publishing contract confusion

I thought one of the primary advantages of a traditional publishing contract was to work with an editor at the publishing house.  I was wrong.  When updating my publisher on the status of my fourth novel I asked for an estimated publishing timeline and a contract.  The response was that she wouldn’t consider offering a contract until after reading the manuscript.  Fair enough, I thought. 

I wanted clarification that I was expected to pay an independent editor.  My publisher’s response was: “What would you do if you were submitting to any other publisher.”

So, I needed a reality check and I contacted my friend and mentor Christine DeSmet.  She told me that in today’s publishing world only the “Big 4” New York publishing houses have editors working with authors.  For all the medium and small publishers, it is too expensive to have editors on staff so authors are expected to pay out of pocket for editing services.

At my friends’ suggestion I re-read the contract with my publisher.  It had language on submitting an “acceptable manuscript” which was listed in an appendix.  The requirements were all technical on spacing, punctuation, font type, font size and etc.  There was no language on editing services.

How did I overlook that omission?    When signing, I was so eager that I didn’t ask any questions, I didn’t negotiate and I didn’t read the contract carefully.  In the end it is my fault.

Of course, I will have the manuscript professionally edited.  I had all the books in the Irish Troubles Series professionally edited.
​
I have learned a lesson and it is my wish that all the authors reading this blog learn a lesson too.