A good editor will never embarrass a writer. They will not publish your piece if it’s going to make you sound less than what you are.

Sometimes, writers write pieces that may sound good on the surface, and they send it to the publisher. The editor reads it and puts it on hold, lets it marinate, and comes back to it.

The editor rejects the piece and sends you a rejection letter. Once you get the letter and have another look at the article they rejected, you may agree, that the editor was right not to publish it.

The piece is just going to embarrass the writer and probably the publication. A good editor will reject the piece because the piece would have made you look dumb.

Editors care about the image they are projecting through their writers.

Of course, the piece may have sounded terrible, anyway. But the editor is saving you from other embarrassments as well, like the self-image you’re sending.