So, what gives?  Why can’t editors function in a more universally acceptable timeframe?  After all, when you get hired to write something--an article or a book or whatever--you have to meet a deadline.  Why not editors?  Why can't they say right up front, "I'll get back to you within 72 hours," and then do so?

Well, the answer to that involves understanding a couple of things, the first of which is what an editor is.

An editor is a person, place, or thing that interrelates with writers, who are also persons, places, or things (and some of us real animals!).  In that respect, editors are like traffic cops: they have the power; they give the orders.  And they hold all the cards (i.e., "money").

The second thing to understand about editors is that it's not always possible for them to function within a clearly defined schedule because of the indefinable nature of things editors must do toward the completion of their tasks (i.e., getting their publications to market).  Editors can never predict what doing so will entail, since every publishing project--like every project's author--is different.

For example, all editors work closely with design artists, compositors, production personnel, marketing departments, and experts in various fields in order to design an attractive product, guide it through the various levels of production, and then promote it once it has been published.  They also work closely with their authors in order to ensure that the work being produced has high literary merit and is free from inconsistencies, including grammatical and spelling errors.

Editors may work with a large number of book types, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reference books, textbooks, technical books, library editions, young adult, and children's books.  For each book they work on, they must consider their audience and the possibility of selling film, reprint, foreign, or digital rights.  With textbooks, they need to consider the adoption process, in which a proposed textbook may be "adopted" by certain states, schools, colleges, and boards of education and not by others, thus affecting sales.

With trade or technical books, editors must work under tight deadlines to assure that the content matches the understanding of a rapidly changing marketplace.  They need to make professional judgments about various books for varying audiences. 

Toward these goals, an editor's workload often consists of reading, reviewing, acquiring, editing, and even rewriting manuscripts (or at least suggesting to the writer what needs to be rewritten and why).  Editors must work closely with their writers to plan, organize, and present written material and illustrations in the most effective way possible.  Many editors also write captions to go with the photographs, charts, and drawings in their books and check to make certain that all permissions for their use are up-to-date.

Of course, editors at larger houses may have assistants to review copy for grammatical and spelling errors and to tackle some of the other mundane jobs that need doing, such as researching, fact-checking, proofreading, and contracting for manuscripts.  If there are no assistants, these duties, too, fall upon the shoulders of the editors.

So the next time you stop to question just why it is that editors take so long in reaching a decision or responding to your correspondence, remember what my great-great-great-great-grandmother used to say in circumstances similar to these:

"I only have three hands."

Smoke if you got 'em.

D. J. Herda                        President

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