Editing Fact and Fiction: A Concise Guide to Book Editing - Hardcover

Sharpe, Leslie T.; Gunther, Irene

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521450802 ISBN 13: 9780521450805

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1994

Synopsis

Editing Fact and Fiction is a concise, practical guide for people interested in book publishing or already working as editors who want to learn more about the opportunities in various kinds of book editing. Writing in a lively, informal style, two editors with extensive experience in a wide variety of fields--fiction and nonfiction, trade and reference, academic and commercial publishing--explain what editors in different jobs really do. The authors take the reader step by step through the editing process, from manuscript to bound book. They discuss the principles of sound editing and provide many specific examples of how to--and how not to--edit copy. They also give examples of how to deal tactfully with authors and show when editorial restraint is the best intervention. Editing Fact and Fiction is a book to be read, not just referred to. It will be an indispensable guide for anyone thinking about a career in book publishing, a valuable resource for working editors who want to enlarge their knowledge, and a useful tool for senior editors training staff. Leslie T. Sharpe and Irene Gunther are both editors and writers. An experienced trade book editor, Leslie T. Sharpe teaches editing and writing at New York University and Columbia University. She is also a regular contributor to New York Newsday. Irene Gunther was a senior editor at Macmillan Publishing and has extensive experience in reference and college book editing. She is the author of a teenage biography and a contributor to various publications.

About this title

From the Back Cover

'Editing Fact and Fiction' is a concise, practical guide for people interested in book publishing or already working as editors who want to learn more about the opportunities in various kinds of book editing.

Reviews

Sharpe and Gunther really know their stuff. From the job descriptions of editorial staff members through the minutiae of the actual editing process, they cover this field thoroughly and with astonishing concision. It is the editor's role, they contend, to make each book the best its writer could produce--and never to replace the writer's voice with their own. To this end, they show how careful pruning and sensitivity to rhythm and style are both necessary to the editing process, and they describe seven "principles to edit by"--economy, tact, flexibility, consistency, confidence, respect, and responsibility. Many readers may be drawn by the book's "Guide to Editorial Freelancing" and other job-related chapters, but the book would also be useful at reference desks for answering elusive questions of style. Pat Monaghan

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521450802
• ISBN 13: 9780521450805
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240