Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
Correct. Writing and editing are very different skills. I know folks who do both, but they are the exception, not the rule. (I believe I know all of the Tor editors on the SF side of the house. None of them write books.)
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Dennis
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Absolutely. One of the things I find fascinating in the changes brought by the advent of ebooks is the new role of the editor. For so long that has been subsumed by the power of the gatekeeper, the publisher. With the relevance of that role dwindling the editor could become a professional service on its own with a powerful brand identity to its author customers. With the printing and distribution expenses being less of a factor, the jump from writer to editor is entirely different. That gatekeeper that vetted the raw works may not be needed quite so much by an editor since there aren't as many other expenses to deal with. If there's more to gain for them from a good partnership between them and the author without the other expenses, the traditional publishing house needs to start justifying their existence. There's a whole level of people in the publishing industry that could subvert the current market if ebooks take hold.