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Yet one more word on the subject of editors (English meaning). That's what I do for a living and have been doing for 25 years, ever since I left Simon & Schuster to start my own company. What I want to interject into the conversation is this: There are multiple types of editors and each contributes to a finished book in a different way. The same person can fill multiple roles but there are specialists in each role.
Acquisition editors both acquire an author/book and give general direction to the author. AEs are responsible for getting a flow of work from the author and making sure that dates are met.
Developmental editors work with an author to literally develop the book by suggesting changes, moving chapters around, pointing out plot needs, and the like. DEs do the first round of nitty gritty work on a manuscript, getting it ready for production. Part of this job is fact checking, e.g., if an author writes that Davy Crockett was born in 1841 in Austin, Texas, the DE has to confirm that information or ask the author to confirm it.
Once a manuscript is ready for the book production process (moving from the editorial to the production departments), copyeditors (also known as line editors) become responsible for the manuscript. CEs are responsible for spelling and grammar, making sure that sentences are complete and accurate from a grammatical perspective. CEs are not fact checkers but are responsible for noting if something seems odd an querying the author about it.
An aquisitions editor can fill the roles of an AQ and a DE but the CE should be someone else. There are other people who are given the title of editor but who do not perform true editorial duties. It's like in an American bank -- everyone is a vice president.
One of the most famous American editors was Maxwell Perkins. He was so good at his job that he is still talked about in some editorial circles. Perkins was the editor of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books. In fact, Perkins had to convince his publisher that Fitzgerald was a worthwhile author. Perkins also edited Hemingway and several other "great" authors of that era. in those days, editors did it all and Perkins was the best.
In more recent times, probably the last truly great editor was Bennett Cerf who founded Random House. Cerf was often referred to as a young Max Perkins.
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