[Michael J Hunt]

William, I think that's so very true. In the 'old' days, a publishing house would assign an editor to an author; what went on between them no-one would ever know, but it makes you wonder just how much of their books is truly 'their' work. I occasionally edit books for friends, and I also edit academic work for students with English as a second language. In both cases there are ethical issues to be addressed. My own policy is not to deliberately change the meaning of anything; however, I also look out for obvious factual errors and ambiguities, and I'll point them out (but not necessarily correct them, especially if it's an academic edit).

I think the editor has more leeway in a fictional work (for instance, the error mentioned by Lene about the age of a child is a factual error that any editor would correct - if, of course, he/she knew the age of the child). However, 'story' editing is a highly specialist skill, which, I'm quite sure, I don't have. It also raises the ethical question to a different level. If, say, in a detective story, a piece of evidence has become distorted in the self-editing process, a good general editor would spot it and suggest a corrective; and, if the editor spotted a blindingly obvious flaw, which would entail a virtual re-write, he/she would feel obliged to point this out. I suppose this is what the author is paying an editor to do. However, what if the editor sees the opportunity for a much better story? If he/she were to suggest that to the author, might it be considered unethical? I suppose the author could always ignore the suggestion.

You appear to have been very lucky to find a good editor, William. I've also been lucky, since I paid for my first two published books to be 'appraised' (rather than edited) and I know that I'd have been much less satisfied with them had I not had some very good advice; also, I'm not ashamed to acknowledge receiving that advice. An appraisal is much less expensive than an edit, so, that's what I'd recommend to anyone self-publishing or trying to be published in the main-stream, alongside, of course, a good self-editing book (Self-editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King is my bible now).

MJ