What Editors Do the Art Craft and Business of Book Editing Edited by Peter Ginna
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Like most collections, some essays are stronger than others. Jon Karp's guide for acquisitions is insightful virtually how
A volume well-nigh the business organization of books, and the people who brand them, particularly those who piece of work in traditional publishing and developmental editing. Since that'southward been my work and business for near 20 years, I found a lot to love. Those who are curious virtually making an editing career will benefit from listening to those who take gone before, even in this fourth dimension of disruptive change.Like most collections, some essays are stronger than others. Jon Karp's guide for acquisitions is insightful near how gatekeepers, when faced with more projects than they can ever undertake, make their decisions. Matt Weiland's look at nonfiction editing was both passionate and applied. At that place were a few others that I skimmed after the showtime few paragraphs.
Overall, though, this seemed like a run a risk to accolade a career path and tradition that has come under fire in recent years, but I fear it focuses too much on the past. There's only one essay virtually self publishing, and it was oddly out of sync with the residue of the book, written not for other editors just for the writers who hire them. And I wished for more from the younger generation of editors and agents, the digital natives who arroyo their manuscripts with a mouse, not a red pen.
...moreThe volume is, no surprise, excellently edited. Very well written, too.
As a freelance copyeditor and proofreader myself, it was enormous fun to read other people who understand that way of seeing the world. As Carol Fisher Sal
What Editors Do is a drove of 26 chapters by 27 authors near all aspects of professional editing. Often multi-author volumes such equally this take a lot of ups and downs: some chapters are splendid, other chapters less and so. But this unabridged book is a fascinating read. I enjoyed every affiliate and wouldn't single out any of them as "skippable."As a freelance copyeditor and proofreader myself, it was enormous fun to read other people who understand that way of seeing the earth. As Carol Fisher Saller (the Chicago Transmission of Manner'due south own "Subversive Copy Editor") writes, "It's of import to examine your temperament and leanings when considering a copyediting career; if information technology strikes you lot as an exciting alternative to the monastery or tuna factory, you're on the right runway" (113). Somewhat more wistfully, Erika Goldman says that "Being an editor is a lifelong apprenticeship: the books you read, the jobs you take, influence your approach to any given text. Notwithstanding in a sense I'm the same editor I was at the beginning of my career, an idealistic former literature student who took pleasure in books whose form and content I understood to be symbiotic, indivisible" (151). I understand all of that, and it's why I dream of being a full-time editor.
What Editors Practice is an excellent style to get an overview of how many kinds of jobs editors may exist responsible for. A lot of people might equate "editor" to "grammer police," a person who corrects all of the spellings, apostrophes, commas, then forth. In fact, that seems to be the kind of work that many professional editors long to do but have little time for. More of their solar day-to-day work is the hectic social networking of building relationships with authors, agents, and the rest of their colleagues at the publisher. Bodily line-by-line editing is, for many editors, the smallest part of their daily work, and a luxury they require.
I recommend this volume to anyone who loves books—it's a cute glimpse into how the books nosotros love go to u.s.. I specially recommend this to any writer, including self-publishing authors. Understanding the publication process is invaluable. Kudos to editor Peter Ginna for collecting these chapters and ensuring such high quality throughout. I'm likewise grateful for the long list of "Further Resource" in the back of the volume—then many good books to check out!
...moreThis book feels like a kind of sequel, or modern-day version, of Editors on Editing: What Writers Need to Know virtually What Editors Practise, which is also practiced, merely dated.
For more info, meet Peter's review here: https://world wide web.goodreads.com/review/show...
...more"...a good editor asks the right questions, makes you ameliorate than yous are, or more west
"...for those with a passion for books, editing offers rewards that are hard to meliorate on--including a community of like-minded colleagues. One effect of the mediocre entry-level pay in publishing that that those who enter the business, almost to a i, do it because they love to read. Though it may sound simplistic to say, I have found that a peer group self-selected in this way is an incredibly congenial ane.""...a good editor asks the correct questions, makes y'all improve than you are, or more willing to stretch fifty-fifty with you resist. Information technology'south a known fact that the comments you hate the virtually are the about of import to grapple with."
