tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post8334858908468531143..comments2023-05-21T14:46:54.138+01:00Comments on FictionBitch: Is the Editor Dead?Elizabeth Baineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17193751871434773972noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-69159563274106308662012-11-01T13:42:04.661+00:002012-11-01T13:42:04.661+00:00Thanks for this post. I've written what some p...Thanks for this post. I've written what some publishers have termed "literary" fiction (set in 16th century India), and, having not succeeded in landing a contract yet, am considering self-publishing. But I would never do so without an editor. So I scoured the Internet, and trusted recommendations, and found an absolutely fabulous, humble, astute, articulate and talented one, and what he is doing with my manuscript is nothing short of magic. This, I feel, is the true Achilles' heel of self-publishing these days, that so many writers feel they can do without such an edit. So thank you for calling attention to editors, and their tremendous import in the world of publishing, whatever form it takes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-24999475549684538552012-10-26T09:45:09.450+01:002012-10-26T09:45:09.450+01:00Yes, no one mentioned the agent in all this, and a...Yes, no one mentioned the agent in all this, and as you say agents are increasingly taking on the role of working closely with authors on texts. Debi Alper recently said on her blog or Facebook - not sure which - that her agent had told her that books need to be presented to publishers now in a completed form, and the editorial work needs to be done (with the agent) before that. Not sure about the long-term implications of that situation...Elizabeth Baineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17193751871434773972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-56863834215527300612012-10-25T21:07:09.569+01:002012-10-25T21:07:09.569+01:00Thanks for this; there's certainly a lot to ab...Thanks for this; there's certainly a lot to absorb. There's something that doesn't get a mention, though. As editors become more scarce and more stretched, the role of the agent is changing too. In many cases it now encompasses some of the editorial duties formally undertaken by people in-house. I don't think that this necessarily has any long-term implications but it is, I think, an interesting development nonetheless...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-87451775202245179472012-10-25T19:39:31.431+01:002012-10-25T19:39:31.431+01:00Very glad you've both had such good experience...Very glad you've both had such good experiences. Claire, I'd say that another point on which all four editors were agreed was that, contrary to what mainstream publishers now assume, readers do still want good/literary books.Elizabeth Baineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17193751871434773972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-3526393056509512082012-10-25T10:30:12.637+01:002012-10-25T10:30:12.637+01:00Thanks for the comprehensive write up of this disc...Thanks for the comprehensive write up of this discussion, Elizabeth. It certainly makes interesting reading. I have to say, I love working with editors and I fear the day I'm expected to do all the work they do on my book on top of what I already do. What I feel is missing in this whole debate is the voice of the readers. Where is it? Who is talking to readers and asking them what they want. I suspect it's not "cheap books" for the majority of readers so much as "good books" still.Claire Kinghttp://www.claire-king.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-87555938131988059372012-10-25T08:11:27.328+01:002012-10-25T08:11:27.328+01:00Thanks for a really interesting post. Glad to repo...Thanks for a really interesting post. Glad to report that working with Helen Garnons-Williams and her assistant Erica Jarnes at Bloomsbury was a terrific experience...one that is less likely to happen in future, it seems. <br />Im also told that books with orange on the cover are hard to sell! <br />xVanessa Gebbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09088301040602803489noreply@blogger.com