There’s a difference between like and love, tolerate and hate. When you’re looking for an editor for your book, does it really matter if your editor loves (or doesn’t love) your genre? There are several different ways to answer that question and this blog will attempt to do so.
Genre Knowledge
I would argue that an editor has to at least be knowledgeable about a genre in order to know what tropes exist (for example romances have to have a positive ending, even if it isn’t “happily ever after”) and ideally what’s popular right now and what was popular in the past. It would be tough for the multi-genre editor to have a fully expansive understanding of each genre they edit, but they should know enough to know whether a given story works in the genre the author has chosen and whether it will meet reader expectations.
The truth is that it is possible for an editor to edit a genre they have no knowledge about; however, that would be akin to AI editing looking at each word in isolation or maybe with the words on either side of it. Good grammar is good grammar. For the most part that doesn’t change depending on the book’s genre. Likewise, a well-written character or solid storyline are pretty much something that could be seen across genres.
What changes is that the nuances of how those things work in relation to the story along with what readers expect out of the story change from genre to genre. If the story blends elements of different genres like romantasy or romantic suspense, the reader will be looking for both halves and that complicates not just the writing process but also the editing process as well.
Like, Not Love
I also want to add that it is okay if your editor likes the genre in general (for example romance), but maybe doesn’t read certain subgenres. You’ll have an editor who can still capture the beats of the story, make sure it meets reader expectations, but perhaps not get pulled in to the point where they miss the typos because of the enjoyment.
The bottom line is most editors list the genre(s) with which they work, and the savvy author should use this as their guide to choosing an editor, because while an editor doesn’t have to love the genre, I sure hope they like it. You’ll find a better editing experience and an editor with more knowledge.