Saturday, March 16, 2013

How Much Can An Editor Edit Your Work?

Seeing that I do not even have an agent yet, this subject might just be a bit premature to address, but a recent article on this subject in Writer's Digest caught my eye for obvious reasons.  I have been working on my "work in progress" for over three years (yes, that's three years).  I am as finished as I will ever be; I just re-read it after taking a few months break and I actually really do like it and have changed no more than a word here and there.

So, assuming that I am fortunate enough to land an agent and then get signed by a publishing house, am I back to square one?   What if the editor is not too thrilled with the work and starts re-writing?  How much re-writing can she or he do or ask for?  What types of edits can they request or recommend? Can they rip into pieces what I spent years to put together?

Thanks for your thoughts on this.