Marcia Gruver

Some say the writing profession has changed a bit over time. Um. . .ya’ think?

Old movies portrayed novelists as pampered celebrities fawned over by editors, publicists, and fans. The author responded in an appropriately ethereal, bohemian manner, their artist personas intact and noses high above it all. An awkward posture for eating hand-fed grapes.

Writer’s block was more than a romantic notion. A backup in the author’s creative flow meant the machine ground to a halt until someone resuscitated the muse—and no one dared to rush the process.

Marketing? Not a problem. Book promotion was the PR person’s job. Deadlines? Phish! Editors hovered, content to wait for as long it took to produce a masterpiece, thrilled to receive the long awaited copy despite the overdue date. Editors catering to the author’s whims? Not the other way around? Now there’s a role-reversal!

In our fiercely competitive industry, there’s no time for editors to cart their clients about on silver platters. With the influx of talented authors in modern times, if editors hoisted only the best overhead, their poor backs couldn’t handle the strain. And who wants an overburdened, overstressed editor?

Disclaimer: Before I get two million letters of rebuttal, let me remind you these examples of editor pampering aren’t based in reality. They’re merely Hollywood portrayals from old movies. Although. . .

Harper Lee’s editor worked with her for three years on To Kill a Mockingbird. They spent weekends at the editor's summer house shaping the manuscript into its final draft. They were friends. Buddies. They hung out. Harper Lee’s editor has been described as a nurturer of Harper and her work.

Thomas Wolfe wrote in his journal of editor Maxwell Perkins: “In all my life, until I met you, I never had a friend.”

Albert Bigelow Paine, Samuel (Mark Twain) Clemens's editor and biographer “felt an obligation to silently alter or remove passages from the texts he did publish, and to block access to the rest when he thought them unworthy of his hero.” Hero? Has a nice ring, doesn’t it?

There are more examples, but you get the idea. Note to fabulous editor: Not sure on which continent your summer house resides, but my passport’s up-to-date and my bags are all packed.

If anyone knows the facts about author/editor relationships of the past, feel free to weigh in and enlighten us. Even more fun, weigh in and share your own highly exaggerated tales.

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Marcia is giving away a copy of Chasing Charity to one lucky commentor. So leave a comment to get your name thrown in the hat.

Find out more about Marcia on her website. On her Blog or by talking to her here today at Seekerville.