One of the things - the many things! - you have to watch with all editors, independent and publishers', is that they're not wannabe writers trying to use your book as their vehicle. You don't want them to rewrite your book. You want them to pick up errors of fact, grammar or continuity, to notice if you're under- or over-explaining, and to suggest better, more succinct or more marketable ways of presenting your work.
In thirty-odd years and thirty-odd books I've had editors I liked and editors I had to try hard to like, but I also had one - just one - who thought my book ought to be her book. I looked at the amount of blue pencil on the first three pages and sent it back to the publishers, pointing out that they'd bought the book I'd written and that was what I expected them to publish. To their credit, the typescript went directly to the senior editor who did the job herself, and it came back exactly as I hoped. We had no further problems.
I know it doesn't feel like it, but you have to remember that the author is in fact in the driving seat. No authors, no books, no publishers; no publishers, we authors can still self-publish or tell stories the way our predecessors did, sitting round the camp-fire.
Be professional. Co-operate wherever possible. But be true to your book, and don't let anyone walk all over you.
