The Business Of Book Publishing

Papers By Practitioners

Elizabeth Geiser, Arnold Dolin, Gladys Topkis

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9780367290481
• eBook ISBN:
  9781000315028
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

"When the first University of Denver Publishing Institute came to a dose in August 1976, all of us involved in its launching knew that we had
a real success on our hands. And we knew it was due in great measure to an outstanding faculty of more than forty top publishing executives
who had come to Denver during those four weeks to teach our students. How regrettable, it seemed, that their knowledge and expertise were
available only to the eighty students handpicked for that first class. Fred Praeger, publisher of Westview Press, suggested a solution. ""Do a book,""
he invited, ""and let Westview publish the curriculum for others to share."""

Part One
Editorial

Chapter Three
The Editorial Process: An Overview

HUGH RAWSON AND ARNOLD DOLIN

Editor and publisher may not be synonymous, but the editor who thinks of himself as a one-person publisher won't go far wrong. Good editors are involved in all phases of a book's publication, including design, manufacturing, and marketing as well as the acquisition and actual editing of the book. Moreover, the editor's efforts continue long after publication, extending through the entire selling life of the book. In this way, editors build up their own backlists just as companies do. Finally, the editor's critical sense must be balanced with a good business sense—a knowledge of what is profitable and what isn't—for no editor, and no publisher, can run in the red for very long and still survive.

Few editors actually are independent entrepreneurs, of course. Even those who are fortunate enough to have their own imprints usually have to rely upon others for capital—and a short purse string can be an effective leash on editorial independence. Typically, an editor is part of one department within a company that may in turn be part of some large business organization, often a conglomerate whose activities extend into many other fields besides publishing.

The Editorial Department

Most medium to large editorial departments are headed by an editor in chief or editorial director. In a smaller house this person may also have the title of publisher or president. Beneath the editor in chief, there may be an executive editor and one or more senior editors, charged primarily with acquisitions (bringing books into the house). The next echelon consists of editors (sometimes including assistant and associate editors), manuscript editors, and copy editors, who handle various aspects of the actual editing. Copy editors may be part of the editorial department or the production department, and depending on the house, they may be expected to rewrite and reorganize manuscripts or to perform routine styling for the printer. There is usually a managing or administrative editor who supervises the copy editors and coordinates and expedites the flow of manuscripts through the publishing process.

The entry-level jobs in the editorial department are held by editorial assistants. Much of their work is secretarial, but frequently editors ask their assistants to review manuscripts, handle permissions, do picture research, and perform other editorial functions under their supervision. If there is sufficient editorial turnover in the house, editorial assistants may eventually be promoted to the level of assistant editor, copy editor, or manuscript editor. At the upper levels, it probably is more common for people to promote themselves by moving to other companies.

The relationship of the editorial department to other departments in the firm varies a great deal from one house to another and also varies with the kind of publishing the house does—trade, textbook, or scholarly. In some houses, the production department is more or less expected to march to the editorial department's drum, but in others production is an entirely separate corporate division moving at its own, often stately, pace. In some firms editors make all the crucial editorial decisions and take the attitude that it is then up to marketing to figure out a way to sell the books. In other cases, the company's marketing department has an important say in deciding which projects to sign up and what kind of backing to give them.

Whatever the form of corporate organization, most important decisions surrounding the publication of any book will be discussed by a number of people both within and outside the editorial department. In some cases, though, one person—the president or the publisher—in effect makes those decisions after listening (usually) to staff arguments pro and con. The key decision that editors ordinarily make—whether to offer a contract—almost certainly will be subject to ratification by a superior.

Though individual authority is limited by the rest of the publishing apparatus, the editor remains very much the focal point in the development and selling of any book. From the time a book is acquired to the time it finally goes out of print, the editor (at least the editor who remains in the publisher's employ) will serve as the principal contact between the author and the company. The editor will be the first person the author turns to for answers to the myriad questions that can arise about distribution, publicity, royalty statements, and so on. The editor also will be the first person the publisher turns to if someone threatens a libel suit, or if reviewers unanimously agree that this book shouldn't have been published.

The Editor's Roles

Throughout the editorial process, the editor plays several different roles, each to a different audience. There is the editor-as-advocate, the editor-as-parent (or psychotherapist), the editor-as-manager, and the editor-as-marketer. Each role has its own tensions, and each conflicts to a certain degree with the others.

The editor usually starts with the advocate's role—as the chief lobbyist within the house for the particular books and authors he is sponsoring. In this role, the editor will attempt to convince others that the books of his choice should be published by the house and he will strive for good advances for the authors, better quality and a better schedule in book making, wide distribution, more support from the publicity and advertising departments, and so on.

