Jim Norton is a writer I'm pals with: we first met when I began contributing to Flak Magazine. He has just published a book called Saving General Washington. Since Jim is a good writer and a good editor, I asked him to share with me some of his experiences working with book editors in exchange for a mention for his book. And he was willing to share:

WORKING WITH BOOK EDITORS

I've written six non-fiction books, including a biography of Beyonce
which never saw print. The post-mortem of that debacle would be a lengthy post unto itself, so I'll stick to the lessons learned on my
most recent publication, a political book called "Saving General
Washington: The Right Wing Assault on America's Founding Principles."

-- Friction is (Typically) Good --

If you're lucky enough to sell a book proposal, you'll get assigned an editor. If you're lucky enough to be assigned a really good editor, as I was with "Washington," you'll notice that your editor may want to change much of what you've written. This is invariably painful. Stacks of FedEx envelopes containing chapters drenched in red ink piled up for three solid weeks as I worked on "Saving General Washington," a process that led me to have something akin to a minor nervous breakdown.

Don't panic. If you're seeing lots of read ink and proposals for how
to organize things, that means you're getting creative feedback. And
if you agree with some or most of it off the bat, it's GOOD feedback,
the best thing an editor can give to a writer. Even bad feedback is
better than no feedback, as it gives you something to push back on,
which helps you understand your own themes and voice more concretely.

-- Assume the Best --

Shit happens when you're edited. Paragraphs vanish. Revisions aren't
made. Cherished sentences are abducted and killed. Chapter names change. Sometimes, you're dealing with a pushy or sloppy editor who is systematically destroying your work due to a combination of hubris or neglect. But generally, you're dealing with a human being who is doing 100 things right for every error that catches your eye.

Always start by assuming the best of intentions and work from there. Be gentle.

Remember: your editor is your advocate within the publishing house and the guardian of your work, so you need to be friends with them. Really good friends. Even if you can't stand your editor, calculate what kicking up a fuss buys you, and what it costs you.

-- Know Your Vision --

Most of us, given the opportunity to pitch and write a book, would merrily go off and do it. You're getting paid to write. That's terrific.

But are you writing your book to communicate to specialists in your field? To make something specialized accessible to general readers? To define yourself as a journalist, or humorist, or academic expert, or warm, cuddly human being? To sell as many books as possible? To push your writing to the outer limits of its potential? To work for a political cause? Don't pick "all of the above"; know your goal from the outset, and whether your editor's on the same page, or working for another purpose. It's fine to be at cross purposes with your editor - you often will be -- but you need to both know it.

-- Know Thy Editor --

Different editing track records create different editors. Some editors come from a journalism background; some studied English, or technical writing, or come from the world of business. Your book may be a step up for them, or a step down, or the 100th of its kind they've dealt with. If you can chat up your editor and get a sense of where they're coming from, careerwise and personally, you'll find it easier to speak his or her language and deal with the hard knocks that inevitably come your way.