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Originally Posted by rhadin
Up until 10 years ago, publishers paid editors and proofreaders relatively well and demanded a relatively high level of both competency and work output. But in those days and before, publishing houses were often family owned businesses, not small cogs in a conglomerate that requires a positive quarterly return.
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Yes, quality has been slipping. I'm on a list populated largely by publishing types, and there was a discussion not that long ago about it. One was an editor at a major publisher. The other was co-proprietor of an editorial production house that provided copy editing and proofreading services on a contract basis. The editor said "But such things are part of the basic budget for the book, and are always done!" The editorial production contractor said "In
your house, maybe, but much less so elsewhere. I'm the one dealing with clients who no longer think it's necessary to do what they used to pay me for..."
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I've been in the editing business for 25 years and I can tell you that until a publisher looks at long-term results rather than next quarter results, it will only get worse, not better. The whole publishing model has been turned inside-out as a result of consolidation, and there are limited areas where cost-savings can be squeezed -- unfortunately, editorial is an obvious one.
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Part of the problem is that consolidation. Book publishers have become part of media conglomerates whose measuring stick is movie grosses, and are under extreme pressure to become more profitable. Unfortunately, there's no way a book publisher
can be that profitable. On the other hand, a book publisher won't go belly up if it doesn't have a bestseller for a while. A movie studio
can.
A friend who was an editor at the book arm of one of the conglomerates described getting a visit from someone on the movie side who pointed at the midlist titles, and said "Why did you publish those? Why not just publish the best sellers?" The appropriate response would be "Why did you green light notable bombs W, X, and Y? Why not just release $100 million grosser Z?", but it would be best to have one's resume up to date before doing so...
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Dennis