They can be mean, unethical and downright unprofessional. But not all editors fit that bill. In fact, most editors would rather give you money that take it, make no changes than rewrite whole pieces two hours before deadline, and accept every piece of crap than start their mornings sending out rejection slips. But step into an editor’s shoes, and you’ll know why that’s not only hard, it’s just plain impossible!

Here are the most common complaints writers have, and why editors aren’t always guilty of them.

Completely Changing your Work

An editor I frequently work with was in distress. One of her regulars had just written to complain about his perfectly brilliant beginning being chopped off. “They sometimes don’t get our style,” she told me over lunch. “We need more quotes, we put them in. We need a stronger beginning; we change it. There’s nothing much I can do about it. It’s the way we work.” But while this editor was very forthcoming about her reasons, and gave the writer an explanation, you’ll usually get no further correspondence. That doesn’t mean that they don’t understand the anguish you go through. But they’ve got word limits, voice and style limitations and a dozen other factors to keep in mind. And they simply don’t have the time to offer explanations to each writer.

Paying Less or not Paying at all