Do Editors Know What They Are Doing?

I am a magazine and book editor, so I know what I am talking about when I say that ‘editors rarely know what they are doing.’ Most new editors quit before they learn what they are doing. Hundreds of bestsellers go unpublished because new university graduates feel the surge of power, and reject everything that doesn’t read like Shakespeare or Mark Twain.

Those of us who do sit around are not any better. For example. My friend Brenna Lyons was rejected seventy times before selling her first book three years ago. Now she has more than twenty books published and has been invited to the stable of a large New York Agency. Oh, and that first book? It sold to eXtacy, sold 200 copies in the first six weeks, and is still in the top 25 bestselling books for that company. (Brenna’s Books are available on FictionWise.com and Amazon.com)

Little Women was rejected by almost every publisher of the day before finding a home. The Bridges of Madison County was reportedly rejected more than 150 times, and made into a movie before the book’s release. Gone With The Wind is another book that was rejected so many times the author would have had every right to quit submitting it. And, you only need to read Stephen King’s book to find out how hard his road to publication was.

After all, if editors really knew what they were doing, we’d only publish bestsellers and classics.

Feb 15
I wanted to add a bit of extra information to this blog.

The main problem for editors and writers is their lack of understanding of the term fiction. There is mass market fiction and literary fiction. Literary fiction is not defined by an ostentatious vernacular. Literary fiction challenges the reader's views of society, religion, their values and morals. Mass market fiction is written so it can be skimmed and understood(except thrillers, mysteries, and suspense), it offers the reader a chance to experience the extreme while remaining safe in the 'real' world, and last, the escapism offers an emotional roller coaster ride that is almost as good as a vacation. Literary fiction plays head games with the reader, challenging them, informing them, and forcing them to think.

Each fiction style has a well defined sentence structure, vernacular, character types, structure and themes. It is the lumping of both types of fiction into one that causes the problems.

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