"With marketing departments taking away much of their acquisition
power, editors by the dozen have left the mainstream, many of them to
become literary agents or manuscript consultants."
"Austin Clarke was the 'surprise winner' of Canada's Giller Prize for the novel the Polished Hoe. In accepting the award, he thanks his editor for cutting the manuscript by three-quarters."
"Editing is the only skill which is unique to the publisher's trade. A production staff could be engaged equally well in printing magazines, paper bags or stationary. Sales personnel could, at least in theory, apply their talents to selling biscuits and baked beans."
"The difference between the right word and almost-right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." (Editors help authors with the right words) ~ Mark Twain
"The soul of a publishing company is its editors..." ~ Richard Curtis
"Editors don't make up for a lack of talent any more than coaches make up for a lack of athletic ability. What editors make up for more than anything else is a lack of objectivity." ~ Renni Browne
"It is a good job. Indoor work, no heavy lifting--and it's easy, most of the time, to feel good about what you do." ~ Rachel Toor
"Book publishing has been restructuring and consolidating in recent years, and this has meant fewer editors as well as more pin-balling by them from house to house, usually leaving a list of disgruntled, spooked writers behind." ~ Martin Arnold
"But some editors can't help themselves. It's a vision thing. You see a manuscript not so much for what it is, but for what it could be. You have the vision. You need to convince the author that you're right (while being careful always to acknowledge his intellectual superiority." ~ Rachel Toor
"When you're a writer, you're a dreamer, and you need someone you trust to help you interpret your dreams."
"An editor's job is to see the ideal whole behind the writer's words and try to get the writer as close to that ideal as possible."
"Editing, like writing, is a craft that must be learned but can only barely be taught."
"Are editors necessary? Of course they are. Who else can take agents to lunch." ~ Betty Marks
"To mobilize an entire company behind something, you have to be a diplomat, a facilitator and a cheerleader. You have to mediate between agents and writers on the one hand and the tempestuousness and the different fiefdoms of your own house on the other." ~Stephen Hubbell
Today's younger editors tend to be "self-confessed media junkies, they tend to be well-connected and promotionally minded; idealistic about the health of book publishing, but realistic about the demands of the bottom line, harboring no nostalgia for a mythic golden age of publishing that preceded the consolidation of large publishers." ~ Jonathan Bing
"We expect too much and offer too little. We still think that the privilege of working in publishing is compensation enough. Not everyone has a trust fund to fall back on."
"The editor has to cajole the book out of the author, and nurture the writer and be his advocate within the house. And more and more it is the editor who also has to cajole the enthusiasm for the book out of the sales force who must sell the books to the stores and the marketing and publicity people, even in house that have great departments for both." ~ Martin Arnold
"We need to think a lot more about areas like what red states want to read, even if it makes editors vulnerable to the criticism that they're merely following the market." ~ Molly Stern
"The editor's contagious articulation of a book's pleasures is still the starting point of the sales process. Word of mouth recommendations remain the biggest influence on sales, and editors who do a great job of exciting people about their books have great success." ~ Michael Pietsch
"The thing that impresses me most about our editors is that they understand that it's not all about the book. It's about the money that you can make from that book."
"For many years, the book industry's glamourous aura has made it possible to pay peanuts, usually without getting monkeys. ... At present, editing books is one of the lowest-paid forms of intellectual labor around, perhaps exceeded only by the work of writing them." ~ anon
Book Editors Close up contains brief interviews with several editors.
Bookjobs.com is a relatively new service provided by the Association of American Publishers.
Preditors and Editors is a guide to publishers and publishing services. Note the useful glossary of terms.
Book Editors Talk to Writers by Judy Mandell contains chapters by editors who specialize in different types of books.
The literature agrees that the editorial function is the most important function in the publishing house. It is also the function that generates the most intellectual excitement. Selecting what is to be published, and improving intellectual content before it is published are fascinating responsibilities.
Book editing pays reasonably well for those at the top. Larger, successful publishers pay more than smaller ones. Male editors appear to earn more than female ones. Beginning salaries are often low and upward mobility may be difficult. One successful executive editor recalled that she had to clean apartments on weekends to make ends meet and ate "a lot of rice dinners." In fact, low salaries are the major negative in recruiting for entry level positions. Recent salary surveys suggest that the average editor makes about the same money as an experienced high school teacher. Publishers Weekly normally does a salary survey in August. In July, 2002, Random House raised the entry level salary of its New York city publishing, sales, and support employees to $30,000 per year.
Related to salaries is the fact that publishing, especially on the
creative side, often is a "slow career advancement industry." Larger
pay increases tend to go to those who are promoted or switch positions.
