What Are Editors Good For?

Let’s not beat around the bush: book editors are obsolete.

Traditionally, editors have been an integral part of the publishing process.  They were the gatekeepers, the shepherds of literary careers, and the sharp minds that polished great art into perfect streams of text.  You could write a great book without one, in much the same way you can survive falling out of an airplane without parachute.

Editors have lost a lot of lustre over the years.  Their gatekeeping functions have been largely outsourced to agents and marketing departments, so they’re less likely to be able to pick a truly unique voice out of obscurity without it being attached to a sexy package that will bolster sales.  And I suspect that not having control over their intake has also made them less inclined to nurture new talent, so you often see exciting first novels followed up by clumsy, lazy seconds.  There’s really no point in trying, is there, when the marketing department is insisting on doing all the heavy lifting?

This leaves us with the actual shaping of the text: this, at least, is a place where an editor is vital.  Ignore for a moment the many blog posts by editors who suggest an author should have their work in spotless condition before querying… when you, the author, submit your work to be published, a good editor will help you perfect it.  They’ll help you see things you’d never have seen, and they’ll give you guidance to sharpen your prose until it’s an undeniable masterpiece.  The readers will appreciate the effort, and love you for it.

Except, well, that’s not true.  The average American reader has a comprehension level somewhere around the 8th grade level (many as low as 4th grade), and to them, the difference between “your” and “you’re” is immaterial.  You can misuse dashes and em dashes, parentheses or commas, and none of it will register with your average reader.  And editors know it.  For probably half a century, the average consumer of the printed word has been content with the literary equivalent of reality TV. That’s not to say there haven’t been smart, intelligent books produced… but the overall state of the industry does lean more towards pulp than literature.  Well-constructed, tightly-written books are an anomaly more than the norm.

So why, then, do we need editors?  Even assuming that grammar, spelling and punctuation matter — which it likely doesn’t, except to a small, vocal minority — that role can easily be handled by copy editors or even a swarm of amateur proofreaders.  More observant authors may learn to construct a better novel through trial and error, but even that isn’t absolutely necessary.  Hit the right notes, and it doesn’t matter what the surrounding wording is… you’ll have a solid book on your hands.  The audience is looking for sex appeal, and luckily sex appeal is one of the easiest things to add to a story.  Experience and skill don’t factor into it.

Editors have quite possibly made themselves obsolete.  Not all of them for sure (small presses tend to have smart, keen editors who still value quality and nurturing authors) and the rise of the marketing department has certainly displaced many of them involuntarily.  But the fact remains: the romantic notion of “my work has achieved a higher level of quality thanks to my editor” is a myth in this day and age.  Editors have become figureheads in the publishing process… and while they still garner the most respect of anyone in the industry, on average, they contribute the least to the success of a novel.  They, more than anyone, are subsisting on past glory, and the established truths of an industry in decline.

In the eBook world, nothing needs to follow established truths.  Marketing can be outsourced, distribution is virtual, copy editing (if you believe such a thing is necessary) can be crowdsourced… but the evolution of a writer’s voice and talent?  Many of us still hold on to the idea that the mythical Editor is all that can save us from our own follies.  As much as we love being independent, we still hold out hope that one day, a wiser, seasoned editor will show us the way.

It’s a silly dream, I think.  The Editor, as we hope to know it, is dead.  Time to start fixing ourselves.