Anyone have an editor switch before publication?

Hiya,

Writing an article for Writer's Digest about what happens when your editor leaves. Looking for a couple of writers to interview. Have you ever been in a situation where the editor who acquired your book left before the book was published? What happened? (Were there any "bumps," or was it a smooth transition to a new editor?)

Please e-mail me at jg @ jennaglatzer.com (remove spaces) if you're interested in answering a couple of questions and getting a plug for your book.

Thanks!

Editor Switch

I had this happen with the first non-fiction book I did for Scholastic. It was called (eventually) School Conflict. Editor 1 wanted a "journalistic" book. Editor 2 wanted a "more narrative book." The results were (I think) a choppier book than the following 2 books that were done solely with Editor 2, although the book got some good reviews. If you want to talk about it, e-mail me at [email protected]

Re: Editor Switch

Thanks, Tish! Everyone else: I have all the sources I need (including Tish), so don't bother responding to me, but feel free to discuss this issue on this thread if you like.

I've had 3 editor switches out of 10 books. Two were smooth transitions, one was pretty devastating. (First editor made promises the second one couldn't keep.) What have your experiences been like?

I had two editor switches on a book I ghostwrote for Chronicle. It was a nightmare. All three editors were really young--just out of college--and wanted very different things from the book. The final prpoduct was okay, but I pretty much had to start over each time the personnel switched. I did it as a work for hire, too, which meant that in the end, I made no money.

Blech. That stinks! I've been really lucky that none of my editor-switches have resulted in major rewriting, but the latest one did result in a lot of broken promises about publicity, artwork, pub date, etc. It's amazing how often editors play musical chairs at magazines and book publishers-- particularly, I think, at larger publishers. Smaller companies seem to have more loyal staffs.

By the way, hi Lauri! Everyone, this is my favorite editor. :grin (She edited Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer... no switcheroos!)