The must lucrative positions are in management. Men typically earn more
than women, but normally have more years of experience. In the 2004
salary survey by PW, 62% of the survey
participants would recommend publishing as a career. Managing
editors made from $53 thousand to $84 thousand. Editors made from $41
thousand to $61 thousand. Editorial assistants made from $28 thousand
to $30 thousand.
Traditionally, the editing profession has relied heavily on an apprenticeship system where those who wished to become editors began work as assistants and gophers for established editors and then learned the trade via on the job training. There were usually more applicants than places. "Entry-level jobs in book publishing‹ assistants to editors, assistants to rights persons, assistants to publicity agents have traditionally been for white literature majors with generous parents." A large proportion of those interested in book industry employment are attracted to editing so there is more competition than would be found in sales, marketing, or other positions.In recent years, the number of applicants has declined and turnover is a problem. Editors have less time for training and education.
Those attracted to editing, usually had a strong liberal arts education with writing/editing experience gained while a student. Doubleday President Samuel Vaughan called book publishing the accidental profession because of a lack of formal recruitment, educational or training programs. Serious academic programs for those interested in book publishing are relatively recent. The first practical course appeared at New York University in 1943. In 1958, NYU created the first graduate degree [MS in Publishing requires at least two years of publishing experience and 36 graduate hours] in this field and has become a center for those interested in professional work in book publishing. Pace University now has a similar program.
Summer workshop programs have been popular since Radcliffe (the
Radcliffe program moved to Columbia University where it is part of the
Graduate School of Journalism) began a six week one in 1947 (also
includes periodical publishing). Radcliffe can only take 80 to 90
students per summer so there was a need for other programs. Typically,
these programs last four to seven weeks and provide a broad overview
with considerable participation by those active in book publishing. New
York University [six weeks with book, ebook, and periodical
publishing], Denver University
[four weeks and book publishing only] and Rice University [four weeks
with book and periodical publishing] also offer summer programs.
Besides the hands-on experience, the networking ("You couldn't meet the
people you meet here in 10 years in the industry.")is important since
students usually have the opportunity to work with established
professionals. Too, graduates of these programs have realistic
expectations about the business. Well-regarded graduates of these
programs are likely to be much more successful in finding employment,
especially with the larger publishing houses. Martin Arnold says "The
courses are the closest thing book publishing has to finishing schools,
and, like finishing schools, they are expensive [Radcliffe is about
$5300], arguably a bit elitist, and very likely worthwhile. They are
also unsurpassed as the method for filling the empty entry-level spaces
at the bottom of the publishing gulch."
As you might expect, there is little racial or ethnic diversity in U.S. book publishing. The Association of American Publishing has launched Bookjobs.com to attract college students/graduates to book publishing. Note that the site lists both entry level positions and internship opportunities. Most of both are in New York city. Bookmark this site if you are interested in a position in trade book publishing. Publishers Weekly lists positions as well but focuses on mid- and high-level positions.
The book industry remains heavily concentrated in the Northeast. Most who work in book publishing, except the highest ranks, are women. Publishing is still relatively low paying. Men are most likely to be found in management, sales, and marketing. Satisfaction with jobs is lower today than fifteen years ago. Those employed in editorial work typically make between $46 and $56 thousand per year. Those in sales and marketing make a bit more while those in operations make a bit more.
When filling an editorial position, the house looks for a variety of qualities or attributes. Some of these are concrete and some are vague or fuzzy. Here is a typical list:
Trade publishers remain interested in the broad liberal arts education, a person who is widely read, and some one with a critical sense of writing/literary style.
K-12 textbook publishers, besides the above, prefer candidates with teaching experience.
Line-editing is what most people think of when they hear "editing." It involves reading the manuscript line by line and suggesting ways that those lines could be improved to make content clear and flow well. Editors may suggest adding words, deleting words, or changing the order of words. Line editing takes considerable time and patience. Copy editing checks grammar, usage, and spelling to insure that these are correct and match the house style. They may also check to insure that the main character's "blue eyes in chapter one don't turn green in chapter eight." Developmental editing or conceptual editing involves larger issues such as strengthening plot characterization or other content issues. Line editing focuses on style rather than content. Today, fewer large publishers have time for developmental or line editing.
Editors normally have these roles:
A good editor (NOT ranked):
Some editors are also established authors. Being an editor provides the author with realistic expectations about book publishing. Being an author makes the editor more sensitive to the feelings and reactions that authors typically have.
Most ethical problems result from the fact that the editor improves the author's work while the author receives credit for a polished product that is not entirely her own work. Both substantial suggestions for improvement and good copy editing may create a product that gives a false impression of the author's skill.
Several recent best sellers have been charged with inaccuracy. Fact checking remains a problem even though most publishers argue that this responsibility rests with the author. Interestingly, periodical publishers often have fact checkers because they feel responsible for accuracy. Most readers will assume that when a book is published, the publisher will have checked the facts. Obviously, in a work with a large number of facts this would be a difficult and time-consuming task. Little Brown has a good reputation for accuracy in the works that it publishes.
