[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

Yes, I used "culling" specifically, because many think editing just means copy editing or proofreading (even those are separate functions).

They are indeed. Unfortunately, they are getting increasingly short shrift due to cost pressures. A friend who was a VP at an editorial production house providing such services to publisher posted to a list I'm on describing the increasing number of books on which it wasn't done. Another list member, who was an editor at a trade house, said "But such things are part of the basic budget of the book, and are always done!" "Maybe in your house," was the reply, "but I'm the one who gets to deal with people who used to pay us to do it and don't any more..."

Your experiment probably will work.

Well, it's not my experiment... Agreed, though: it has promise.

What's lost in that mix is a training ground for the next crop of editors. If editors are all working freelance at home, you've wiped out learning through direct training as well as by osmosis.

You haven't, really. You've just made it harder. The wonders of technology have made it increasingly possible for geographically dispersed people to work on tasks involving the creation and manipulation of knowledge. (Making physical objects is of necessity a different matter.) There are increasing numbers of efforts where, for example, the developers working on complex software projects are geographically separated, but work on shared code stored in repositories using revision control software that lets them do so without stepping on each others electronic toes, and keeping in touch and coordinated via email, instant messaging and telephones. There's no reason why similar approaches can't be applied to book production.

We're still learning how much and what sort of actual face to face contact is necessary for efficient functioning, but there's no reason why junior editors can't be mentored by experienced seniors without face to face contact. What will differ is that it will probably take longer and it will be hard to do it as well.

I'm not saying today's publishing industry is ideal. It's just that there are tradeoffs in the transition, and we should be aware of them.

Agreed. I don't think anyone, including those in it, think it ideal. But no one has any idea of what they ought to do instead.

Meanwhile, publishers make their living selling books. This gives them an incentive to look for good books to sell and make them better if possible, then actually try to sell them. The culling you mention is a good part of the job. Part of an editor's job is making good books better. The other part in making sure bad books don't get published.

The folks who advocate cutting out the middle man in the pursuit of lower prices will get unpleasant surprises if it actually occurs, as the culling won't be done. You get what you pay for. If you aren't willing to pay for things that insure quality, you won't get quality.
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Dennis