Download or read book What Editors Do written by Peter Ginna and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-10-06 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essays from twenty-seven leading book editors: “Honest and unflinching accounts from publishing insiders . . . a valuable primer on the field.” —Publishers Weekly Editing is an invisible art in which 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. What Editors Do 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 approach the work of editing. Serving as a compendium of professional advice and a portrait of what goes on behind the scenes, this book 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—and shows why, in the face of a rapidly changing publishing landscape, editors are more important than ever. “Authoritative, entertaining, and informative.” —Copyediting
Download or read book Editors on Editing written by Gerald Gross and published by Grove Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An indispensable guide for editors, would-be editors, and especially writers who want to understand the publishing process. In this classic handbook, top professionals write about the special demands and skills necessary for particular areas of expertise--mass market, romance, special markets, and more.
Download or read book Self Editing for Fiction Writers Second Edition written by Renni Browne and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2010-06-15 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hundreds of books have been written on the art of writing. Here at last is a book by two professional editors to teach writers the techniques of the editing trade that turn promising manuscripts into published novels and short stories. In this completely revised and updated second edition, Renni Browne and Dave King teach you, the writer, how to apply the editing techniques they have developed to your own work. Chapters on dialogue, exposition, point of view, interior monologue, and other techniques take you through the same processes an expert editor would go through to perfect your manuscript. Each point is illustrated with examples, many drawn from the hundreds of books Browne and King have edited.
Download or read book How to Write a Novel written by Nathan Bransford and published by Nathan Bransford. This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Author and former literary agent Nathan Bransford shares his secrets for creating killer plots, fleshing out your first ideas, crafting compelling characters, and staying sane in the process. Read the guide that New York Times bestselling author Ransom Riggs called "The best how-to-write-a-novel book I've read."
Download or read book The Subversive Copy Editor written by Carol Fisher Saller and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2009-08-01 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each year writers and editors submit over three thousand grammar and style questions to the Q&A page at The Chicago Manual of Style Online. Some are arcane, some simply hilarious—and one editor, Carol Fisher Saller, reads every single one of them. All too often she notes a classic author-editor standoff, wherein both parties refuse to compromise on the "rights" and "wrongs" of prose styling: "This author is giving me a fit." "I wish that I could just DEMAND the use of the serial comma at all times." "My author wants his preface to come at the end of the book. This just seems ridiculous to me. I mean, it’s not a post-face." In The Subversive Copy Editor, Saller casts aside this adversarial view and suggests new strategies for keeping the peace. Emphasizing habits of carefulness, transparency, and flexibility, she shows copy editors how to build an environment of trust and cooperation. One chapter takes on the difficult author; another speaks to writers themselves. Throughout, the focus is on serving the reader, even if it means breaking "rules" along the way. Saller’s own foibles and misadventures provide ample material: "I mess up all the time," she confesses. "It’s how I know things." Writers, Saller acknowledges, are only half the challenge, as copy editors can also make trouble for themselves. (Does any other book have an index entry that says "terrorists. See copy editors"?) The book includes helpful sections on e-mail etiquette, work-flow management, prioritizing, and organizing computer files. One chapter even addresses the special concerns of freelance editors. Saller’s emphasis on negotiation and flexibility will surprise many copy editors who have absorbed, along with the dos and don’ts of their stylebooks, an attitude that their way is the right way. In encouraging copy editors to banish their ignorance and disorganization, insecurities and compulsions, the Chicago Q&A presents itself as a kind of alter ego to the comparatively staid Manual of Style. In The Subversive Copy Editor, Saller continues her mission with audacity and good humor.
Download or read book Writing Irresistible Kidlit written by Mary Kole and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-12-04 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Captivate the hearts and minds of young adult readers! Writing for young adult (YA) and middle grade (MG) audiences isn't just "kid's stuff" anymore--it's kidlit! The YA and MG book markets are healthier and more robust than ever, and that means the competition is fiercer, too. In Writing Irresistible Kidlit, literary agent Mary Kole shares her expertise on writing novels for young adult and middle grade readers and teaches you how to: • Recognize the differences between middle grade and young adult audiences and how it impacts your writing. • Tailor your manuscript's tone, length, and content to your readership. • Avoid common mistakes and cliches that are prevalent in YA and MG fiction, in respect to characters, story ideas, plot structure and more. • Develop themes and ideas in your novel that will strike emotional chords. Mary Kole's candid commentary and insightful observations, as well as a collection of book excerpts and personal insights from bestselling authors and editors who specialize in the children's book market, are invaluable tools for your kidlit career. If you want the skills, techniques, and know-how you need to craft memorable stories for teens and tweens, Writing Irresistible Kidlit can give them to you.
