Do journals edit your story?

[The_Red_Wing]

I've always been curious about this. When you get your story accepted to a journal or magazine, do they ever edit it? Maybe tell you to change a few things, or replace this verb here, etc.

[alexshvartsman]

Yes - absolutely.

But this doesn't mean you shouldn't double- and triple-check your own work and submit a story that will need as little editing as possible. Sloppy spelling/punctuation can easily sway an editor away from considering your story.

[MatthewWuertz]

I've found that magazines will make small changes, such as punctuation, without asking for feedback from the author (or present a finished copy to say, "Does this look okay to you?"). In cases where a rewrite is requested, there are usually specific suggestions made by the editor or editorial team. If there are some points you disagree with, you might want to push back a bit or seek a middle ground to work toward. Bear in mind that if you won't work the editors at all on a feedback, you probably won't get the piece published with their magazine, so be very careful. And if you do want to push back, do so as courteously as possible. You want to come away with a good experience for both parties.

[pattyjansen]

If they don't edit, they're not a good magazine.

[Jamesaritchie]

Of course they edit. This does not, of course, mean you're free to send in a mess and leave the editing to them. You still have to get the grammar and punctuation right, or the editor won't have anything worth editing.

Some editors also do quite a bit of cutting, and sometimes even some fairly serious rearranging.

Major rewrites will always be left to the writer, however, and a story has to be pretty good as is before an editor will ask for a rewrite/revision.

[jaksen]

Grammar and punctuation they edit. If they need to change anything else, they ask, suggest or request. I was asked to delete a passage, then got an email saying: Never mind! Leave it!

And then one time I was asked to change the wording of a final sentence. (My ending was sort of desolate and they wanted a slightly more upbeat, but still ambiguous, ending.)

I changed the wording.

In 26 stories, that's all I've ever been edited.

[Jamesaritchie]

Grammar and punctuation they edit. If they need to change anything else, they ask, suggest or request. .

This is usually the case, but keep selling stories, and you'll run into editors who cut, line edit, and change certain things without asking. I've even seen the stories of some very famous writers cut by half.

[shelleyo]

This is from the thread in this forum about the best short story.

It's the editor's marks on a story by Raymond Carver. It's eye-opening, and should answer your question. :)

http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/12/24/071224on_onlineonly_carver

Shelley

[dgaughran]

I was asked to change the ending of the very first story I sold, and ended up getting into a completely unnecessary tizz about what I thought the editor might want instead and whether I was okay with that and...you get my point.

Problem was resolved after I slept on it and regained sense. I provided the editor with two alternate endings (it was only a paragraph), indicated my preference, but said I would be happy with either.

Editor was cool with that. So was I.

[pattyjansen]

Sometimes, the editor's vision of the story and the author's vision of same do not coincide. In my experience, this happens most commonly with lower-tiered magazines.

If they ask for sustantial changes and you feel iffy or don't agree, you should seriously consider walking away from the deal, because there is a good chance it will end in tears.

[Jamesaritchie]

This is from the thread in this forum about the best short story.

It's the editor's marks on a story by Raymond Carver. It's eye-opening, and should answer your question. :)

http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/12/24/071224on_onlineonly_carver

Shelley

I've found that kind of editing to be pretty typical at high end, or high prestige, magazines.

When an editor is really good at the job, such changes greatly improve a story. When the editor is bad at the job, of course, the story will suffer. But good magazines tend to have very, very good editors, which is why the magazine is so good.

[heisei]

This is from the thread in this forum about the best short story.

It's the editor's marks on a story by Raymond Carver. It's eye-opening, and should answer your question. :)

http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/12/24/071224on_onlineonly_carver

Shelley

This is very useful; thanks for the link!

I don't really get, though, why the editor changed the names. I admit, it did help the flow somewhat, but is this something that's done often? I tend to put great care into choosing names, and most of the time, would not like to see them changed.

[Sagana]

I had the same question as heisei - I wasn't sure why Mel was a better name than Herb. And it gave him a letter repeat Mel M-rest-of-last-name. Or maybe that was the point? And then there were other name changes.