Authors and publishers are two sides of the same coin

It is universally acknowledged that the relationship between authors and publishers has been a dicey one, like the relationship between sons-in-law and mothers-in-law.

Apologetics for authors seem to suggest that there is no hell for authors: they suffer so much from publishers and critics in this world that they are excused punishment in the next.

A survey of what authors feel about publishers done in 2005 reveals a catalogue of horror stories, in usum editorum, and in monitum metuendum.

The most common complaint made by authors is about crass copy editing.

“She even made corrections in things I was quoting, from other people.” “I call them which-hunters: every single ‘which’ in my 600 pages of manuscript was changed to ‘that’.” “Every time I used the word ‘get’, the copy-editor changed it to ‘receive’.

"I had to go through the entire manuscript and change it back.” “My copy-editor told me to change ‘different from’ wherever it appeared to ‘different than.’” 

On the other hand, editors feel that authors’ ability to write well has diminished over time, “the final quality depends on the initial draft,” they say.  A book editor’s professional role is to mid-wife the book from the writer to the reader.

HOLIER THAN THOU

But who makes a good editor? A first degree is mandatory either in publishing or in a subject-specific area, say Mathematics or Languages.

Academic papers by and of themselves can never make an editor.

Experience is vital, especially in establishing the right style and language level that resonates with the target audience. A loathe of errors is a critical lifestyle for an editor.

Generally speaking, an editor should only guide, recast sentences out of necessity and repackage an author’s work to read better and attain the objective of the writer’s mission to the audience. Some authors ask more from editors than this midwifery role and that’s where the problem sets in — when we ask and expect editors to rewrite the book for us.

Again, authors who appreciate that editors are only human and prone to errors of both omission and commission will mostly support and complement the editor’s role.

A holier than thou author is bound to act the editor’s priest — picking editorial sins even where none exist.

Of course it is wrong for an editor to change a manuscript so heavily that the author cannot recognise herself in it. I know an author who disowned a published novel because the only familiar words that remained from the author’s pen in the final edition were the articles and prepositions.

The plot, moral, style and themes had all been changed by the overbearing editor. My advice to the editor — do not commit yourself to publish a book if it is in such poor quality that you will end up rewriting everything.

Nevertheless, an editor whose idiosyncratic skew cannot be detected in a manuscript is definitely in the wrong profession.

Editors must recast sentences, rearrange paragraphs, and recommend that the author adds extra paragraphs or deletes what is deemed superfluous.

For instance, Professor Rocha Chimera wrote Siri Sirini as one novel in one volume.

However, the editor recommended splitting it into three novels, forming a trilogy that the author agreed to.

Incompetent editors will never see a sentence that has a loud error. I often see words like ‘definition’ written as ‘defination’ and parasitic prepositions like ‘of’ in ‘comprised of’ in finished works.

NEGATIVE COMMENTS

No matter how loud an error is, an ignorant professional will never sight such; it’s only an error to the eye that can recognise it to be so. Editors, therefore, need to be deliberate in upgrading their skills in order to earn the confidence of the writers — being knowledgeable is the only way editors can defend their profession.

The second most common complaint is of poor communication between publisher and author.

“I just couldn’t get any answers to my letters”. “My book was assigned to an editor and I was introduced to her. Then I hear nothing for months. When I asked about it, I found she had had a nervous breakdown, but her work had not been assigned to anybody else.”

“They barricaded themselves against their authors.”

My advice to editors — proactively communicate to authors. Let the writer know in advance when she will be required to approve the final copy – whether it is inordinately delayed or the publication date has been brought forward.

Author complaints are predictable and should be addressed before they can be aired. Authors talk to one another and negative comments shared about your publishing firm means you are losing your would be good brand ambassadors.

A deliberate author–publisher engagement programme is indispensable even when the business cycle is at its lowest ebb.

Another large category of complaints concerns publishers going back on what they had said.

Some of these are no more culpable than giving an exaggerated impression over lunch of the amount of money to be spent on publicising the book.

NO LONGER WITH US

Other unfulfilled promises, usually made by “someone no longer with us”, include royalty statements smaller than expected (they always are), mistakes in accounting, and explanations of royalties in publishing jargon.

One publisher pressed an author to let them do the index in house.

The publisher then charged for the job; then put it into the account as an advance, which would be subject to income tax, instead of as an expense.

My civilised conclusion is: Publishers should impress on their editors the importance of a satisfactory rapport with their authors.

They should remember that all authors are human beings. Most of them are sensitive.

Some of them are intelligent. A few of them are influential. Publishers have enough enemies and should not risk creating new ones in the name of authors.

An editor’s job description must have an author as her first customer, who must be made happy by better flow of sincere information; and such information can only come from a respectable well trained confident editor. 

Mr Musyoki Muli is the managing director, Longhorn Publishers