While serving as the author's representative within the publishing house, the editor also acts as the firm's principal conduit to the author of policy and procedures, praise and criticism, moral support and money. In this role, the editor necessarily looms as a parental figure. The editor not only personifies an otherwise faceless corporation but is often the author's only real link with it. This is one of the reasons authors usually are distressed when their editors leave for other jobs and why they sometimes move with them, bringing their books to the editor's new publishing house. The fear—sometimes well founded—is that a book will not get the attention it deserves in the absence of its principal (and perhaps only) in-house advocate. Worse, once the sponsoring editor leaves, the company may decide it doesn't want the book at all and cancel the contract. Such things don't always happen, of course. An author may be fortunate enough to inherit a new, no less enthusiastic editor. Or the house's investment in a book may be so large that it simply has to be published well, whether or not the original editor is still on the premises. Nevertheless, the risks are real, and any author who has lived through the experience of working with two or three editors on a single book—a not uncommon occurrence in contemporary trade publishing—is almost certain to feel like an orphan caught in a storm.

The editor-as-manager is the administrator at the center of the publishing process. The manager's life is measured out in a series of deadlines. The period of gestation for a book, from delivery of the completed

TABLE 3.1 TYPICAL TRADE-BOOK EDITING AND PRODUCTION SCHEDULE (IDEALIZED)

1 January	Author delivers manuscript.
1 February	Editor returns edited manuscript to author with comments.
1 March	Author returns revised manuscript to editor.
8 March	Editor delivers edited manuscript to copy editor, with duplicate copy to production department for estimating and design, and prepares in-house editorial bulletin and memo for jacket artist.
20 March	Presales conference.
8 April	Copy editor returns copyedited manuscript to editor.
10 April	Editor sends copyedited manuscript to author.
16 April	Catalog copy due.
20 April	Jacket design approved.
24 April	Author returns copyedited manuscript to editor.
26 April	Editor sends copyedited manuscript to production.
2 May	Jacket flap copy due (to be copyedited).
15 May	Fall sales conference.
25 May	Galleys arrive from the typesetter. Editor sends one set to author; proofreader (usually freelance) begins reading master set against original manuscript.
10 June	Author returns corrected galleys.
13 June	Author’s corrections are transferred to master set, and galleys are returned to typesetter.
25 June	Bound galleys are received, and copies sent to selected list of people who may provide blurbs.
30 June	Page proofs are received from typesetter. One set is sent to indexer.
10 July	Corrected page proofs and manuscript of index are sent to typesetter; copy of index sent to author.
24 July	Typesetter finishes corrections and makes films.
7 August	Printing of books is completed.
28 August	Binding is completed.
4 September	Books reach company warehouse and shipping begins.
15 October	Publication day.

manuscript to publication, is about the same as for any other baby— about nine months (see Table 3.1). During this period, a series of tasks has to be performed, including the basic editing, collection of any artwork, caption writing, copy editing, design of the book and the jacket, composition, proofreading of galleys and pages, printing and binding, and shipping. At each stage, the manager has to make sure that the author delivers the manuscript and proofs on time and that the copy editors, designers, and production people are giving the book the attention it deserves. Delays tend to cascade. Printers, for example, may put a book aside if galleys are not returned on schedule. In this way, a three-day delay in returning proofs to production can easily lead to a two-week delay in the return of corrected proofs from printer to publisher. Almost before anyone realizes what is happening, the book is four weeks late coming from the bindery, and it may have missed a valuable part of the selling season. The blame for this can be apportioned only so far; ultimately, the editor-manager is responsible for riding herd on everyone else.

Finally, the editor metamorphoses into a marketer. The person who knows most about a book often is its best sales promoter. It is the editor's responsibility, first, to make sure that the people in the marketing department understand the book and its sales potential and, second, to supply them with all the information and material they need for an effective selling job. Editors who wash their hands of this part of the job are doing their authors a disservice. Most books need all the help they can get. Some books may succeed despite editorial inattention, but success usually is the result of someone working hard to make it happen.

The Acquisition Process

The editor's involvement as advocate for a book begins some time before the work is formally acquired by the publishing firm. The idea for the book may be broached to the editor in various ways, perhaps in the form of a letter from an author or in a conversation with a literary agent. If the editor likes the idea, he then will encourage a submission. This might consist of a memo or letter but more usually will be an outline and several sample chapters.

Editors also supply ideas to authors. Few editors are able to build successful lists out of what falls into their laps. Generally, editors have to help create the kinds of books they know their house needs and can sell effectively. Their ideas may grow out of their lives, their interests, and their activities, not only in the office, but in their so-called leisure time. They emerge from the editors' voracious reading of newspapers, magazines, books, cereal boxes, and whatever else is at hand; from dinner-table conversations; from their natural curiosity; and from their developed sense of what interests other people. More difficult than finding ideas is matching the right idea with the right author at the right time. Therein lies much of the art—and the pleasure—of being an editor.

