Editors Are People Too
This hasn’t happened to me in a while (thankfully), but I certainly remember the feeling of annoyance and disbelief I experienced when it did happen. I am referring to the author who e-mails an editor at 7:30 on a Friday evening, waits several hours for a response, and then sends another e-mail that goes something like this: “You haven’t answered my first e-mail and it’s been a long time so I’m sending you this to make sure you got the first one.” He then sends a couple of new e-mails on Saturday, followed by several more on Sunday. The final e-mail, sent at 11:37 Sunday night, is angry, disgusted, and ends with “WHY ARE YOU IGNORING ME?”
Yes, I know we’re all used to getting an almost instantaneous response to our electronic messages. But come on … editors don’t always work nights and weekends. Personally, I usually check e-mail on Saturdays (if there’s anything pressing I’ll even answer it), but on Sundays I often don’t even turn my computer on. And if you send me anything after 7:00 p.m. (Eastern), don’t expect an answer until early the next morning (unless it’s a weekend, in which case you should expect an answer on Monday morning).
I used to worry that I was providing inefficient service by not being available 24/7, but I got over that after a day or so. Hey, I’m not a machine here. I require sustenance, exercise, and sleep. There’s a dog to be walked, cats to be fed, dinner to be cooked, and I do like to take a shower every day. In other words, I have a life. All editors have lives, but sometimes authors seem to forget this basic fact. We get the flu, our cars break down, we (gasp!) take a day off. We’re not ignoring you; we’re just human beings living our lives.
For the nervous author, I recommend a bubble bath, a relaxing walk, or a cup of herbal tea. For the exceptionally nervous author, I recommend all three, followed by twenty minutes of meditation. I do not recommend obsessively e-mailing your editor over and over and over on the weekend. The editor is probably off mowing the lawn or having a nice nap—two more things you might try!
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