Download or read book Germania written by Brendan McNally and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-02-10 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In their youth, Manni and Franzi, together with their brothers, Ziggy and Sebastian, captured Germany's collective imagination as the Flying Magical Loerber Brothers -- one of the most popular vaudeville acts of the old Weimar days. The ensuing years have, however, found the Jewish brothers estranged and ensconced in various occupations as the war is drawing near its end and a German surrender is imminent. Manni is traveling through the Ruhr Valley with Albert Speer, who is intent on subverting Hitler's apocalyptic plan to destroy the German industrial heartland before the Allies arrive; Franzi has become inextricably attached to Heinrich Himmler's entourage as astrologer and masseur; and Ziggy and Sebastian have each been employed in pursuits that threaten to compromise irrevocably their own safety and ideologies. Now, with the Russian noose tightening around Berlin and the remnants of the Nazi government fleeing north to Flensburg, the Loerber brothers are unexpectedly reunited. As Himmler and Speer vie to become the next Führer, deluded into believing they can strike a bargain with Eisenhower and escape their criminal fates, the Loerbers must employ all their talents -- and whatever magic they possess -- to rescue themselves and one another. Deftly written and darkly funny, Germania is an astounding adventure tale -- with subplots involving a hidden cache of Nazi gold, Hitler's miracle U-boats, and Speer's secret plan to live out his days hunting walrus in Greenland -- and a remarkably imaginative novel from a gifted new writing talent.
Download or read book MFA Vs NYC written by Chad Harbach and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2014-02-25 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Writers write—but what do they do for money? In a widely read essay entitled "MFA vs NYC," bestselling novelist Chad Harbach (The Art of Fielding) argued that the American literary scene has split into two cultures: New York publishing versus university MFA programs. This book brings together established writers, MFA professors and students, and New York editors, publicists, and agents to talk about these overlapping worlds, and the ways writers make (or fail to make) a living within them. Should you seek an advanced degree, or will workshops smother your style? Do you need to move to New York, or will the high cost of living undo you? What's worse—having a day job or not having health insurance? How do agents decide what to represent? Will Big Publishing survive? How has the rise of MFA programs affected American fiction? The expert contributors, including George Saunders, Elif Batuman, and Fredric Jameson, consider all these questions and more, with humor and rigor. MFA vs NYC is a must-read for aspiring writers, and for anyone interested in the present and future of American letters.
Download or read book What Editors Want written by Philippa J. Benson and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research publications have always been key to building a successful career in science, yet little if any formal guidance is offered to young scientists on how to get research papers peer reviewed, accepted, and published by leading scientific journals. With What Editors Want, Philippa J. Benson and Susan C. Silver, two well-respected editors from the science publishing community, remedy that situation with a clear, straightforward guide that will be of use to all scientists. Benson and Silver instruct readers on how to identify the journals that are most likely to publish a given paper, how to write an effective cover letter, how to avoid common pitfalls of the submission process, and how to effectively navigate the all-important peer review process, including dealing with revisions and rejection. With supplemental advice from more than a dozen experts, this book will equip scientists with the knowledge they need to usher their papers through publication.
Download or read book How to Write what You Want and Sell what You Write written by Skip Press and published by Career PressInc. This book was released on 1995 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Not loaded with theory, Skip's invaluable book contains concise, easily understood and applied advice for both writing and marketing any kind of book, article, story, play, screen-play, report, proposal or anything else you can think of.How to Write What You Want and Sell What You Write is for every writer or wannabe who needs to sort out his or her desires, capabilities and strengths and, even more importantly, learn the particular formats for the kind of writing in which he or she is interested.
Download or read book Winning with Integrity written by Leigh Steinberg and published by Three Rivers Press (CA). This book was released on 1999 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Orientation - Preparation - Positioning - The encounter - Making the deal - The twelve essential rules of negotiation.
Download or read book Indexes written by The University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff and published by . This book was released on 2024-09-19 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Indexing A-Z from The Chicago Manual of Style--the undisputed authority for style, usage, and grammar. In this age of searchable text, the need for an index made with human input is sometimes questioned. But a good index can do what a plain search cannot: It gathers all the substantive terms and subjects of the work, sorts them alphabetically, provides cross-references to and from related terms, and includes specific page numbers or other locators or, for electronic formats, direct links to the text. This painstaking intellectual labor serves readers of any longer work, whether it is searchable or not. For searchable texts, an index provides insurance against fruitless queries and unintended results. In a word, a good index makes the text more accessible. Most book indexes must be assembled swiftly between the time page proofs are issued and the time they are returned to the typesetter--usually about four weeks. An author preparing their own index will have to proofread as well as index the work in that short time span. This insightful chapter-length booklet will guide both professionals and first-time indexers in assembling an index that will do justice to both the book and the reader.
