As A Professional Editor, This Subreddit Is An Insult To My Profession

I am a professional editor working for a university press. I have spent over a decade working in academic publishing and I have a degree in creative writing. I have worked on countless books and articles for both student and senior researchers and academics. I am both a line editor and a developmental editor, and I have worked for trade publication companies as well as in a professional freelance capacity. I've edited research papers for both STEM and humanities research, as well as helping both native and non-native English speakers.<br><br>I have spent years honing my skills. I have spent years learning to be a better editor, working on improving my service, and helping authors both novice and established improve their work. I've helped people get their first publication. I've helped students write their first research papers. I've helped both students and professionals craft quality letters of intent, cover letters, and research statements for institution hiring. I've helped people craft responses to R&Rs that have gotten them published in top journals, and I have even helped working academics write their own textbook. My work is good, and I have dozens of happy clients and letters of recommendation that I have helped them improve their writing and voice.<br><br>And yet, this chamber is an insult to my profession. It is an insult to every working editor, every person who has dedicated themselves to the craft of helping improve writing. It is an insult to every student working hard to learn this craft, every professional working to improve, every working editor who must compete with this shoddy nonsense.<br><br>I am not the only professional editor on this stupid website, and many of us come here, offer our services both for free and for pay, and overwhelmingly we are met with suspicion and outright hostility. "Why should I pay you, when there is a whole chamber of people willing to do it for free?" is a very common response. We are met with comments like "You don't know what you're doing, this sub is helping me be a better writer!"<br><br>I've offered my services here, repeatedly, only to have them rejected. I've offered to help students with research papers, only to be met with suspicion. I've had people outright laugh at me when I offered my services, only to have someone in this chamber "edit" their work and proceed to screw it up. I've offered to help publication-ready authors, both fiction and nonfiction, and even had published authors tell me to my face that I am taking advantage of them, that I should be doing this for free.<br><br>I often read the "feedback" in this subreddit. Most of the time, it is a joke. It is worse than what a typical high school English teacher would provide. Most of the "feedback" is "I liked this" and "I didn't like that" with little actual substance behind it. People who have never cracked open a grammar or stylebook in their lives think that they can do what I do. People who have never read a book on writing or done a single writing workshop think that they can sit at my table. And overwhelmingly, this chamber is happy to let those sorts of "editors" have a seat at the table.<br><br>I've seen many other professional editors come and go on this subreddit. We are all met with suspicion and outright hostility. Many of us have begged the mod team to allow us to post our credentials, to prove that we are who we are, that we have the credentials we do, only to be rejected outright. Many of us have asked for a sub forum for professional editors, only to be rejected.<br><br>There is no place for professional editors on this subreddit. There is no room for people like me, and no desire to create that space. I am leaving this chamber for good, and I have sent this post out as a last ditch effort to change the minds of people like you. I am not the only professional editor who has left, and many of us will never come back.<br><br>To those who have treated us both myself and other professional editors with disdain and hostility, I have one thing to say to you: <br><br>You will never be a writer. You will never be a good writer. You will never even be a passable writer. And if you ever decide you want to be a "professional" writer, that you want to make a career of writing, you will fail. And you will deserve to fail.<br><br>To the mod team, I have these parting words: <br><br>You have insulted my profession. You have insulted every person who has ever worked in publishing, who has worked hard to be a good editor. You have insulted every university program and every student working hard to learn to be editors. You have insulted every company who hires professional editors, every publishing house, and every academic institution who both teach and hire editors. You have insulted every person who has worked their ass of to produce quality academic and trade research and publication, and you have insulted every academic and trade institution that depends on us to produce that work.<br><br>And lastly, to the moderators and subscribers of this chamber, I hope that each and every one of you contract the worst case of writer's block the world has ever known, and that you must stew in your own incompetence for all of your days.<br><br>Good bye, and good luck.