What are publishing editors like, and what is it with editors and cats?Utsudo has worked with more than a dozen publishers. She has met an editor who got one character of her book title wrong, a sharp-tongued editor with very high standards, and even an editor who needed the author to cheer him up. She also found that about 60% of editors keep cats, and reminds newcomers: don’t lose heart over rejections — every publisher has different tastes.

Translated from Utsudo’s original Chinese column.

Editors, each with their own quirks

　　I’ve worked with more than a dozen publishers, so naturally I’ve met quite a few editors. Some only talk business and some love to chat; the ones I remember best are usually the ones I dealt with most.

　　Editors are human too, so of course each has their own traits and quirks (huh?

　　Ahem, what I mean is — people interact in all sorts of ways. I’ve met editors who were extremely conscientious and felt like friends, and I’ve met one who called me by the wrong pen name, and who knew a manuscript had problems but didn’t want to change a finished manuscript…… 

　　Oh, and that esteemed editor got my book title wrong. On the very day it was going to print, he nervously called to ask whether I could accept changing one character in the title, because —he’d always thought it was that character. 

　　Um… I don’t even know what to say XDD 

　　Changing one character in a title makes a big difference, you know. 

　　Later I heard from other writers that they’d run into this editor too, with similar little mishaps… ahem, if I keep going I might get jumped in a dark alley. 

Don’t lose heart over rejections — another publisher may be waiting for you

　　Luckily that editor later left, and his successor was much more diligent in comparison, but very sharp-tongued. Many manuscripts I’d sent weren’t to his taste and were sent back (that’s routine — I’ve been rejected so often I’m numb XD). He was just very blunt: I was told things like “this is boring” and “no one will want to buy it,” followed by endless major revisions… Maybe my skills weren’t up to par back then and his standards were very high. 

　　That said, a manuscript he called worthless was signed by another publisher within two weeks XD 

　　So don’t be too discouraged by rejections — maybe another publisher is waiting for you to knock on its door. After all, every publisher has different tastes. 

　　Later this editor stepped away for a while due to health issues. That’s actually not uncommon — editing is really busy and very stressful. 

　　Editor turnover is actually quite high, and leaving due to illness is common… The same happened to Editor 77, whom I mentioned before — no wonder I couldn’t reach him for a while. A few years later, I ran into him at another publisher XD 

The mysterious bond between editors and cats

　　I’ve noticed quite a lot of editors keep cats. One editor shared that the cat he adopted was short-haired when he took it in, but after a while it became long-haired, with a super luxurious fluffy chest. The vet said it hadn’t been getting enough nutrition before, so its fur couldn’t grow. 

　　Now it’s so regal you’d mistake it for a pedigreed cat emperor!

　　Oh, and there’s another editor who left a deep impression.

　　He was a gentle editor, passionate about his work, who often encouraged me. I had a good impression of him. It seems I was able to sign with that publisher because he personally recommended me strongly, and he naturally became my editor afterwards.

　　Though that book never came out in the end — apparently the publisher changed its direction, boo hoo QQ

　　What makes this editor unusual is that… he once asked me very seriously,“Have you ever thought about suicide?” — and sought advice about his relationships too. Normally it’s the author venting to the editor, but here it was the other way around.

　　I was terrified something tragic would happen, so I tried hard to comfort him and talk things through — I even thought about going to see him in person to cheer him up (?). Because on TV there are always those stories where tragedy strikes after someone is ignored, right? If I turned out to be the last person he contacted, I’d probably never get over it QQ

　　But years later he’s doing fine — he not only came out of the gloom but is still at his post contributing to publishing, full of life. No need to worry!

　　I think it’s probably the power of paw pads! (This editor keeps cats too.)

　　Just like at home, I love sneaking up on my adorable cats, kneading their soft paw pads and taking a sniff of cat — it instantly fills me with energy!

　　Of course I’ve met other unusual editors along the way — I’ll share about them another time!

　　Conclusion:about 60% of the editors I’ve met keep cats,so a story with a cat is already halfway to winning (X

FAQ

Further reading (in Chinese)

• Previous: #05 (in Chinese)
• Next: #07 (in Chinese)
• Start from the beginning: #01 — Utsudo’s debut
• Column introduction
• Utsudo’s books

About the author

Utsudo is a Taiwanese light novelist and novelist VTuber with more than ten years in the industry and 40 commercially published print books. Her novel 《遺失的情書》 received a 2022 Ministry of Culture youth creative award. The 《嘿！聽說妳在鬼島當作家》 series records her experiences as a novelist in Taiwan.

📚 More on this topic: Writing Mindset & a Writer’s Life: Ghost Island Column Guide