Dear Geist,

Am I stuck with the book editor my publisher assigned to me? If not, what’s the protocol to get a new one? I write red and he changes it to black. Not literally, but you know.

—Dennis G., Kelowna BC

Dear Dennis,

It is natural for a writer and editor to disagree on some matters, small and large, in a book manuscript. Your editor’s suggestions and questions are not tests or arguments; they are proposed notes on passages, sections or characters that he found confusing or contradictory as he read the text. Some editors prefer to talk to writers in person with these queries; others draft revised passages in writing and send them to the writer to show what they’re getting at.

Whatever your editor’s methods, his purpose is to ensure that your work is as strong and clear as it can be, and his notes are suggestions, not demands. Wherever he suggests revised wording, you are free to write your own revision and propose that, or to make a case for leaving it the way it is, or to talk to him about it.

Therefore, no. You don’t have to work with that editor. But any caring editor is likely to query some of your text, and most editor/author conversations strengthen a book.

If you are keen to publish the book exactly as you wrote it, tell the publisher. If you cannot reach a compromise, you may want to consider self-publishing.

Also see our posts Deep blue pencil, Editorial pushback (with comments from an editor) and Meddling with poetry.

—The Editors