A Purposeful Prose Advice Column: Scammed By My Editor?

Dear Purposeful Prose,

I’m pretty sure I was scammed by an editor I hired on Fiverr. I’ve hired people on Fiverr before without a problem, so I didn’t think this would be any different. This editor wasn’t expensive, and she seemed pretty knowledgeable when I talked to her. I didn’t expect to agree with everything she suggested, but she removed full paragraphs from my book without explaining why. When I asked about it, she answered with “This wasn’t essential to the story.” Okay, fine, so tell me how or why. Commas were removed left and right. Some of that I understood, but there were some removed that I knew were correct. One of the comments that I did get was “I don’t like that Paula said this.” Paula is my main character, and she has a problem with managing frustration and anger early in the story. My editor did not seem to like it when Paula showed that she had these problems. That felt off to me.

This experience made me feel really stupid, and I don’t want to be a bad or difficult client. Am I doing something wrong? Is this editor a scammer or just not good at her job?

First and foremost, I can’t see what this editor did specifically, so it’s difficult for me to make a definite decision on whether she’s scammed you. To best answer your questions, here’s what I know.

You received a bad edit, and the editor’s personal opinions regarding your characters and your story appeared to have a heavy impact on their editing choices. A professional editor can hold a reader’s opinions and maintain professionalism in the editing process. What I’m seeing is a lack of professionalism. 

To illustrate this point, I’m going to give a personal example. I have edited a piece for a client whose choices I did not personally agree with. However, that client had a specific goal in mind for their published work, and their choices inflicted no harm upon the intended readership. 

As an editor, it is my responsibility to be my client’s advocate. This means that, through my expertise in editing, I am helping them to achieve their goals. 

I kept my interactions with my client positive, and all commentary was kept writing-focused. You should expect no less than this level of professionalism from any editor. 

Second, the feedback you received was not productive. You made a good point in that you can’t expect to always take an editor at their word. Feedback is difficult to give. Sometimes, something feels off when you’re reading something. You’re not sure what it is, but there’s something wrong. 

This goes back to professionalism. An editor should be able to highlight a piece and state, “This sentence feels off to me, but I’m unsure why. Let’s discuss. What was your thought process behind this?” A good editor should open up communication in this way. 

Also, you stated that your editor deleted full paragraphs without giving a clear reason why. That doesn’t feel right to me either, and I’m not sure why an editor would do that. Here’s a comment that I left on a paragraph at one point (leaving out specifics for anonymity):“This paragraph feels scattered to me. More specifically, the topic sentence leads the reader to expect that you’re talking about one subject, and you do, but you also contradict yourself in the middle of the paragraph. While I understand adding a counter-argument, and I agree that it would help, I recommend moving it to a different part of the text. What did you intend to communicate with this paragraph? Let’s talk about organizing differently.”

Sometimes, editors run into issues that extend through large swaths of text. Cutting it without a word is counter-productive. 

With any issue, large or small, when an editor expects the writer to revise, “Just fix it” isn’t going to cut it. The degree of explanation that a writer will need will vary, of course. As an editor, providing explanations of how or why to fix something, particularly when prompted, is part of our job description.

As an answer, first and foremost, I do not think that you’re a bad client or that you did anything wrong. I certainly don’t think you’re stupid. You trusted someone on a platform that you had past success with. None of that makes you wrong. 

I don’t have a good answer for you as to whether this editor is a scammer. I think you were given a bad edit, and they were not the right editor for you, but I can give you some tips on how to recognize red flags. 1.) If your editor makes grand guarantees that, for example, your book will be an instant bestseller upon release, this isn’t a display of good faith. No editor can guarantee that. The unfortunate truth is that no one can guarantee immediate success. Your editor should, ideally, appreciate you and your work, but they should be genuine. You can expect an editor to give praise, but they should balance that praise with reasoned, objective feedback. 

2.) If your editor does not provide sample edits, I don’t recommend them. Most professional editors make it a point to edit a piece of your work to show how their editing is compatible with your writing. 

If you know me and my work, you know I take sample edits very seriously. I have requested that large organizations provide me with a sample to edit prior to joining their team. A sample edit ensures that you can open up communication with your editor and that their editing will meet your needs.   

3.) An editor who does not know that there are different types of editing or is not aware of style guides might not be the best fit. Everyone starts somewhere. Everyone learns their profession at their own pace. While not every skilled editor has had a formal education, most editors recognize that every writer and every piece of writing will require a different approach. 

With every writing task, including personal book projects, there are clear expectations. An editor should be as knowledgeable about the task and the goals related to that task as the author. They should be able to tailor their approach in accordance with the piece they’re working with. 

This is not to pass judgement on editors who are just starting out. The difference between a copy edit and a line edit is a learning curve. There are clear differences in guidelines when editing in accordance with the APA style guide versus Chicago. Not everyone is going to know this information immediately. However, a good editor should know how to tailor their approach according to the needs of their client.

4.) An editor is not a magician or an all-knowing entity. They shouldn’t claim to be or try to be. An editor can help a writer to vastly improve a project, and the difficulty of a project does not equate to its impossibility. Sometimes, an editor will run into a project that they feel they will have to rewrite in order to bring out the message. An editor will help you fix and revise, but if they are editing more than you bargained for, there might be serious flaws in the foundation of your text. Editing alone will not, then, make it stand. Is it possible that, if they are editing more than you bargained for, that it’s more of a reflection on them? That can be true as well, so be sure to get a second opinion if that happens. 

Be cautious. Some editors will be there for a sale, but not for you. You are worth the investment in the right editor. 

If you have a writing or editing-focused question, I would be more than happy to dedicate a post to you. Contact us for any questions you might have or to schedule a free consultation with yours truly!

All submissions will remain anonymous unless you explicitly request for me to include your name.