Last night the VWS had some professional editors in to enlighten us about editing. I learned a few things. There are several steps in an editing process from concept development of an idea to simple proofing for typos. In the middle is editing for all the aspects of structure, theme, content continuity, order and organization, logic, character development, plot line, resolution, conflict and just about any other element of writing you can imagine. But the key here is that an editor is not there to make you cry and point out all the errors in a work. You hire an editor to invest money into a piece the same way you have invested time in its conception. The editor is there as an objective reviewer to point out in a collaborative sense how YOU ,the writer, can make the piece better. An editor works to improve a work one level at a time. A poor essay becomes better, an ok article becomes good, and a good story becomes publishable if you follow the advise of an editor.

The publishing game is a lottery of sorts, and although a piece may now be in a publishable form, the forces of the universe must still conspire to get that piece into the right publisher's hands at the right moment for publication. Once it's ready you must submit it relentlessly to the right publishers until someone accepts. Submission is a different aspect of this writing life.