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more than almost what editors do and especially if y'all want to take a look under the hood to come across how publishing runs. I picked up a few tricks to try out and enjoyed the read overall.
...moreI tin imagine this book being a valuable introduction to the profession for young people interested in entering the publishing business. For those of us writers not in the editing profession, though, the overall project adds to the sense of discouragement near e'er breaking through the castle walls. Editor Jonathan Karp says, "All of the editors acquiring for the 5 major adult trade publishers wouldn't even make full a Broadway theater, and if you asked them after what they thought of the evidence they merely saw together, they would probably disagree on almost everything—the quality of the work, whether it was too long or too short, whether the leading homo was annoying or charming, and whether the show would run for a calendar week or a year." (31) The volume does petty to dispel the mysteries of publishing, though it gives us a better vocabulary to depict what we don't understand.
...moreI did find value in th
I was pretty underwhelmed with this book, to exist honest. As someone who's been in the business for a few years, both in small-scale press and as a freelancer, at that place wasn't a lot hither that was really new to me, and what was new tended to be repeated in multiple essays. I also didn't intendance for the cocky-congratulatory tone prevalent throughout. I'm proud to be an editor, don't get me wrong, just something about the tone of "without the states this whole industry would crumble" was off-putting.I did find value in this book, peculiarly the essays discussing the different "levels" of editing, working every bit a freelance editor, editing genre fiction, the author-editor human relationship, and the problem of the lack of diversity in publishing. While I did highlight passages throughout and will keep information technology on my shelf as a reference book, I would recommend What Editors Do to someone who is looking to get started in the manufacture, rather than someone who'south already in.
...moreI appreciated the opportunity of reading this book every bit a member of the Freelance Editors Book Club.
What struck me the most when I first read about it (and information technology still does inspire me!) is what Peter Ginna mentioned in the Introduction regarding "Conceptual Editing." I've e'er approached editing as a three-to-iv-tiered process: developmental editing, line editing, copyediting and proofreading simply thanks to Peter Ginna's enlightening me on the concept, if you will, of Conceptual Editing, I feel t
I appreciated the opportunity of reading this book as a fellow member of the Freelance Editors Book Order.
What struck me the about when I first read nearly it (and information technology notwithstanding does inspire me!) is what Peter Ginna mentioned in the Introduction regarding "Conceptual Editing." I've always approached editing equally a three-to-four-tiered process: developmental editing, line editing, copyediting and proofreading but thank you to Peter Ginna's enlightening me on the concept, if yous will, of Conceptual Editing, I feel that the work we exercise before we actually curl up our sleeves and swoop into the editing, is actually justified as actual editing. Allow me to share this in Peter Ginna's own words: "I refer to the most fundamental, "macro" interventions as conceptual editing—this is not a common industry term, perhaps because a conversation over lunch doesn't seem like "editing" and indeed a pencil may be nowhere in sight. But sometimes the most of import contribution an editor can brand is to aid an writer frame her approach to a topic in a compelling manner or steer away from a poorly chosen subject."
Affiliate 8 on Developmental Editing in Part 2 had the virtually effect on me because I've been spending a greater amount of time over the years in this editing phase due to my writing students who end up hiring me to edit their manuscripts. For years (even now!) I've had to straddle the ("frequently blurred") lines betwixt manuscript critiquing and developmental editing (and now book coaching). Fifty-fifty though parameters have been set between and among levels of editing, I still find myself wondering where the "boundaries" of manuscript critiquing finish and the developmental editing begins. Sometimes, I've encountered that I do a bit of both simultaneously depending on the genre of the book I am editing. The passages of Scott Norton's essay regarding the developmental editor's function that ring true for me include: "Maintaining subject expertise is an ongoing commitment." Correct now, I've been doing fun enquiry about the Regency period equally well equally consulting resources on writing a Regency novel in society to ameliorate serve my client'due south Regency manuscript which I've been critiquing/editing.
