you really, really like or cut out awesome scenes that unfortunately don’t add to the plot, or a million of other changes that your mean, nasty editor forces you to make in the name of writing a damn good book.
Having an editor is not an admission of weakness. It’s not some sort of personal failing that needs to be overcome. NO-EDIT CLAUSES ARE A BAD IDEA. It makes you look like an egotistical prima donna. If you combine this with foaming rants online about how your readers who think that perhaps the quality of your more recent books is a touch lacking are just a bunch of jealous haters, you merely confirm your prima donna status, and make yourself a target for public mockery. Really, it’s just sad.
No love,
A Former Fan
(Hmmmm…I wonder if anyone can figure out who prompted this little rant…)
I appreciate that you’re the greatest thing since peanut butter met jelly, or at least think you are. A healthy ego is a bonus in your profession, and if you’ve managed to reach bestselling status, clearly there are enough others out there who agree that your feeling of vindication are probably not just your inner narcissist talking. However – and I mean this in the nicest possible way – YOU NEED AN EDITOR. Unless you’re Zeus, genius does not spring fully formed from your head, ready to kick ass, take names, and sell millions of copies. It takes rewrite after rewrite, where you may have to change parts you really, really like or cut out awesome scenes that unfortunately don’t add to the plot, or a million of other changes that your mean, nasty editor forces you to make in the name of writing a damn good book.
Having an editor is not an admission of weakness. It’s not some sort of personal failing that needs to be overcome. NO-EDIT CLAUSES ARE A BAD IDEA. It makes you look like an egotistical prima donna. If you combine this with foaming rants online about how your readers who think that perhaps the quality of your more recent books is a touch lacking are just a bunch of jealous haters, you merely confirm your prima donna status, and make yourself a target for public mockery. Really, it’s just sad.
No love,
A Former Fan
(Hmmmm…I wonder if anyone can figure out who prompted this little rant…)
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