Maxwell Perkins edited The Great Gatsby.
William Maxwell Evarts `` Max '' Perkins ( 20 September 1884 -- 17 June 1947 ) , was an American book editor , best remembered for discovering authors Ernest Hemingway , F. Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe . The Great Gatsby . His editor , Maxwell Perkins , felt the book was vague and persuaded the author to revise over the next winter .