In this quick post I wanted to explain that sometimes the editorial process can be tricky. This is especially true when you get an editor who isn’t familiar with gay men and the editor is editing m/m fiction. It’s one thing to know when to remove or add a comma. But it’s completely different when it comes to getting inside the head of a gay man and knowing when a scene works or not. I’ve been an editor. So I know how it works on both sides of the fence.

I’ve posted about how I love all the editors I work with. And I thank them time and again for helping me produce what we all think and hope readers are going to like. I stand by this and I can’t thank them enough.

But sometimes there are situations where the author knows more than the editor. And this is when the author has to fight for the reader. It doesn’t happen often. But when it does, I can tell you for sure that authors aren’t thinking about the editor’s feelings or opinions. Authors aren’t thinking about what book reviewers will think or how they will feel either.

The author is only thinking about one person: the reader. We think about those of you who have sent us e-mails and praised our work. We think about those of you who have left one star reviews and have been disappointed in something we hope we can learn from. We even think about those of you who haven’t read our work yet. And we do our best to make sure you get what we think and what we hope you’re going to want. You are the most important people to us and nothing else matters. And if it means we have to fight to get you what we think you want, we’re more than willing to roll up our sleeves and go to battle for you.