Years ago, Fabio Cohen, my first important editor (a brilliant editor) and a wonderful person, once said to me, “I don’t know why writers pay so much attention to their editors. There are, after all, a lot of us.” Perhaps I recall the remark because it was the only time I can recall him saying anything that was obtuse. Yet I have heard other editors say much the same. It is an obtuse remark because the editor is the lifeline for writers wishing, wanting, and waiting to be published. For those of us who are fortunate to make a living by being published, the editor is often the keeper of the keys, the bank keys. The point is, while the relationship between writer and editor is often very close, very personal (sometimes a major lifelong friendship), as well as aesthetic, it is also a business relationship. It is that business side, which often becomes ignored, denied, and/or forgotten. Ultimately, (unless you are a very big-name) the writer is dependent on the editor. Whereas in most cases the editor is on a regular salary, the writer lives on advances and/or royalties, a much more fragile existence. All too often however, the editor does not accept the responsibility of that role, and pays no attention to it. When that happens—and it happens a lot—the whole working connection is undermined—the more so since it won’t be talked about. It is the unspoken side of publishing.