I just finished compiling another issue of the SPAWN Market Update for the member area of the SPAWN website. That’s Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network, www.spawn.org.

In so doing, I had occasion to check publishers’ guidelines, their announced calls for submissions and their press releases telling about some innovative new publishing options for authors. Guess what I read in these documents over and over and over again:

“Send your completed manuscript ONLY after it has been professionally edited.”

Yup, this bit of advice can make the difference between a contract and a rejection letter. And it often does.

You hear that publishers will run accepted manuscripts through their editorial departments before sending them to the printers. Sure they do. Sometimes a manuscript gets just a good proofreading. Most publishers have specific editorial requirements and they want their stable of editors to make sure your excellent manuscript conforms. When my publishers edit my manuscripts, they generally make very few changes, but they will often catch a little something that we missed.

I am a freelance editor, but first and foremost, I am a writer, and let’s face it: writers can be an awfully difficult bunch. We live in our own heads most of the time. We have emotional swings often dictated by the mental states of our imaginary characters, or the natural ebbs and flows in creativity. We have control issues, and a very deep connection to the words that spill forth from our hearts onto that vacant computer screen or piece of paper. While many of us may occasionally suffer from a lack of confidence (especially after a healthy dose of rejection), some of us also believe that what we write is carved in stone. It’s untouchable. It’s “mine” and “no one is going to change it.” Furthermore, if we subject something to the editing process and it comes back looking like someone took to it with a meat cleaver, we are often filled with emotions akin to someone telling us we could also use a visit with a plastic surgeon. In other words, the suggestions made by professional readers cut far deeper than the words on the page. It’s hard not to take it personally.