Where have all the editors gone?
a letter to publishing
Dear Publishing House X,
Please be aware, it has been noticed and your work is being monitored, with a mix of hope and confusion.
Why are you being monitored? Because it has come to my attention a loss has occurred. At first I worried all the editors had been fired, and that is why there were so many almost good books on the shelves. But, after a bit more digging I realise the loss is more metaphorical. As professionals in the publishing industry I would expect it is a given that everyone in your office has a deep understanding that editing, good editing, is of great import to the resulting quality of narratives; fiction and non-fiction alike. While there are a number of books that still appear on shelves which are well put together, and when the final page has been turned, a balm to the readers soul, there are many more which dig like thorns tipped in poison. First itching, then stinging, then becoming a raging inflammation. An inflammation that lingers and flares up again long after the offending narrative has been physically banished.
My concern started when speaking to an acquaintance, long published by your house, who told me, the first 20 years of her career was spent working with the same editor. This resulted in a strong professional understanding and polished, well received novels, which furthered her reputation, the editor’s reputation, and your publishing house coffers. When this editor retired, as the publishing house, you decided the editor and author relationship was a thing of the past, and while it was quaint, was hardly necessary for good writing. I can only assume this decision was made when the procurement department became involved and decided it was easy enough to get sales and sales were the only important thing. After all, everyone wants to write a book, so if one book doesn’t sell well, you can just wait five minutes for another would-be-writer whose had the presence of mind to build a large social media following before approaches you with a ‘finished’ book.
Before anyone gets antsy, and thinks I am trying to suggest that new authors can’t be spectacular without help, or that I haven’t read some brilliant novels that disprove my argument. That is not what I’m suggesting. My thoughts are more to those books which could have been magical. That when read the magic tingles on your tongue, but instead of getting deep into your being, the magic is a brief pulse which fizzles out and leaves you a little, sad. For yourself, and for the writer. I worry that for want of a publishing house and editor that is willing to go that extra mile to work through the kinks, or delay release for six months, a writer that could have gradually become another Atwood, Kerouac, Hammet, Jansson, Roy, Dalton; this new writer just slips away into history and discount stacks.
You may recall at the beginning of this I mentioned I still had hope. And I do, these blips have occurred before. Like when a few years ago there seemed to be no newly published books where anyone but the author had ever read the ending. Because if they had it would have been obvious there was no ending. I am happy that phase shifted; that it has closely been followed by nearly no editing at all, leads me to wonder, was the period of ‘no endings’ the start of a modern publishing malaise? The slight cough that hid tuberculosis?
Because, while endings came back, the trend for no editing at all continues and is spreading to smaller houses (probably because they are now, in large part, owned by larger houses), and to established authors.
For a brief moment I considered this was less to do with publishing houses, and more to do with editors losing purpose. Like an illness that silently crept through their ranks. Passed by the shake of a hand, or sharing of breath when cheeks are air kissed at industry events. Or maybe it is a combination of both.
At this point you may be wondering why I am writing, is it only to complain? No. I would like to claim compensation for the loss of magic when it is most needed. Rest assured my claim is directed at two parties:
Publishing houses, such as yourself, for the frustration and trauma resulting not just from punishingly awkward reads that you keep pushing through because you hope it will come good in the end.
All casual readers who give thrilling recommendations exclaiming the general enjoyment or greatness of what is between the covers. At first I was taken in by your florid praise, until, one dreary autumn day in a London cafe, I pressed for more detail from the stranger exclaiming their enjoyment on a book they were recommending, to discover they had the same problems with the book as I did. They’d just been swept along by hyperbolic marketing into accepting that their own readerly instinct was incorrect, because ‘the publishing world’ said it was.
I look forward to your check in the mail, or a sharp decrease in poorly edited works on the shelves in the coming year.
Regards
EP
P.S. Please look forward to receiving my next letter asking why publishing houses such as yourself have been so silent in the AI fight for authors to keep their rights. It will arrive when I’ve had an editor check the ending reaches if not a happy, at least a satisfying conclusion.
P.S.S. You may believe it is a sign of inconsistent claims that I have not included a list of specific books and authors where I have experienced this fizzing disappointment. Be assured it is not. Unlike yourselves, I have no wish to damage the reputation of an author by assuming mine is the only valid opinion.