Scott Norton also wrote: "Coaching involves providing summary feedback about suggestions for comeback." This is a proficient reminder for editors involved in this early phase of editing where we can help the writer shape her story while still honoring her narrative vox and unique vision.
I besides love the Erika Goldman quote about literary writing. While I didn't capeesh the blunt way Matt Weiland wrote about the marginal comments he gives his authors, he sort of redeemed himself with the comment about editors "being useful to the author but invisible to the reader."
Since I've been editing the works of two women of colour: a Filipino American and an Indian American, I was and so moved by what Chris Jackson wrote in his Chapter Twenty-Two essay on "Why Publishing Needs Multifariousness":
"I knew from my own life feel as an outsider what tin can be lost when we aren't allowed to speak our own languages—the ways significant and dash are diminished, the way some stories go untold altogether, or are told wrong."
And so I strive to make sure that these women'southward narrative voices are presented and preserved in the nearly authentic way possible.
Katharine O'Moore-Klopf's essay on "Making a Career every bit a Freelance Editor," likewise rang truthful, merely thank you to my Freelance Editors Club coaching calls, I was already aware of the nuances of building a career as a freelance editor.
I especially appreciate how Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry explained in their essay, "The Cocky-Publisher every bit Self-Editor," the importance of beta readers and how that offer differs from developmental editing because often times I would become potential clients who would want me to "developmental edit" their work for gratuitous when what they really need is someone to beta read their manuscript first. I also appreciate how these two writers really highlighted and emphasized how the books that are self-published are merely equally good as the ones that are traditionally published. But that information technology's still of import for indie authors to make sure their works are professionally edited so they stay on par with traditionally published books.
...more thanI went into this book looking for an overview of the day-to-day of editing and the skills required, and while I found some of that here, overall I found the majority of these essays to be repetitive. I remember virtually half of them could have been excised with no overall loss to the quality or construction of the book. The majority of t
A modern update of "Editors on Editing" - this is a series of essays by editing professionals on the topic of editing as a career, and the pitfalls and pleasures therein.I went into this book looking for an overview of the day-to-solar day of editing and the skills required, and while I establish some of that hither, overall I found the majority of these essays to be repetitive. I think about half of them could have been excised with no overall loss to the quality or construction of the book. The bulk of the opinions in this drove can be summed upward as: editing isn't the high-flying extrovert life information technology once was, acquisitions is everything, you need to love the books you lot acquire, and lol don't expect to really have time to, you know, edit around everything else you need to do. Despite that, there are a lot of good reference works listed here, that are proficient for further follow-up, and a handful of excellent essays that were, in fact, what I was looking for.
I found a typo in a section of an essay on proofreading, and a sentence fragment in the essay by a Tor executive editor, proving that even the all-time sometimes miss things.
The essays that stood out to me, either because of the dazzler of their prose, the advice they independent, or simply not being even so another essay on acquisitions and marketing:
Peter Ginna'south sections (the introduction, conclusion, and "Where It All Begins"): Ginna is down-to-earth and articulate in his writing, and gives a adept pinnacle-level view of both the profession every bit a whole, and his intentions with this collection. This sentence, from the introduction, sums up everything about why editing speaks to me: "The editor, then, is a connector - a conduit from writer to reader - just also a translator, improving the communication from each to the other."
"The Alchemy of Acquisitions: Twelve Rules for Trade Editors", Jonathan Karp: This is the only essay this book needed on acquisitions. The rest of them dwell on information technology in as well much depth for the focus of their essays to remain articulate, and all the same without the level of clarity that Karp provides.
"The Book's Journey", Nancy S. Miller: This is the just essay in this collection that really touches on the different types of edits in any level of detail; I would have liked another two essays that expanded on the overview that Miller provides hither. Her voice, like Ginna's, is articulate and pragmatic, with an obvious love for what she does - "It is empathy that is perhaps the quality nearly crucial to the editing process: the power to help an writer brand the book the best book it can exist - via comments, suggestions, queries, notes, and rewrites - while keeping in heed that it is always the author'southward book."
