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View Full Version : What's an editor anyway?

Birol
09-27-2009, 08:45 PM
A couple of threads here as well as some recent experiences of my own have come together to create a some questions I'd like to ask everyone.

When you say the term 'editor,' what do you think of? To you, what is an editor's job? Can you name the different types of editors and how their duties differ?
mscelina
09-27-2009, 09:01 PM
Judging from my to do list? An editor is a masochist.

*goes glumly back to work*
maestrowork
09-27-2009, 09:07 PM
My definition: an editor is someone who makes a piece of work better, polished and shining, ready for press/consumption...

In reality, there are many types of editor (from acquisition editor to copy editor... ) and their jobs are different. But the fundamental "function" is the same: taking something that is worth publishing and making it market ready.
The Lonely One
09-27-2009, 09:22 PM
Whatever an editor is, I'm afraid I might not have the cohones to stand up against one's red pen, or an agent's, as some of you have, given the unlikelihood of my even landing either of those.
James D. Macdonald
09-27-2009, 09:48 PM
An editor is a super-reader.
mscelina
09-27-2009, 09:50 PM
Oooooooooh...I like that one! Can we wear capes while we read?
DrZoidberg
09-27-2009, 10:03 PM
When I'd submitted my book, it was accepted on the condition that I fix some minor problems the editor had issue with. Even working on the book at least two hours a day, these minor problems took six months to fix. That guy helped me see so many things I'd overlooked that I'm eternally grateful for. It's not just a question of fitting into the style of the publisher. It's also a question of just making it better. Mine certainly got better with leaps and bounds.
aadams73
09-27-2009, 10:09 PM
Judging from my to do list? An editor is a masochist.

*goes glumly back to work*

Mine's a sadist.
mscelina
09-27-2009, 10:12 PM
Mine's a sadist.

Well, every job has its perks. :D
aadams73
09-27-2009, 10:19 PM
Well, every job has its perks. :D

:ROFL:

Yes, yes it does!
Matera the Mad
09-27-2009, 10:38 PM
I like the super-reader definition. I can leap tall paragraphs, see through obscure phrases, and knock down ponderous verbosities with one swat of my mighty hand.