An intimate, lively guide to the magic and mechanics of editing by a veteran editor and writer, this book explores the many-faceted and often misunderstood--or simply overlooked--art of editing.

"Bell's prose is elegant and wonderfully readable in this artful guide."—Publishers Weekly The Artful Edit explores the many-faceted and often misunderstood—or simply overlooked—art of editing. The book brims with examples, quotes, and case studies, including an illuminating discussion of Max Perkins's editorial collaboration with F. Scott Fitzgerald on The Great Gatsby. Susan Bell, a veteran book editor, also offers strategic tips and exercises for self-editing and a series of remarkable interviews, taking us into the studios of successful authors such as Michael Ondaatje and Ann Patchett to learn from their various approaches to revision. Much more than a manual, The Artful Edit inspires readers to think about both the discipline and the creativity of editing and how it can enhance their work. In the computer age of lightning-quick composition, this book reminds readers that editing is not simply a spell-check. A vigorous investigation into the history and meaning of the edit, this book, like The Elements of Style, is a must-have companion for every writer.

An intimate, lively guide to the magic and mechanics of editing by a veteran editor and writer, this book explores the many-faceted and often misunderstood--or simply overlooked--art of editing.

Essays from twenty-seven leading book editors: “Honest and unflinching accounts from publishing insiders . . . a valuable primer on the field.” —Publishers Weekly Editing is an invisible art in which the very best work goes undetected. Editors strive to create books that are enlightening, seamless, and pleasurable to read, all while giving credit to the author. This makes it all the more difficult to truly understand the range of roles they inhabit while shepherding a project from concept to publication. What Editors Do 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 approach the work of editing. Serving as a compendium of professional advice and a portrait of what goes on behind the scenes, this book 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—and shows why, in the face of a rapidly changing publishing landscape, editors are more important than ever. “Authoritative, entertaining, and informative.” —Copyediting

Each year writers and editors submit over three thousand grammar and style questions to the Q&A page at The Chicago Manual of Style Online. Some are arcane, some simply hilarious—and one editor, Carol Fisher Saller, reads every single one of them. All too often she notes a classic author-editor standoff, wherein both parties refuse to compromise on the "rights" and "wrongs" of prose styling: "This author is giving me a fit." "I wish that I could just DEMAND the use of the serial comma at all times." "My author wants his preface to come at the end of the book. This just seems ridiculous to me. I mean, it’s not a post-face." In The Subversive Copy Editor, Saller casts aside this adversarial view and suggests new strategies for keeping the peace. Emphasizing habits of carefulness, transparency, and flexibility, she shows copy editors how to build an environment of trust and cooperation. One chapter takes on the difficult author; another speaks to writers themselves. Throughout, the focus is on serving the reader, even if it means breaking "rules" along the way. Saller’s own foibles and misadventures provide ample material: "I mess up all the time," she confesses. "It’s how I know things." Writers, Saller acknowledges, are only half the challenge, as copy editors can also make trouble for themselves. (Does any other book have an index entry that says "terrorists. See copy editors"?) The book includes helpful sections on e-mail etiquette, work-flow management, prioritizing, and organizing computer files. One chapter even addresses the special concerns of freelance editors. Saller’s emphasis on negotiation and flexibility will surprise many copy editors who have absorbed, along with the dos and don’ts of their stylebooks, an attitude that their way is the right way. In encouraging copy editors to banish their ignorance and disorganization, insecurities and compulsions, the Chicago Q&A presents itself as a kind of alter ego to the comparatively staid Manual of Style. In The Subversive Copy Editor, Saller continues her mission with audacity and good humor.

This facsimile edition collects all 19 issues of 'Art-Rite' magazine, edited by art critics Walter Robinson and Edit DeAk from 1973 to 1978. Robinson, DeAk and a third editor, Joshua Cohn, met as art history students at Columbia University, and were inspired to found the magazine by their art criticism teacher, Brian O'Doherty. 'Art-Rite', cheaply produced on newsprint, served as an important alternative to the established art magazines of the period. 'Art-Rite' ran for only five years, and published only 19 issues. But in that time the magazine featured contributions from hundreds of artists, a list that now reads like a who's-who of 1970s art: Yvonne Rainer, Gordon Matta-Clark, Alan Vega (Suicide), William Wegman, Nancy Holt, Jack Smith, Dorothea Rockburne, Robert Morris, Adrian Piper, Laurie Anderson, Carolee Schneemann and Carl Andre; critics such as Lucy Lippard contributed writing. Through its single-artist issues and its thematic issues on performance, video and artists' books, 'Art-Rite' championed the new art of its era.

The value of the editor's craft to a finished film cannot be underestimated, and it's no surprise that directors rely heavily on the same editor over and over again. Seventeen exclusive interviews with some of the world's top film editors, including Walter Murch, Virginia Katz, Joel Cox, Tim Squyres and Richard Marks, explore the art of film editing; its complex processes, the relationship with other film practitioners, and the impact of modern editing techniques. The Filmcraft series is a ground-breaking study of the art of filmmaking-the most collaborative and multidisciplinary of all the arts. Each volume covers a different aspect of moviemaking, offering in-depth interviews with a host of the most distinguished practitioners in the field. Forthcoming titles include Cinematography, Directing, Costume Design, Production Design, Producing, Screenwriting, and Acting.