How do you picture editors?

Can't say I've thought much about it. Publishing is a business like any other and so all I expect is that they know their business. My own experience has been very positive and I've found editors to be decent, good-natured people.

Hello! We are nice people wearing comfortable clothes, working in an industry that requires us to be enthusiastic about writers and writing. We have to be very selective about what we buy, but we aren't ever going to be horrible about rejecting something. The editors you have met are totally representative. Hugs!

Hm...I don't know. Every time I try to picture an editor, all I can see is the very top of someone's head peaking out from behind a pile of manuscripts.

Good looking, suave, a lot like every James Bond (or Bond girls) all rolled into one. Often seen with a thousand-yard stare, followed by a small smile, then a positive nod before returning to the text to make an intelligent yet witty comment in blue pencil or font.

The question asked for my avatar picture.

SomethingOrOther said:

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I was thinking something involving glasses, frowning and a huge supply of pencils. Now whenever I think 'editor' I'm going to be thinking 'adorable kitten'.

They're all like Evil Editor, of course.

Editing isn't really a glamorous job. Most of them aren't PhD's so it's not like they're overly-harsh critics. None of the editors I've ever been in contact with ever insulted me or my work. I've been an editor too and all that interests me is good writing and a good story.

Relax. And put something in SYW, revise it, then send it out. That's an order.

How do you picture editors?

Neurotic, overworked and half-blind.

The cynical, paranoid part of me imagines editors sitting at their computers, arms crossed in the classic "shut off and stubborn" mode, scowling and thinking about how they would rather be doing ANYTHING other than reading a damn query from some American dork in Uganda who thinks he's written something clever. I can almost hear the derisive snort of "not just no, not just hell no, but fuck no" as he or she shakes his or her head and resents the fifteen seconds it takes to copy and paste their favorite words: "not for us at this time."

HOWEVER, I know this is not true. A while ago we had a western story contest here on AW, and part of the deal was you had to vote on the other stories in order for yours to be eligible. There were 40 stories, and after the voting I had new respect for editors and agents. This was only forty stories; imagine getting upwards of 100 a day. Imagine being responsible for your journal or publishing house's finances; judging in a contest is different than committing your business to a financial investment. I wanted each story to win, and I was genuinely disappointed when a promising story fizzled out. I looked for how I could vote for a story rather than vote against it. I imagine editors are the same way, only due to volume they must have a system, out of necessity, for culling the majority of them.

I dunno about real editors, but this is how I look when I edit someone's MS.