How to navigate the writer-editor relationship

Working on a manuscript together necessitates compromise, humility and humour.
ArtsHub has gathered voices on both sides of the publication divide to offer some tips about how to successfully manage the writer-editor relationship.

Consider: you’ve just had your first or latest book accepted by a publishing house (congratulations!) and you’ve been assigned an editor to finesse the manuscript into publishable form. Or you’re a newbie editor who’s at the start of your career and wanting to know how to navigate the potentially tricky conversations with writers who are understandably a little protective about their words.

ArtsHub has gathered voices on both sides of the publication divide to offer some tips on how to successfully manage the writer-editor relationship.

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Thuy On is Reviews Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the books editor of The Big issue for 8 years. Her debut, a collection of poetry called Turbulence, came out in 2020 and was released by University of Western Australia Publishing (UWAP). Her second collection, Decadence, was published in July 2022, also by UWAP. Her third book, Essence, will be published in 2025. Twitter: @thuy_on Instagram: poemsbythuy