My former boss and I had a fantastic working relationship—built on trust, respect, and a shared appreciation for a well-timed joke. He valued my work, my perspective, and my commitment to the craft. One day, he walked over to my team with a piece of paper in his hands and announced that he was about to demonstrate my editing skills. He looked at me and said, “Hey, Fecher, can you edit this?” Then he glanced down at the document and ripped it clean in half. It was his playful

Over lunch, my mom recently asked me why I hired a book editor when I’ve been writing all my life. Her question caught me off guard, because I never thought of it that way.   Yes, I’m experienced. But I’ve never published or distributed a press release, social post or corporate response without getting another set of eyes on what I’d written. And that’s after several rounds of self-editing to make sure what I submitted was as polished as possible. After years of writing and r