I've been working with editors for a while now, and have really been blessed with wonderful experiences. But I must confess, despite having been through the wringer a few times, I was a little worried about what might happen with a new publishing house.

There's always the questions -- what standards are they adhering to? How intensive is this? How exactly does the process work? And even better -- how different is this going to be?

Well, I received my first editorial letter, and I'm happy to say, all that nail biting was for naught. It was, quite frankly, the nicest letter I could have imagined. But still, when I heard the words, "I'm sending my editorial letter," I found myself stumped. What was this new thing, and why did it sound so formal?

In contrast to sending a manuscript full of comments and inserts, it's a bullet point document containing my editors thoughts, suggestions, and questions. Not so frightening after all.

And, to top it all off, when I had questions of my own, my editor was super-friendly and approachable. Course, I had to pace the kitchen for a half an hour, nibble down a few fingernails, and call my agent to gain courage to call my editor. I attribute this to what I call "Editor-fear". For those fantasy buffs, or those gamers out there, consider this a modified "Dragon-fear."

For the rest of you -- it's being enchanted, impressed, but the mere presence strikes fear into hearts. It freezes you in place. Not because there's any danger, necessarily, just the status, the magnificence.

So yes. I was suffering from Editor-Fear. And it required a successful role to overcome it enough to pick up the phone and consider my editor as a normal person, not a big scary being a thousand miles away who possesses an all-seeing eye.

I'm glad I did. I'm so much more at ease with both the project, and my editor. We laughed. We had a brief conversation about our ordinary lives, we shared a couple similiar experiences. And overall, it was an extremely pleasant experience.

I'm sure, as time goes on, that editor-fear will diminish. I'm also sure, for the short duration, I'm still going to lose a few fingernails before I'm comfortable totally just picking up the phone. But, I can say without hesitation, I am absolutely looking forward to the coming months now.

And on that note, back to edits I go. Strangely, they are kinda fun.

~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com

~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com
www.toristclaire.com