Studio Blog

Hello Writers -

We’ve heard your fears, doubts and concerns. As a writer, we know you often question a CE’s true motives or reasoning. We know it sometimes feels as if the CEs are playing for the other team. As a lead copy curator for Demand Studios—and a copy editor myself—I’d like to take a minute to shed light on the CE process and hopefully diffuse some of your anxieties. 

If you think a CE is “out to get you,” you’re not alone … but think again. Contrary to popular belief, CEs are not the enemy. First, know that our editors are highly trained professionals. They come from rigorous editing backgrounds and have spent years with the top newspapers and book publishers in the country. We reject half of the applications we receive and half of the editors we test—which means that only 25 percent of the copy editors who apply actually make it through our gates. If they were out to sink writers, they would not be at the top of their field and they certainly wouldn’t make it through our (virtual) doors. So, next time you feel an editor is out to get you, we hope you’ll think twice.

A word on our editorial process: While editors do choose fields of interest so they can edit articles in line with their knowledge, articles are distributed to them randomly. It’s important to recognize that a CE earns the same fee, regardless of whether he approves your piece on the first pass or requests a rewrite and then ultimately approves or rejects the article. So if you think a CE “has it in for you” when he requests a rewrite, please realize that he is actually spending the time to help you improve that article without getting paid any more for doing so. In fact, her overall hourly wage will actually drop because she’s choosing to devote more time to your work.

Look at a rewrite as a learning opportunity. You are working with consummate professionals who are seeking to help you improve your writing—both with the present article and beyond. This back-and-forth collaborative dialogue between the editor and the writer is customary in the publishing world—and it’s a crucial step in ensuring your work is the best it can possibly be before it’s published.

Try not to take a CE’s notes personally or assign a tone to them, which can be hard to assess in email; please recognize that CEs are under immense time constraints. Unlike writers who can write as much or little as they want, when they want, CEs must meet weekly hourly minimums and article quotas. Their rewrite notes may often be direct and perhaps even terse, rather than effusive—and it’s the nature of their job to “get in and get out” of an article, as Richard’s advises. With that said, if a CE’s comments are truly rude and unprofessional, we will take action.

It’s also important to know that CEs will often contact us for a second opinion before rejecting an article. They truly don’t want to reject your work, particularly work that demonstrates skill and effort, and they feel badly about it when they do have to reject an article. Realize that it is not a frivolous click of a button.

Finally, understand that editing is an art, not a science. We can't have 100 percent consistency. New editors—just like writers—make mistakes while acclimating to our system. We hire new CEs weekly so that we can turn around your articles quicker, and we have to allow for their learning curve with patience. Sometimes seasoned editors make mistakes as well; their judgment may slip after hours of work. If an editor sends you an erroneous rewrite request—requesting a URL for a hard copy reference or requiring a photo for an article in which it’s optional—understand that he’s most likely a new editor overwhelmed with our guidelines. Use this as an opportunity to reciprocate; teach him by pointing out his mistake and direct him to the page of our style guide with the proper information. We’re building a team community here, one writer and editor at a time.

Your CE friend,
Eve Lederman