"In 1998, Schocken Books, a Knopf imprint, suffered the ultimate absurdity: it printed 50,000 copies of a prize-winning nonfiction book first published in Germany that was entirely fiction. Called Fragments, it was said by its author, Benjamin Wilkomirski, to be a memoir of his time in Nazi camps. It was a hoax."
St. Martins Press promoted Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President before discovering that the author was a felon and lacked credibility. The book was recalled. Questions raised at the time remain unanswered:
Some acquisition editors feel anxious about negotiation with authors since contracts are usually one-sided and authors, eager to be published, may be taken advantage of.
Although this may receive more attention than warranted, making changes in the intellectual content of a work to enhance sales, for example adding more sexual scenes to a novel, may create ethical problems for the editor.
When editors move on, an author and her work may be orphaned or left without an in-house advocate or enthusiast. A once promising work is now on the side lines.
Firms have paid to have their products featured in film and television for some time. While still rare, product placement opportunities certainly appear in books. It would certainly create an ethical issue for the editor, even if the placed product was appropriate for the context.
Editors usually agree that securing marketing and promotion support is the biggest hurdle a book faces once it is under contract. Getting that needed support requires considerable effort, patience, and a winning rationale.
While book producers are involved in several aspects of publishing, creating intellectual content, finding authors, and editing are especially important. A book producer combines the role of agent, editor, and publisher as well as some author roles to create content packages ready for manufacture. If a publisher outsourced all of its books to producers, there would be little need for editors.
In the past, book producers were often used for complex books, especially those with many illustrations and permissions problems or that required notable research. They were also especially useful in creating paper edition series. Today, producers are more visible and play a more important role in creating the book. Publishers are left with supervision of manufacturing and distribution. While these books represent a small percentage of most publisher's output, they are important. "Book packaging is a quiet underbelly of the publishing world.... [Jenna Glatzer].
Some book producers, such as Alloy Entertainment, have been notably successful in creating plot-lines, characters, and finding writers to create the content. Alloy books have done well on the children's [and tween's] paperback best-seller list with such series as "Clique," "A-List," and "Gossip Girl." Earlier, Alloy was responsible for the "Sweet Valley High" series.
After the New York Times Company purchased About.com, Adams Media
secured a licensing/marketing agreement to create About.com branded
practical guide. The web company will host "companion portals" to
support and supplement the books.
Anecdotal opinion suggests that editorial work is not as attractive today as it once was. The low salaries and relatively long apprenticeship period seem to have an impact. There are also many more attractive opportunities for talented and well-educated young women.
Especially with the recent mergers, some houses now have fewer
editors than before while the work load remains the same or may even
increase. This means that editors have less time to devote to
particular projects. More editors are complaining that they have less
and less time for acquiring and editing. Not all editors are
enthusiastic about preparing marketing and publicity plans, including
fact sheets for sales meetings, and tips for sales
representatives--even though the editor knows the book better than
anyone else.
One of the more important editorial roles is that of nurturing
or working closely with authors as mentor and consultant to improve
content and the author's ability to perform. Many larger publishing
houses no longer provide editors with the time to do this. This means
that some manuscripts receive minimal editing and that authors are left
to their own devices. Nurturing is most likely found in editor imprints
or smaller houses. Given thin margins and the press of events, many
literary agents also do not have much time for nurturing, especially
for new authors.
A legitimate [many who advertise on the web are not legitimate] and
experienced manuscript consultant will fill this gap, but the author
will pay for the service. Questions to be answered include:
Given the changes in contemporary book publishing, editors may have a diminished role. Agents and book producers may do more product development and selection. Those in sales may have more to say about what is published and how it is published. As publishing houses become more rational and bottom line oriented, there may be less room for creative decisions, including giving the author an opportunity to grow and develop. "In many houses, there is pressure to spend your time in the most fiscally rewarding way, which is acquiring."
With fewer mid-size publishing houses, the "rise of the super house" means that more editors must be comfortable in a large corporate environment. Financial evaluation and considerable bureaucracy can put considerable pressure on the editor. At the same time, the editor may have access to substantial financial and other resources. Marketing is much more important than before and editors work with the marketing department before a book is signed.
Since a successful, popular editor can really make a difference, there is some competition among the larger houses to hire visible editors. As editors move from house to house, perhaps because of mergers, it is more difficult to establish the continuity of effort that authors and others in the house prefer.
The merger of many well-known publishing houses has resulted in the loss of jobs for some well-known editors. As Jonathan Bing says, "As the pressure to produce quick results has recently led to the slashing of lists and the collapse of distinguished imprints, young editors are also acutely aware of the instability of the field in which they work."
