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What your editor really REALLY wants - Page 2

© Julia Buitrago

7. Don't expect me to know everything. (Dammit Jim, I'm an editor not a supreme deity!) One of the main things I don't know is how to spell the names of people I haven't met. I can catch most spelling errors without a problem, but double-check the spelling of people's names. I've had numerous irate readers call or write about their great-grandmother's maiden name being misspelled ("Now you listen to me. . . her name was Wolajcheft not Wolacheck. How could you make such a simple mistake!!??!! They don't sound anything alike!!!" Not pretty, but it does happen. . . )

6. Mind the office hours. I'm a salaried employee, which means that I don't get a nickel extra for staying four hours after quitting time. While I realize that some people are calling from five time zones away, it is common courtesy not to call your editor five minutes before five with a list of corrections to your 600 page book. Likewise, I'm not likely to take calls before the office officially opens (even though I may be in the office two hours early). I won't call you at 2:00 A.M. on a Saturday when I'm working on freelance writing projects if you honor the office hours. (And remember, I DO have your home phone number!)

5. When all else fails, read the directions. My company spends a small bit of their budget making author kits and submission guideline packets to send to our authors. While I realize that most writers don't seem to like to mix reading and writing, please take a break and read these handouts. (I've been told they make great bathroom reading material.) You'll be surprised how many hints can be squeezed into 15 typed pages.

4. Once you send in your manuscript, a great burden will feel like it has been lifted from your shoulders. The natural response is to go on vacation, and I know that you don't want to be contacted regarding your newly delivered manuscript. Unfortunately, immediately after you send in your manuscript is the time period when I'll probably have questions for you to answer. If you're going to Europe for six weeks, please let me know. If possible, check in one time during your vacation or give me contact information for emergencies. I'll try my best not to interrupt your manuscript recovery vacation!

3. Deadlines. Deadlines. Deadlines. I'm quite flexible when it comes to deadlines. If you're going to miss a deadline, give me a call and let me know. We'll work out a new deadline. Once we work out a new deadline, please try your best to make it happen. The longest deadline procrastination that my company has had was ten years. Sometimes an author will ask if they can send their work in piece by piece. My company does allow that, however save yourself some money and send in more than a typewritten page and a single photograph at a time!

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