Download or read book The Business of Editing written by Richard H. Adin and published by . This book was released on 2013-12 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Career As an Editor written by Institute For Institute For Career Research and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-05-01 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WITH FINGERS DASHING ACROSS THE keyboard, editors can transform mediocre writing into epic prose. They can take a forgettable jumble of words and turn them into literary jewels. Wherever there is good writing - books, magazines, newspapers, websites - there are editors working in the background. For their efforts, editors get no byline at the beginning of the story or credit on the title page. They are never asked to autograph a written piece of work they have helped create. Only rarely will an editor's name appear in the masthead of a newspaper or magazine. Occasionally an editor's name may be mentioned in the acknowledgment of a book. Otherwise, they work in complete anonymity. So why do editors take on this seemingly thankless task of refining the writing of others? Because they hate to see words misused, grammar mangled, and sentences run on forever. For those who appreciate the written word, editors are unsung heroes. Editing is a specialized talent that is honed to perfection through years of experience. Top editors literally know everything there is to know about the written word. They approach their work like highly skilled surgeons, except that editors are looking to cure the ills of manuscripts, rather than patients. Most writers would prefer not to alter a single word in their manuscript. They are simply too close to the work. So an editor takes an objective look at the text, spots flaws, and corrects them. Though writers rarely admit it, they appreciate the work of a good editor who takes a manuscript and makes it better, stronger, tighter. In their jobs, editors work with all eight parts of speech - verbs, nouns, pronouns, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections - for starters. It gets more complicated from there. Just think about the parts of a verb - base, past tense, and past participle. Do not forget to throw gerunds and infinitives into the mix. Of course, past, present, and future tense have to be taken into consideration as well. Add sentence structure and word choice into the equation, plus tone and voice. Synonyms and antonyms also come into play. Spelling and punctuation do not escape the watchful eye of a careful editor, either. There is also the flow of the story. Does it all make sense? Does it hang together? Are the characters fully developed? These are all things readers are grateful they do not have to worry about because they are taken care of by studious editors before the written word is released for public consumption. Editors are on the front lines of the literary world. The quality of what everybody reads is in their hands and the results of their work are an open book.
Download or read book Editing Fact and Fiction written by Leslie T. Sharpe and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1994-10-28 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Editing Fact and Fiction is a concise, practical guide for people interested in book publishing or already working as editors who want to learn more about the opportunities in various kinds of book editing. Writing in a lively, informal style, two editors with extensive experience in a wide variety of fields--fiction and nonfiction, trade and reference, academic and commercial publishing--explain what editors in different jobs really do. The authors take the reader step by step through the editing process, from manuscript to bound book. They discuss the principles of sound editing and provide many specific examples of how to--and how not to--edit copy. They also give examples of how to deal tactfully with authors and show when editorial restraint is the best intervention. Editing Fact and Fiction is a book to be read, not just referred to. It will be an indispensable guide for anyone thinking about a career in book publishing, a valuable resource for working editors who want to enlarge their knowledge, and a useful tool for senior editors training staff. Leslie T. Sharpe and Irene Gunther are both editors and writers. An experienced trade book editor, Leslie T. Sharpe teaches editing and writing at New York University and Columbia University. She is also a regular contributor to New York Newsday. Irene Gunther was a senior editor at Macmillan Publishing and has extensive experience in reference and college book editing. She is the author of a teenage biography and a contributor to various publications.
Download or read book Editors Talk about Editing written by Susan L. Greenberg and published by Mass Communication and Journalism. This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The work of «editing» is by and large something that happens behind the scenes, noticed only when it is done badly, or not done at all. There is not much information about what editors do. The result is that editing is not often talked about in its own right - not even by the people who do it. This collection of interviews attempts to fill some of the gaps. The author, a former editor herself, interviews practitioners at the top of their game - from newspapers, magazines, broadcast news, book publishing, scholarly editing, academic publishing and digital curation. The interviewees think out loud about creativity and human judgment; what they have in common and what makes them different; how editing skills and culture can be shared; why editing continues to fascinate; and why any of this might matter.
Download or read book The Editor written by and published by . This book was released on 1924 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
