What Editors Do - (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) by Peter Ginna (Paperback)

About the Book

Book editing is by design an invisible art, aimed at creating books that are enlightening, seamless, and pleasurable for readers, while directing all credit to their authors. It is also a multifaceted craft, involving the selection of books to publish, the development and refinement of their contents, and the business of bringing them to readers--tasks sometimes vested in a single editor, sometimes shared among several. And the details of editing vary greatly depending on a book's publisher, genre, format, and intended audience. In this collection, Peter Ginna and a cast of 26 leading figures from all sectors of the book publishing industry demystify what editors do and why it remains important, even in an age of self-publishing and technological disruption. The individual essays cover a wide range of editorial functions and categories as well as topics such as career development, the value of diversity in publishing, and the ongoing evolution of the industry and the editorial profession. The book concludes with an extensive glossary and a list of resources for anyone interested in learning more about what editors do.

Book Synopsis

Editing is an invisible art where the very best work goes undetected. Editors strive to create books that are enlightening, seamless, and pleasurable to read, all while giving credit to the author. This makes it all the more difficult to truly understand the range of roles they inhabit while shepherding a project from concept to publication.

In What Editors Do, Peter Ginna gathers essays from twenty-seven leading figures in book publishing about their work. Representing both large houses and small, and encompassing trade, textbook, academic, and children's publishing, the contributors make the case for why editing remains a vital function to writers--and readers--everywhere.

Ironically for an industry built on words, there has been a scarcity of written guidance on how to actually approach the work of editing. This book will serve as a compendium of professional advice and will be a resource both for those entering the profession (or already in it) and for those outside publishing who seek an understanding of it. It sheds light on how editors acquire books, what constitutes a strong author-editor relationship, and the editor's vital role at each stage of the publishing process--a role that extends far beyond marking up the author's text.

This collection treats editing as both art and craft, and also as a career. It explores how editors balance passion against the economic realities of publishing. What Editors Do shows why, in the face of a rapidly changing publishing landscape, editors are more important than ever.

Review Quotes

"What Editors Do belongs on the shelf of any serious editor."-- "Technical Communication"

"What Editors Do is essential reading for anyone who wants to edit, be edited, or learn how publishing really works. It's also thoroughly delightful--the chance to learn from a wide variety of industry greats as they share frank and fascinating stories about how all sorts of books, famous and unknown, came to life. I've worked in publishing for more than three decades but still learned volumes from this book."-- "Will Schwalbe, executive vice president, Macmillan, and author of The End of Your Life Book Club"

"What Editors Do is the most informative and intelligent book on the work of publishing that you can own. In this collection, some of the best people involved in publishing in the 21st century write lucidly and engrossingly about everything that is important to editors and writers. A lively book that will also be great armchair reading for any book lover. As an editor and publisher of thirty years, I cannot recommend this book more highly."-- "Shaye Areheart, director, Columbia Publishing Course"

"Absolutely essential reading for anyone who aspires to be an editor, as well as critically important reading for authors and publishers with respect to the critically important role that editors play in the publishing process."-- "Midwest Book Review"

"Detailed and comprehensive in scope . . . The book explicitly aims to keep in check any romantic notions of an editor's life, emphasizing that editors take meetings, publicize books, and check contracts at least as often as they make marks on manuscripts or host boozy lunches."-- "Times Literary Supplement"

"Editors do a lot--patiently, coolly, analytically, but also boldly, urgently, fervently. Their work, almost always invisible, makes ideas speak and books fly. What Editors Do shows just how varied--and valuable--editors are, especially now when the well-edited book is more necessary than ever."-- "William Germano, author of Getting It Published and From Dissertation to Book"

"Every editor should read this book. It's a top-notch resource no matter what niche or stage of career an editor is in."-- "Editors Canada"

"Exceptionally well written. The prose is authoritative, entertaining, and informative. Each chapter is written by a leader in that topic's realm."-- "Copyediting"

"Offers an excellent opportunity for would-be authors to see the world through the eyes of publishers/editors."-- "Australian Book Review"

"A vital resource for writers and readers seeking a comprehensive exploration into the author-editor relationship, the lifecycle of a book, and how editors for publishing houses big and small have adapted to an industry in constant flux."--Starred Review "Library Journal"

"Ginna has collected essays from 27 of his peers in the book business on everything from the importance of the author-editor relationship to the challenges of editing genre fiction to the ways editors must function as evangelists, creating buzz for their books."-- "Entertainment Weekly"

"Illuminating."-- "Los Angeles Review of Books"

"These honest and unflinching accounts from publishing insiders are a valuable primer on the field at a time where the value of editors and publishers has been increasingly questioned."-- "Publishers Weekly"

About the Author

Peter Ginna was most recently publisher and editorial director at Bloomsbury Press; before that he held editorial positions at Oxford University Press, Crown Publishers, St. Martin's Press, and Persea Books. He has taught editing in New York University's publishing program, and comments on editing, books, and publishing at the blog Doctor Syntax and on Twitter at @DoctorSyntax.