Although editors play the major role in the success of the publishing house, they receive relatively little recognition.
Editors should not select manuscripts simply because they match the editor's taste or interests. Decisions need to reflect house focus and have reasonable sales potential.
An editor must never forget that it is the author's work and it must
remain true to the author's voice. The editor needs to know when to
edit and when to leave the content stand. As Thomas McCormack says,
"the primary rule of editing is, first do no harm." Sara Paretsky said
about her editor, Jackie Farber, "She has the capacity to look at the
book you're trying to write, not the book she would have written."
A comment by Robert McHenry, a former Chief Editor for the
Encyclopedia Britannica, says it well: "Expensive and imposing books
from important imprints sometimes read like the morning newspaper, full
of misspellings, grammatical flubs, awkward transitions and breaks,
weird line spacings." Increasingly, editing has become an author
responsibility and the book is the poorer because of that.
The editor is clearly in the middle. The author relies and trusts
the editor to do the right thing. The publishing house expects the
editor to insure that the book is brought to market as quickly and with
as few costs as possible. An example of being in the middle was the
decision of the British publisher Secker & Warburg not to publish
the best selling House of Bush, House of Saud because of concerns about legal action by the Saudis. The editors were surprised and disappointed by this sudden decision.
Successful authors may not want to have their work edited and their contracts may allow that. There are few authors who would not benefit from thoughtful editing.
Contemporary book publishing is already highly automated. Books are created digitally and edited digitally. Copy editing can easily be done on a computer and the results may be quickly shared with the author. Spelling, grammar, and usage software substantially reduces the need for copy editing. Still, the software is not yet good enough to replace the skilled copy editor.
As more and better sales information becomes available, especially from the national chain book stores, editors may find it difficult to select works by authors whose earlier work was not successful in the market place.
Proprietary publishing is creating a product for another corporation, often using existing content. This has been done by book producers for some time, but now large houses like HarperCollins and Random House have created proprietary programs. These books are not returnable and can be produced at relatively low cost. In one sense, this is an opportunity to recycle existing content. However, it is different from the notion of trade publishing.
These imprints, really a small publisher within a larger one, began
as a way to honor a distinguished editor but have become a way to
attract and retain especially talented editors or to reach out to a new
audience. Here, a noted book editor is given her own imprint, i.e.
Wendy Lamb Books at Random House. She will publish 10 to 15 books per
year. In 1999, she received the LMP Award for Editorial Achievement in
Children's Publishing. Editor imprints are sometimes called "boutique"
publishing or imprints.
An established editor is thinking of leaving, perhaps to do his own
publishing. Rather than let that happen, the house gives the editor his
own imprint. Another scenario would be when the house would like to
attract a well-regarded editor to the house. The editor's imprint is
most attractive with its autonomy and visibility. The editor has the
freedom to publish without the usual management approvals according to
he personal taste, voice and vision. The house retains the right of first refusal.
The editor can now select and edit whatever he wishes with the
understanding that the publishing house will issue most of these books.
An editor imprint is better than establishing a new publishing firm
because the editor can count on the house for manufacturing, marketing,
distribution, and sales. The editor has autonomy and name recognition.
The author can enjoy a small press experience while the book has a "big
press experience."
Not all imprints include the editor's name. For example, Penguin
Putnam's BlueHen Books was created for editors Frederick Ramey and Greg
Michalson. Imprints attract both new and established authors and
provide a way for new titles to receive more attention in the house and
in the market. Too different imprints target different markets and
different sorts of readers since imprints usually have a distinct voice
and focus. For example, HarperCollins Rayo imprint focuses on the
Latino market and Random's Broadway Books has its Harlem Moon imprint
to focus on African-Americans.
"Independent Editor" seems to be the most popular name for an editor who is not affiliated with a publishing house. Other names include:
"Book doctor" is problematic since there are several web sites for editors who use this name and take advantage of authors. Here, "independent authors" have had considerable experience with a known publishing house and have decided to free lance. Typically, they are well known to acquisitions editors in publishing houses, literary agents, and published authors. They normally do not work with unknown authors and they charge substantial fees since their contribution to the final book is substantial. A genuine independent editor would:
There are two groups of these editors:
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a publishing career with some emphasis on book editing. Which aspects of book editing have particular appeal for you?
As an author, discuss the assets and liabilities of "self-editing" versus hiring an editor. Consider developmental, line, and copy editing.
As an editor, discuss the degree to which information technology is likely to eliminate or minimize the editor's role.
As a librarian, discuss the importance of accuracy in published books. Who should be responsible for insuring that the published book is accurate? How much fact checking should be required?
To what degree can one learn editing via practice and formal course
work? Could anyone become an editor or does editing require a special
sort of person?
Last major revision: July 2007.
