Dedication
to Craft
When working with an editor, you should know the editor’s philosophy towards the craft. We approach each project with the following priorities:
1. Our editing preserves the authenticity of the author's words. We never make suggestions that will rob the author of their literary persona. In fact, we often suggest revisions to better amplify that unique voice.
2. We make the text accessible for the audience. An editor succeeds when a reader is never stopped by an awkward phrase, misspelling or grammatical error. We consider ourselves successful when the reader doesn’t think twice about our role.
3. Finally—but by no means least importantly—we care about making manuscripts beautiful. Language is an art as much as it is a tool. As editors, we want to help our authors captivate the attention of their readers through beautiful, inspiring and expressive language. This priority is where our editing becomes a craft in the truest sense of the word.
Editing involves many considerations, but none are more important to us than these. As editors, we hold ourselves accountable to these three goals above all others.
It is no secret that the author-editor dynamic can be tense at times. Authors pour their souls into their writing, so when an editor comes along and starts slashing and reworking with reckless abandon, a normal, human author will become naturally defensive. That's why we are intentional with our approach. Our primary goal is to make sure the author knows we are on their side—always.
As editors, we like to think of ourselves as boxing coaches. If we were to offer only light taps during training, our fighters wouldn’t be ready for their time in the ring. We see this strategy as a disservice (and a waste of the author's money).
Instead, we want to train our author's writing to be powerful and strong. We make ourselves honest literary opponents so that when our author steps into the ring, Mike Tyson doesn’t knock their proverbial lights out.
We want to give each author a fair, critical evaluation of their work. We are dedicated to training each author for as long as it takes to be ready for their big fight – their manuscript’s publication.
We encourage our authors to provide regular feedback on our work. If we are editing with too heavy a hand, we want to know so that we can recalibrate our approach. Above all, our loyalty is to the author and their work.
The
Boxer