Regardless of the source of the idea, the proposal for any new book will have to pass a series of hurdles before a contract is offered. The decision-making process varies from company to company, but the first hurdle is always the editor. If the editor likes a proposal or manuscript and decides to become its sponsor, other people, as has been noted, probably will have a say in the final decision. These may include other editors, the sales or marketing manager, the subsidiary rights director, and the publisher. In many trade editorial departments, the editors meet regularly to discuss new projects, and such meetings frequently are attended by the key marketing people too. All participants will feel free to give their opinions, though not everyone will have read all the proposals or manuscripts at hand.

While few editors can offer a contract to an author on their own initiative, they are almost always free to say no. And that is what most of them say most of the time. The reasons are various: The manuscript is poorly written; it is on a subject of little interest to the audience for which the house publishes; the company has a competing title on its backlist or under contract; several other books are already available on the subject, including one or two that are excellent; a similar book was published three years ago and was a dismal failure; the subject is good, but the style is somewhat dull and the presentation disorganized; the manuscript presents too many problems, and the editor simply doesn't have the time or inclination to take on another complicated editorial project; the author has the reputation of being a difficult person to deal with. And so on.

When editors are attracted by a manuscript, they will ask themselves certain questions about why it is publishable. Is the proposal or manuscript written in an acceptable style? Is the idea for the book exciting, and is the author likely to be able to carry it off"? Is there an identifiable audience for the book? Is there a need for it, a reason for its existence, and will people or institutions really want to buy it? If the answers to these questions are positive, the editor must try to visualize the finished book, ascertain its sales potential, and obtain an estimate of the cost of producing it. Can the company sell it for a price that will be attractive to the intended audience, pay the author a royalty, and still make a profit? And finally, does the company have the marketing expertise to reach the target audience and sell enough copies to make the whole endeavor worthwhile? In effect, is this book right for this house, or would it be better published elsewhere?

Editors normally get help in answering at least some of these questions. In some houses, for example, a submission is typically read by more than one person in the house and perhaps by one or more outside readers as well. The number of readings depends in part on the seniority and track record of the sponsoring editor, whether the subject is so specialized that hardly anyone but the sponsoring editor is qualified to render an opinion, the length of the submission (short proposals are likely to receive more readings because they take less time to read), and the size of the prospective investment for the house (a book that can be signed up for an advance of five thousand dollars probably will not be considered in as much detail or by as many people as one that will require an advance of fifty thousand dollars or more).

Often the trade editor will solicit opinions from other departments— from sales and subsidiary rights in particular—even when this is not formally required. The sales manager's estimate of the advance (or prepublication) sale of the book usually determines not only the economic viability of the project but how large a royalty advance can be offered the author—an important factor if several other publishers are competing for the title. The subsidiary rights manager's assessment of the chances of making a book club or paperback reprint sale also weighs heavily at most companies. The publicity department may also be consulted if it appears that the book's success will depend largely on the promotional effort. In some cases, the author may be brought in for an interview so that the publicity manager can offer an informed opinion about how well this writer will come across on TV or radio.

Negative appraisals from one or even all of the noneditorial departments may not be enough to kill a project (depending, of course, on the procedures and pecking orders within the company), but the editor nevertheless will usually woo these colleagues. Not many editors have the clout to override an experienced sales manager, and the prophecies of sales managers tend to be self-fulfilling.

If the proposed project is approved, the editor will be authorized to negotiate a contract with the author or the author's agent. Typically, the editor will be empowered to offer an advance up to a certain maximum, with the understanding that an attempt will be made to persuade the author or agent to accept less. Throughout the negotiations, as well as at later stages in the publishing process, the editor must walk a very thin line. On the one hand, it is crucial that he build a relationship of mutual trust with the author, and to some extent the editor's efforts to see that the author receives an advance that truly reflects the quality and sales potential of the manuscript will affect their future dealings. On the other hand, the editor is duty bound to act in the best interests of the house. This means conserving the company's capital and maximizing profits by minimizing expenses.

The Editor's Work Load

Once the contract is signed, the project becomes part of the flow in the editor's pipeline. Despite all the emphasis often put on acquiring, the editor's work has actually only now begun. Acquisitions are easy for company managers to count when the time comes to hand out promotions or pay raises, and they are obviously important. But to measure editorial effectiveness only in terms of acquisitions or title output is to exhibit a misunderstanding of what it is that editors do. The typical editor handles, in one way or another, from forty to perhaps one hundred or more titles and authors a year. And the longer the editor has been on the job, the higher the total will be.

Because an editor is responsible for all phases of a book's creation, it follows that at any one moment he is overseeing a large number of books at different stages of development. Some wi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Tables and Figures
• Preface
• PART 1 EDITORIAI
• PART 2 PRODUCTION
• PART 3 MARKETING
• PART 4 THE CHANNELS OF MARKETING
• PART 5 SOME MAJOR CATEGORIES OF PUBLISHING
• Books About the Book Industry
• List of Publishers
• About the Book and Editors
• Index