Five Things You Can Do for Your Authors
An editor can and should be a writer’s best advocate and coach. Of course you’re very busy and don’t have time for hand-holding. But you can work a few simple habits into your routine that will redound to your authors’ benefit.
- In copyediting, tighten prose following Strunk & White but leave enough of the author’s words so she or he can recognize something more than the original “a,” “and,” and “the.” Strive to retain the author’s voice.
- In editing copy in Word’s “track changes” function, refrain from entering chatty comments or detailed explanations for your edits. Just edit the copy!
- Return edited copy or page proofs to the author for review before publication.
- Ascertain that facts are correct. At the least, google assertions and factoids to discover, even if in a cursory way, whether the author has the story straight. If you do not understand something, look it up before querying the author; enter QAs only when you have legitimate questions about which you can speak intelligently.
- Once you are sure the copy is accurate, free of libel and copyright infringement, and within the lines of the assignment, resolve to advocate for the author against those who would try to curtail or unfairly revise the work. This may mean standing up to people within your organization and to public-relations executives and government officers who wish to control what is being said. Your job is to defend the integrity of your publishing company and of your authors, not to stand aside and let the tides of censorship wash over them.
Assist the author to get the copy right. When you have good reason to believe it is right, then stand behind your author and your publication.
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