08-27-2012, 07:53 AM | #1 | |||
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The editor fallacy
Fighting words in service of a necessary reminder:
http://watershedchronicle.wordpress....ts-it-fallacy/ Quote:
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Overvaluing the role of editors (and publishers) devalues the writers and their work. And it loses sight of the fact that the corporate editor's first allegiance is to the publisher, not the author. In the "golden age" of yore, the legendary editors worked *with* the writers to help them hone their craft, refine their voice, but the corporate editors of today aren't quite that hands-on and their priorities run along different lines. As he points out, editing is a necessary function but one that can be carried out in many different ways these days. But in the end, writers need to take responsibility for their vision, their work, their career, regardless of the road they send their work to market. |
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08-27-2012, 08:22 AM | #2 |
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I agree. The days of someone like Lester del Rey taking a raw, aspiring writer's ramblings and massaging it into coherent novels are long gone. The "Editor" used to be the very pinnacle of the publishing industry—the gatekeeper, the decider, the molder and focusser of talents. But that's just no longer the case. Those god-like, hands-on skills are no longer a part of the service packages provided by the traditional publisher. Yet the industry pretends that nothing has changed—that the services they provide authors are just as valuable now as when there were giants.
Last edited by DiapDealer; 08-27-2012 at 08:29 AM. |
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08-27-2012, 08:49 AM | #3 | |
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08-27-2012, 09:14 AM | #4 | |
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The shortsightedness of those making claims about quantities of books sold despite the lack of an editor make me wonder what they care about, what their goals are. A couple of quick bucks or a good story? |
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08-27-2012, 09:50 AM | #5 |
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So where do some of us on shoestring budgets get the money to hire a pro editor? Not all of us can shell out hundreds of dollars on a whim.
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08-27-2012, 10:24 AM | #6 |
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I read the full article and it reads like someone trying to whip up a controversey in order to drive traffic to their blog. It's rambling, overblown, exaggerates in silly ways then re-tracts, repeats himself. In short it could use the services of... what are those people called?
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08-27-2012, 10:50 AM | #7 |
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08-27-2012, 10:52 AM | #8 |
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08-27-2012, 11:25 AM | #9 |
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So how and where did the editors learn the necessary skills? And couldn't authors learn them also? How many classic novels and plays from Shakespeare on never had an editor? When in the history of publishing did having an editor become common and even required? Surely it wasn't always the case?
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08-27-2012, 11:27 AM | #10 |
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Sure authors could learn the skills, but in many things I've written a second differing set of eyes usually catches things that make perfect sense to me. Outside of a long time away from something written a second set of eyes works better for catching things that just make sense to the one that wrote them.
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08-27-2012, 11:46 AM | #11 | |
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When you make less than 8k a year, things go from "maximum risk hoping for maximum return" to "how can I string everything out as far as I can and minimize waste." |
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08-27-2012, 12:01 PM | #12 |
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Of course I appreciate that not everyone can afford to employ a professional editor for their first book. There are alternatives. You could go down the traditional publishing route, in which case the publisher will pay for the book to be edited. You could do it "on the cheap" and get a friend (preferably one with good literary skills) to look over the book for you. But whatever you do, don't publish your book without it having been looked at by someone else first.
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08-27-2012, 12:55 PM | #13 | |
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08-27-2012, 12:58 PM | #14 |
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I'll suggest a truism that it's those who least think they need editing who need it most.
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08-27-2012, 01:55 PM | #15 |
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Do note that he doesn't really say that editing is optional; he is saying editors are not supreme in the self-pub supple chain.
He's talking results, not process, and responsibility. In traditional publishing the author rarely gets the final word on the form of the finished product but in self-publishing the author is the publisher so he is 100% responsible for quality control. He is reminding self-pubbers that when they hire an editor they are under no obligation to accept *all* the changes but even if they do, they are still responsible for the output. Last edited by fjtorres; 08-27-2012 at 01:59 PM. |
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