Editor’s Fears – Things Editor Are Afraid of
Being an editor you deal with various clients and orders. Unfortunately, very often editors have to face people and things that make them exhausted, nervous or annoyed, but such situations are typical for any profession. In this article, we will try to show you the life of most editors from the inside and tell what difficulties the editors need to overcome while communicating with clients. Almost all editors can tell several “funny” stories when clients hassled them. Based on the experience of editors we can identify several types of clients. It’s hard to call them in one word, that’s in some cases we give a short description to each of them instead of.
Vanishing clients
At the very beginning, such client seems extremely excited and enthusiastic about working with an editor but it is only at first glance. Time passes, the editor replies and the client disappears like a ghost. In better cases, the client still writes you back, but it takes so long period of time, so you might think that the client is in a cocoon. Such behavior contradicts the main principle of working with the editor – communicate clearly and promptly.
The always writing client
This type also occurs on the on the professional path of editors. These people greatly complicate the editing process, as they continue adding something and making amendments even if the manuscript is being edited or even worse when it has been already edited. Such behavior may not only annoy the editor, but somebody may also consider it as disrespect for his or her work. We cannot predict everything and, of course, the clients can add some information, but they should not abuse this option, and once again it is necessary to agree on amendments with the editor.
The mixing authors
Let’s imagine the situation when some potential client has created a book. Frankly speaking, it can be hardly called a real book, as it consists of unrelated styles, genres, and plot lines. Besides, you don’t realize author’s presentation logic, for this reason, you can’t know what to expect from the next piece of writing. The worst possible case is when the client is blind and thinks that he/she is the author of a masterpiece. In order to correct the book and make it look more or less decent, the editor has to make a huge effort.
The lazy clients
This is the type of authors who want to succeed at the expense of others including the editor. The client doesn’t understand that the excellent content is the result of a long-term cooperation between the writer and the editor. If the author has handed the book, it doesn’t mean the end of his/her part, on the contrary, he or she should be ready to answer editor’s questions and provide support whenever it is needed.
The believer in better
This point is somewhat opposite to the point #3. The client realizes that his manuscript is weak and includes many things to improve and correct, but at the same time, they believe in the editor and his/her ability to create a miracle with any text. The clients look for some support even before submitting work, that’s why they can appeal to beta readers.
The copypasters
Today people have access to enormous amount of information, and the self-assured writers believe that no one will notice that they plagiarized something. If they really think so, they are very naïve. Plagiarism is unforgivable in any business, and the editors can easily determine it themselves or by means of special software.
7. The last group of clients may be characterized as the shapeshifters. They are constantly in two minds and this fact influences their actions. First such clients may ask for one service, but a little bit later they request completely different things. Just imagine what the editor feels in this situation. To avoid any misunderstandings the clients should clearly realize what editing services they need.
