Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- The three phases of editing -- Acquisition: finding the book. Where it all begins / by Peter Ginna -- The alchemy of acquisitions: twelve rules for trade editors / by Jonathan Karp ; Thinking like a scholarly editor: the how and why of academic publishing / by Gregory M. Britton ; The lords of disciplines: acquiring college textbooks / by Peter Coveney -- The editing process: from proposal to book. The book's journey / by Nancy S. Miller ; What love's got to do with it: the author-editor relationship / by Betsy Lerner ; The other side of the desk: what I learned about editing when I became a literary agent / by Susan Rabiner ; Open-heart surgery, or just a nip and tuck?: developmental editing / by Scott Norton -- This needs just a little work: on line editing / by George Witte ; Toward accuracy, clarity, and consistency: what copyeditors do / by Carol Fisher Saller -- Publication: bringing the book to the reader. The flip side of the pizza: the editor as manager / by Michael Pietsch ; Start spreading the news: the editor as evangelist / by Calvert D. Morgan Jr ; The half-open door: independent publishing and community / by Jeff Shotts -- From mystery to memoir: categories and case studies. Listening to the music: editing literary fiction / by Erika Goldman ; Dukes, deaths, and dragons: editing genre fiction / by Diana Gill -- Marginalia: on editing general nonfiction / by Matt Weiland ; Once upon a time lasts forever: editing books for children / by Nancy Siscoe ; Lives that matter: editing biography, autobiography, and memoir / by Wendy Wolf ; From monographs to magnum opuses: editing works of scholarship / by Susan Ferber ; Reliable sources: reference editing and publishing / by Anne Savarese ; The pink should be a surprise: creating illustrated books / by Deb Aaronson -- Pursuing a publishing career: varieties of editorial experience. Widening the gates: why publishing needs diversity / by Chris Jackson ; The apprentice: on being an editorial assistant / by Katie Henderson Adams ; This pencil for hire: making a career as a freelance editor / by Katharine O'Moore-Klopf ; The self-publisher as self-editor / by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry ; A new age of discovery: the editor's role in a changing publishing industry / by Jane Friedman -- Conclusion. As time goes by: the past and future of editing.

"[This book] gathers essays from twenty-seven leading figures in book publishing about their work. Representing both large houses and small, and encompassing trade, textbook, academic, and children's publishing, the contributors make the case for why editing remains a vital function to writers--and readers--everywhere. Ironically for an industry built on words, there has been a scarcity of written guidance on how to actually approach the work of editing. This book will serve as a compendium of professional advice and will be a resource both for those entering the profession (or already in it) and for those outside publishing who seek an understanding of it. It sheds light on how editors acquire books, what constitutes a strong author-editor relationship, and the editor's vital role at each stage of the publishing process--a role that extends far beyond marking up the author's text. This collection treats editing as both art and craft, and also as a career. It explores how editors balance passion against the economic realities of publishing."--