Novelist Eleanor Catton and her editor Max Porter's alliance shows how much more than wielding a blade goes into this relationshipHenry James called editing "the butchers' trade". But he also said, "I glory in the piling up of complications of every sort," so you can see how the old anglophile and his editors may have crossed horns.However, if we're honest, wouldn't we, the reader, prefer to chew over a well-honed slice of literature than wade through fatty hunks of unedited, flabby prose? Isn't the editor's first loyalty to the reader, and not the author? Isn't it better to wield the knife than to club out something that the cow might approve of?This weekend, as part of the New Zealand festival, The Luminaries author and winner of the Man Booker prize, Eleanor Catton, discussed deletion, deadlines and several other facets of the writer-editor relationship with her British editor Max Porter. If this sounds a little like sitting down with your ex-husband to publicly discuss why he always disliked your sense of humour, then think again; the modern editor is, according to Porter, "part proofreader, part therapist, part in-house champion and, increasingly, there to put a marketisation on the written word." This was less meat cleavers at dawn, more gentle emails about getting off Twitter.With 391,000 books being self-published in the US in 2012 alone, the old 20th-century model of the creative editor is, according to Porter, "an endangered species". While Porter described his... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The company is pushing ahead with plans to outsource sub-editor and designer positions, despite stop-work meetings held by staffers. Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 10/05/2011 - 14:19 Blackwell has today (10th May) axed 19 head office jobs from its library supply team. The staff, who are all based at the Blackwell headquarters in Oxfordshire, were told today they will be made redundant as of 1st July. read... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Mon, 09/05/2011 - 13:07 Quadrille has scored four nominations for this year's Guild of Food Writers awards. Titles from Stevie Parle, Josceline Dimbleby, Mark Hix and Mark Diacono were shortlisted, with the latter's A Taste of the Unexpected squaring up against two Jacqui... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 18/04/2011 - 09:20 Poetry publishers have united en masse to demand the Arts Council overturn its decision to stop funding the Poetry Book Society, saying the demise of the organisation would lead to a "considerable loss of sales". A total of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page and Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 14/04/2011 - 16:09 A libraries boss has admitted cutting spending on books is "the easiest" way to achieve savings, as wholesaler Bertrams reports its library sales have slumped by a quarter. Results put out by parent Smiths... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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American Media Inc. has announced Candance Trunzo will leave Star Magazine after four years with the publication. She will be replaced by David Parel, who comes to Star from Radar Online. Radar Online will now be run by Jose Lambiet. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 08:27 London Book Fair director Alistair Burtenshaw has been put in charge of a new Reed Exhibitions publishing group, including Book Expo America as well as the Paris, Tokyo and Sao Paulo book fairs. As director of publishing and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 09:04 Authors including Philip Pullman have warned the "biodiversity of poetry publishing in England" is in "jeopardy", following Arts Council England's funding cuts to poetry presses Arc, Flambard and Enitharmon. In a letter... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Wed, 06/04/2011 - 09:37 Children's poetry is among the biggest losers in the children's literature sector following the recent cuts in Arts Council funding, it has emerged. As well as the Poetry Book Society (PBS) which has seen 100% of its funding... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 04/04/2011 - 09:16 The Arts Council has defended its funding cut to the Poetry Book Society (PBS), claiming its "reach and distribution was not as wide or effective as other applicants'". In a letter to the Times, Antonia Byatt, director of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hearst has promoted Simon Horne, currently chief financial officer and general manager of NatMag, to the newly created role of CFO, general manager and senior vice-president, at Hearst Magazines International. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google may seek help from Congress as it tries to salvage a book publishing settlement that was rejected by a federal judge. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Administrators for Borders and Angus & Robertson have announced new lay-offs and warned that more bookshops could close. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald
[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2011-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 16/03/2011 - 09:04 Hodder thriller imprint Mulholland Books has acquired a fiction debut by "Saw" writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, and author, screenwriter and illustrator Stephen Romano. Editor Ruth Tross bought British... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 15:47 Transworld/Bantam novelist Manda Scott has formed the Historical Writers Association as a forum for writers and to promote the genre. The internet-based group, which already boasts around 100 members including authors Simon... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 01/03/2011 - 15:50 The Orange New Writers Book of the Month promotion launches today [1st March] featuring Emma Henderson as the first writer to receive a month-long promotion in Waterstone's. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Online publishers like CBS and Forbes are selling the tiny ads on their Web sites, rather than letting a third-party network promote teeth whitening and herbal remedies. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kiplinger's Personal Finance is embarking on an aggressive digital and social media push this year to expand its audience, particularly younger readers (the company also expects digital revenue to be 60 percent of print advertising revenue in 2011). Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill and Katie Allen Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 16:44 Bookstart has had its funding slashed by 50% after the government pledged to continue funding the bookgifting scheme for the next two years. C.e.o of independent charity Booktrust, which administers the scheme,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Wed, 23/02/2011 - 15:33 A High Court challenge is being launched over library closures in Gloucestershire and Somerset, in what is believed to be the first case of its kind. A challenge to the coalition government's "vague" Big Society concept,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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