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The Writer-Editor Relationship
Because writing is, by its nature, a solitary task, it can fall prey to subjectivity. My job as a book editor is to read my clients’ material with a set of fresh, objective, highly trained eyes and make appropriate book-wide improvements, all with the goals of syncing with the writer’s voice, enhancing the writing to its fullest, and bringing out what is most lasting and worthwhile about the story. The aim of good editing is to refine, through revision and feedback, the sound and flow of the text while retaining the author's voice and narrative intention.
A freelance manuscript editor works with a writer in much the same capacity as an in-house editor might work with a writer under contract with a publishing company. Both writer and editor contribute something vital and unique to the process, making the relationship absolutely critical in the formation of a market-worthy product. The relationship is one of editorial give and take, with the editor making a combination of corrections and suggestions and the writer taking the whole into consideration as s/he crafts and refines the book manuscript in preparation for submission.
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