Table Of ContentW hat Editors Do
Th e Chicago Guide to Grammar,
Usage, and Punctuation
Bryan A. Garner
From Dissertation to Book
What Editors Want William Germano
Philippa J. Benson Getting It Published
and Susan C. Silver William Germano
Permissions, A Survival Guide Storycraft
Susan M. Bielstein Jack Hart
Th e Craft of Research Indexing Books
Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Nancy C. Mulvany
Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, Developmental Editing
Joseph Bizup, and William T. Scott Norton
FitzGerald Getting into Print
Th e Chicago Guide to Fact- Checking Walter W. Powell
Brooke Borel Th e Subversive Copy Editor
Glossary of Typesetting Terms Carol Fisher Saller
Richard Eckersley, Richard A Manual for Writers of Research
Angstadt, Charles M. Ellertson, Papers, Th eses, and Dissertations
Richard Hendel, Naomi B. Kate L. Turabian
Pascal, and Anita Walker Scott
W hat Editors Do
, ,
Edited by
The University
of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
Th e University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
Th e University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2017 by Th e University of Chicago
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission,
except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews.
For more information, contact the University of Chicago Press,
1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
Published 2017
Printed in the United States of America
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 29983- 9 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 29997- 6 (paper)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 30003- 0 (e- book)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226300030.001.0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ginna, Peter, editor.
Title: What editors do : the art, craft, and business of book editing / edited by Peter Ginna.
Other titles: Chicago guides to writing, editing, and publishing.
Description: Chicago : Th e University of Chicago Press, 2017. | Series: Chicago guides to
writing, editing, and publishing | Includes index.
Identifi ers: lccn 2017025411 | isbn 9780226299839 (cloth : alk. paper) | isbn 9780226299976
(pbk. : alk. paper) | isbn 9780226300030 (e-book)
Subjects: lcsh: Editing. | Publishers and publishing.
Classifi cation: lcc pn162 .w465 2017 | ddc 808.02/7—dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017025411
♾ Th is paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1 992
(Permanence of Paper).
For Margaret Williams Ginna
and Robert Emmett Ginna Jr.
who coauthored, and edited, me
............
. Th e Th ree Phases of Editing / 1
. :
1 by Peter Ginna / 17
2 : Twelve Rules for Trade Editors
by Jonathan Karp / 30
3 : Th e How and Why of
Academic Publishing by Gregory M. Britton / 40
4 : Acquiring College Textbooks
by Peter Coveney / 49
. :
5 by Nancy S. Miller / 59
6 :
Th e Author–E ditor Relationship by Betsy Lerner / 69
7 : What I Learned about Editing
When I Became a Literary Agent by Susan Rabiner / 77
8 - ,
Developmental Editing by Scott Norton / 85
9 : On Line Editing by George Witte / 96
10 , , :
What Copyeditors Do by Carol Fisher Saller / 106
. :
11 : Th e Editor as Manager
by Michael Pietsch / 119
12 : Th e Editor as Evangelist
by Calvert D. Morgan Jr. / 131
13 - : Independent Publishing and Community
by Jeff Shotts / 141
. :
14 : Editing Literary Fiction
by Erika Goldman / 151
15 , , : Editing Genre Fiction
by Diana Gill / 159
16 : On Editing General Nonfi ction by Matt Weiland / 169
17 : Editing Books for Children
by Nancy Siscoe / 177
18 : Editing Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir
by Wendy Wolf / 187
19 :
Editing Works of Scholarship by Susan Ferber / 197
20 : Reference Editing and Publishing
by Anne Savarese / 205
21 : Creating Illustrated Books
by Deb Aaronson / 213
. :
22 : Why Publishing Needs Diversity
by Chris Jackson / 223
23 : On Being an Editorial Assistant
by Katie Henderson Adams / 231
24 : Making a Career as a Freelance Editor
by Katharine O’Moore- Klopf / 238
25 - - by Arielle Eckstut
and David Henry Sterry / 248
26 : Th e Editor’s Role in a
Changing Publishing Industry by Jane Friedman / 256
. : Th e Past and Future of Editing / 269
Acknowledgments / 273
Glossary / 275
Further Resources / 291
About the Editor / 299
Index / 301
.................
People outside the book publishing industry— and even many within it—
often wonder: just what is it that editors do? It’s a simple question with a com-
plicated answer. Th is book attempts such an answer. It’s intended for readers
who are interested in becoming editors themselves, or who have embarked
on an editorial career and want to learn more; for those in other jobs within
publishing who want to understand their editorial colleagues; for book lovers
curious about how the books they loved (or hated) came into being; and not
least, for writers who want to know just what goes on inside the walls of a
publishing house— or inside an editor’s head. To fi nd out how the literary
sausage is made, for better or worse, read on.
In today’s book business, the role of editor encompasses an enormous
range of tasks. Imagine that the whole American publishing industry could
be found on one single street. (So much of it was, in nineteenth- century New
York, that the expression “Publishers Row” became a lasting metonym for the
book business, as “Madison Avenue” did for advertising. Today publishing is
more geographically dispersed than ever, but suppose the contrary with me
for a moment.) If we could peek in the windows of all the diff erent publishers,
here are some of the things we might see editorial staff ers doing:
• In this skyscraper, an editor is on the phone with a literary agent
negotiating a contract for a new book.
• In the conference room next door, another editor is sitting with an
author in front of a pile of photographs, choosing images for a book
going into production.
• In the hallway, a senior editor is buttonholing the sales director to tell
him why he has got to read a memoir that’s just been delivered.
• In this ivy-c lad building, a university press editor is scanning a new
journal, looking out for promising young scholars.
• Across the street, several editors are in a marketing meeting,
discussing publicity and sales plans on next season’s titles.
• In this cubicle, an editorial assistant is struggling to fi t a fl ap copy
description into the two hundred words allotted for it.
• In this one, a copyeditor is checking to make sure that a character who