"The Other Side of the Desk: What I Learned About Editing When I Became a Literary Agent", Susan Rabiner: Since then many of these essays discuss acquisitions, having the phonation of an editor-turned-agent is an excellent choice! Rabiner gives solid advice that isn't discussed elsewhere, in a conversational tone that's extremely easy to read.
"This Needs Just a Little Work: On Line Editing", George Witte: An in-depth look at line editing - what it is, why information technology'southward needed, how it'southward washed, and examples of when to leave well plenty alone. Witte's anecdotes are relevant and well-told, his prose is clear and his vocalisation relatable, and his opinions are reinforced with plenty of examples. "Editors all accept 1 thing in common: nosotros are helpless, passionate, hungry, lifelong readers, and we gravitate toward editing the books we most savor reading."
"Toward Accurateness, Clarity, and Consistency: What Copyeditors Practise", Carol Fisher Saller: Like Witte's essay above, this is an in-depth look at copyediting. It's non wholly unique, in that copyediting is discussed in more detail on the internet than most of these other topics, merely it's well-presented. (This is the essay with the typo in the proofreading section that so greatly entertained me.)
"Marginalia: On Editing General Nonfiction", Matt Weiland: Despite existence ostensibly a look at specifically nonfiction, there is a lot of advice here that'south relevant to other genres. Weiland's mode is articulate and entertaining, if sometimes a fiddling outdated, but his advice feels relevant and on-point to me as a reader, and well-articulated in a memorable and easily-digested way. This is past far one of my favorite essays in the entire drove.
"Once Upon a Fourth dimension Lasts Forever: Editing Books for Children", Nancy Siscoe: This is a clear and detailed look at the dissimilar types of childrens' books, from board books up through YA, and the formats, stylistic concerns, and marketing strategies for each. "In the cease, it turns out my advice for all children'due south authors is essentially the same: put a kid at the center of the action, look at the world through their optics, and let the story catamenia."
"Lives that Matter: Editing Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir", Wendy Wolf: "Consider your reader'south brevity of life." Advice for keeping biographies readable and marketable, similarly to how all nonfiction needs to be pruned, with some specific communication. "The author's research is the scaffolding, and the task in editing a well-researched, thoroughly documented life is to know what should remain in sight and what should go moved into the dorsum or banished completely."
"Widening the Gates: Why Publishing Needs Multifariousness", Chris Jackson: This is possibly the best essay in the entire volume, which may partially be because it was originally a talk given to the Clan of American Academy Presses in June 2016, so the tone is much more conversational and punchy than the residual of the essays hither. I besides deeply agree with his premise and conclusions, and am grateful that this is included hither.
and one more, that I recall is in fact a fiddling chip also repetitive, but the prose was just gorgeous: "Start Spreading the News: The Editor as Evangelist", Calvert D. Morgan, Jr. - nonetheless some other on acquisitions and marketing and loving the books y'all acquire, but beautifully-written.
I may pick up a copy of this to own, simply as a reference text.
...more thanEqually a Mexican-American freelance editor, I was hoping for a various group of editors in this collection of essays: I didn't discover that much diversity, with the exception of one African-American editor whose essay stood out from t
I really enjoyed this volume because information technology broke downward editing into several singled-out areas: equally a craft, as a business concern, and as an art. It listed various essays from successful editors and eye-opening anecdotes nearly editing, publishing, customer relationships, and certain projects.As a Mexican-American freelance editor, I was hoping for a various group of editors in this collection of essays: I didn't find that much variety, with the exception of one African-American editor whose essay stood out from the residuum to me. I loved his essay particularly because I resonated with it strongly. He did not have a background in English or had whatsoever feel in the publishing field, only his love of reading and his enthusiasm for learning enabled him to become successful.
I would like to invest more time as a freelance editor, and this volume was uncommonly insightful in terms of what technical skills and soft skills are needed. It surmised that at the heart of matters, editors are passionate about books and ideas, and are a gregarious group of people to piece of work with.
Last simply not to the lowest degree, it pointed out what a good editor should do and not do: A good editor should preserve the voice of the author and edit without drawing attention to himself.
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Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34524485-what-editors-do