What I Learned At Dinner With My Editor

by | Dec 2, 2013 | Uncategorized

by Stephanie Morrill

Stephanie writes young adult contemporary novels and is the creator of GoTeenWriters.com. Her novels include The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series (Revell) and the Ellie Sweet books (Playlist). You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and check out samples of her work on her author website.

About 6 weeks ago, I had an email from the editor of my Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt books. She said she was going to be in Kansas City for a conference and asked if I wanted to get together for coffee or something.

Um, YES I DO.

I had never met Jennifer in real life, so this was very exciting. We hit the town in Kansas City style (read: wearing jeans and eating barbecue) and I had a chance to ask all my burning questions.

Yes, I took my editor to a restaurant in a gas station. Anthony Bourdain would back me up on the decision to go to Oklahoma Joe’s.

Here are some things I learned while we talked:

Editors have bigger needs than their literary preferences.

One thing that was clear to me by the end of our dinner was why it’s hard to get a book published. Even if an editor loves a book, it still has to fit with their publishing house. We talked for several hours and here’s a list of reasons that were mentioned of why a book had been rejected:
  • Not a genre they’ve had success with.
  • They already have an author writing successfully in that genre – they don’t want to compete with their own author.
  • Grittier than what they publish.
  • Too light or simplistic for what they publish.
  • They already have a book that deals with that topic.
  • The editor loved it…but others at the publishing house couldn’t get on board.
In regards to pitching…


I was a little surprise to hear that for fiction, what she wants to hear about most is who the characters are and what the conflict is. It’s not about what issues are tackled in the book, what the themes are, or how the writer plans to market this idea. Characters and conflict.

And there was no way I was going to leave dinner without getting her take on one-sheets. Here’s how our conversation went:

Me: What do you actually want to see on a one-sheet? Because writers get told all kinds of things, and I never know what I should do.

Jennifer: (Laughs) Maybe other editors are different, but all I want is to know about the story. I need to know the genre and word count is helpful, but I don’t need a list of every character in the book or all the other books you’ve written. And it needs to be printed in a size that I can actually read.

Me: So it doesn’t need to be professionally designed or colorful or anything?

Jennifer: No. And, really, I would rather just have a conversation with someone. Do you know how awkward it is to try to read something while somebody watches you?

Me: Say a writer came in to meet with you and they didn’t bring a one-sheet. Would you be thinking, “This person is so unprofessional”?

Jennifer: Absolutely not. I just want to talk to a writer about their story.

This made me very happy because the hype for one-sheets before some of the conferences I go to always freaks me out.

They need you to pull your weight on marketing copy

The lovely people in the marketing, publicity, and sales departments at the publishing house have likely not read your book. So they really need you to give them good stuff (back cover copy, a one sentence description) for the best chances of success with getting the book on shelves and in readers hands.

Editors want your book to be amazing.


Every editor I’ve met loves to read. You know what they like to read the most? GOOD BOOKS. When they open up a submission, they’re hoping the story captivates them and fits the needs of their publishing house.

Bronte’s mantra to Ellie all through The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet is, “Don’t give them a reason to say no.” Writing a great book at least takes away that no.

My editor said telling writers no is the worst part of her job. I know there are rude and cold editors in the industry, but take comfort in the fact that there are big-hearted editors out there too.

If you were having dinner with an editor, what question would you ask? (And I’ll see if I can find a way to get them answered for you!)