Beyond cuts: the many roles of a writer's editor

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 ]
News tagged with: #step back

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Beyond cuts: the many roles of a writer's editor'


Dawn Davis Resigns as Bon Appétit Editor to Rejoin Simon & Schuster

Ms. Davis, who took charge of the food magazine at a time of turmoil, will head the publishing imprint she founded. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-04-25 21:59:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing imprint


BuzzFeed News to be shuttered in corporate cost cutting move

Pulitzer Prize winning digital media outlet BuzzFeed News is being shut down as part of a cost-cutting drive by its corporate parent that's shedding about 15% of its entire staff Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-04-20 23:02:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #buzzfeed news #corporate parent #digital media #pulitzer prize


Live from New York: Curtis Sittenfeld on Dating Up, Writing Funny, and How SNL and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop Are Alike

Bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her new novel, Romantic Comedy, which begins behind the scenes at a television show similar to Saturday Night Live, where a female comedy writer is gobsmacked that her schlubby straight male... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-20 08:53:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #curtis sittenfeld #iowa writers #whitney terrell #romantic comedy #bestselling author


Michael Denneny, Editor of 'And the Band Played On,' Dead at 80

A champion of LGBTQ stories as both editor and author, Denneny died on April 12. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Rick Wolff, Highly Regarded Business Book Editor, Dead at 71

Rick Wolff, who published dozens of bestselling books as a business editor for Warner Books, Hachette Book Group, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, died April 10. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #published dozens #bestselling books #business editor


Rachel Pollack, trans activist and comic book writer, dies aged 77

Pollack, who created the first mainstream transgender superhero, Kate Godwin, had been fighting Hodgkin’s lymphomaRachel Pollack, award-winning author, leading authority on tarot and the occult, trans activist and comic-book writer who created the first mainstream transgender superhero, has died... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-08 10:45:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #rachel pollack #speculative fiction #short stories #clarke award #science fiction #comic book


In Canada, the Indigenous Editors Association Widens Its Circle

The Indigenous Editors Association is working to broaden the Indigenous presence in all aspects of Canadian publishing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-31 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #canadian publishing


Braving a blizzard to meet the most promising (and most offline) young writer in the West

In a writer-as-brand era, Taylor Koekkoek's obscurity is almost as refreshing as the hilarious, stealthily profound stories in his debut, 'Thrillville, USA.' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-03-22 13:00:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #young writer


Lockdown in Literature, by The Editors of WLT

Lockdown in Literature, by The Editors of WLT Lit Lists [email protected] Mon, 03/20/2023 - 14:39 Photo by Jens Maes / Unsplash There has been plenty of handwringing among some over whether it’s too soon to write pandemic literature, but these... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2023-03-20 19:39:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #random house #pulitzer prize #feminist press #bookshop #independent bookstore


I believed readers only wanted trauma stories from writers of colour. Then I became an author | Zoya Patel

For so long, it seemed that readers were only interested in the experiences of people like me if we were traumatised, not triumphant – and I internalised this as an indisputable factGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailI can’t pinpoint exactly when I started imagining myself in the stories... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-03-18 19:00:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #weekend culture #young age #cultural diversity #pop culture #hachette


Bloomberg Media Fills Chief Revenue Officer Role, Accelerating Ad Revenue Growth

The business news publisher Bloomberg Media has hired digital media executive Christine Cook as its first chief revenue officer, Adweek can exclusively report. The publisher had previously hired Keith A. Grossman, who left in 2019, as global chief revenue officer. Before him, Paul Caine held the... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2023-03-17 11:28:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital media #news publisher


John Steinbeck’s House May Become a Writers Retreat

John Steinbeck’s Sag Harbor home on Long Island may soon secure its place in literary history, thanks to an impassioned coalition of readers, writers, and booksellers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #john steinbeck #long island #literary history


Tom Benn Wins England’s Young Writer of the Year Award

The £10,000 Young Writer of the Year award from the UK's Sunday Times goes to Tom Benn for his fourth novel, 'Oxblood.' The post Tom Benn Wins England’s Young Writer of the Year Award appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-03-15 17:35:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sunday times #young writer of the year award #young writer


Agents, Editors, and Publicists Share Perspectives at AWP23

Insights from literary agencies and publishers helped writing conference attendees imagine their paths to publication. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #literary agencies


How sci-fi writer Annalee Newitz turned to real-life scientists to build a (better) future

Novelist and science journalist Annalee Newitz brings 'The Terraformers' to the L.A. Times Book Club March 28. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-03-09 22:20:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #times book


The Best Short Stories by Latin American Writers

If the literary landscape of the early twentieth century, at least when it comes to short stories, is dominated by Anglophone writers like Katherine Mansfield, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf, then the mid-twentieth century arguably belongs to the Latin American writers who helped to move the... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2023-03-05 18:00:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #literary landscape #katherine mansfield #james joyce #virginia woolf #short stories


Why one children’s books editor turned down Roald Dahl titles | Letter

Sue Bradley on her conversation with the late Marni Hodgkin about the ‘malicious quality’ to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant PeachRe the letters criticising Roald Dahl’s works (Roald Dahl’s mean and nasty books don’t deserve all this attention, 23 February), in an oral... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-03-01 17:24:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #chocolate factory #giant peach #ve read #letters section #books editor


Barnes & Noble to Overhaul Membership Program, Cut Free Educator Program

"Just use your library" is not the solution to the new price hikes and benefit decreases in Barnes & Noble's membership changes. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-03-01 12:57:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #barnes noble


‘Things are definitely opening up’: the rise of older female writers

Unpublished authors in their 60s, 70s and 80s are now at a premium in the book world – with radical, edgy women in high demandThe literary world is often accused of an obsession with youth, from multiple awards targeted at authors under 40 to publishers who hunt for new voices exclusively among... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-02-25 07:00:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #unpublished authors #young writers #unpublished writers #literary world #book world


Oni-Lion Forge Names New Editor-in-Chief

As it gradually rebuilds its leadership team, the graphic novel publisher has appointed former Boom! Studios executive editor Sierra Hahn its editor-in-chief. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #leadership team #graphic novel