ACL 2070
Editing Principles and Practice
Semester 1 2014

Lecture 5
Editorial Planning

Despite all the comments thus far that have suggested that the profession of editing is under threat, editing nonetheless still gets done – even if it's not by someone who calls themselves an editor.

An editorial planning process is actioned by the publishers of anything.

• Wedding invitations
• Newsletter
• Website
• Magazine
• Book

There are a variety of levels of formality in such processes.

Think about the processes involved in putting together a wedding invitation

Who might perform the role of editor?

• The bride or groom, the father of the bride who is paying for the wedding, the printer?
• What would they have to check?
• Correct spelling of names, date of ceremony, name and address of venue.

someone at some point performs the role of the editor: ensuring grammatical correctness; fact-checking, proofing:

At the other end of the scale is book production with a freelance editor working for a trade publisher on a book with a decent budget .

The process of editorial planning in this situation is dealt with particularly well by MacKenzie (pp.38-57).

The first difficulty that an editor needs to comprehend is that he or she is in a number of different primary relationships. What do you think they are?

• Publisher
• Author
• Reader

What are the roles the editor plays in each of these relationships?

According to MacKenzie, to the author the editor is an assistant.

For the publisher, the editor is a quality controller.

And for the reader, the editor is an advocate.

And the relations of power in each one are different.

Mackenzie asks the question who is boss in the relationship with the author. But it's worth thinking about the power differentials in the other relations as well.

MacKenzie has this to say about the relationship with the author (pp. 40-3):

Editors need to understand the ground rules of this relationship.

The editor's purpose is to make the best possible publication, to make it clearer, to encourage and coach the author and save her from pitfalls, not act as a critic.

Liaison depends to some extent on the level of editing required.

If the book requires substantive or structural editing then meetings are part of the job and if you are a freelance editor you need to factor this into your costs.

It's the author's book. She gets her name on the title page, she gets the fame, and the flak.

(In educational and corporate publishing the editor takes on much more responsibility for content).

The bottom line is that the author's word is final. Their ownership of moral copyright dictates this. The editor requires diplomacy and tact, an needs to ensure that they intervene appropriately.

Mackenzie says “the editor must be careful not to appear to take over – even if this is, in fact, what you are doing”!

Authors are usually keen to correct errors once they are pointed out, but sometimes differences of opinion arise. The editor can make all the suggestions in the world, but if the author says no, then that's it.

When might this not be the case?

Unless there is an overriding consideration like cost or defamation, in which case the editor ask s the publisher to step in.

This didn't occur when Random House published journalist and writer, Bob Ellis's Goodbye Jerusalem, about his experiences in the Labour Party. The book was withdrawn and pulped following a successful defamation case brought by Tony Abbott and Peter Costello. Three months later Random house published a new edition without the offending passage. Apart from the damages of around $227,000, RH would have lost a lot of money. But you will learn more about the vagaries of our defamation laws in week 10 .

Editorial Planning:

In order to edit a book appropriately a number of issues need to be thought through and a systematic plan is required (P 44).

These steps need close consultation and negotiation with the publisher and at the end the editor will have all the information they need to draw up the editorial brief and the contract.

• Define the publisher's purpose
• Identify the readership
• Define the purpose of the publication
• Evaluate the competition
• Determine the appropriate specifications
• Examine the manuscript
• Determine quality, identify constraints
• Negotiate tasks and responsibilities
• Formalise these decisions in an editorial brief and an agreement.

1. Why is the publisher publishing the book? What do they hope to achieve?
2. What is the target market? Who will buy this publication and how will they use it? What knowledge does the reader bring to the text? What level of language will she be comfortable with? What specialist terminology will she want explained?
3. List its objectives and the manner in which it will be used. This will help you decide what content you need and how to organize it to aid access. Once you know the purpose and who the readers are, the questions about format, production process and quality narrow to a few options.
4. For a commercial project research the other books on the market, their strengths and weaknesses. How does this book compare?
5. Length and structure, illustrations, the format (size, typography, page layout, colour, cover, binding) and the print run.
6. Make a preliminary assessment to evaluate requirements, or if possible a full appraisal of the complete manuscript (Chpt 4).
7. The required quality of the finished product dictates the extent of editorial and design work and the quality of illustrations and printing.
   Identify the constraints on quality, including the budget, the timetable, the quality of the manuscript, and the legal and formal requirements.
   Other constraints may relate to the authors, other team members, material or permissions to be acquired, review or approval processes, printing and production.
8. Define the agreed scope of the core editing tasks and any additional services that the editor will provide – research, rewriting, desktop publishing.
   Establish accountability for the budget and the schedule, and for quality control and team performance. Make sure that these expectations are achievable.
   Agree on the schedule for all stages of production and on the budget for editing, for additional services, and for any production costs that you will negotiate and control – subcontractors, equipment, expenses, materials, printing and distribution.
9. Includes a Reader's Report, sometimes called an editorial review (p. 45) and Chapter 11, which outlines how to work as a freelance editor.

Your group project will need to address some if not all of these.

Clearly the process outlined above doesn't really cover web content, online materials, magazines or scholarly journals.

Finding employment in the publishing industry

Many editors started out as secretaries, publicity assistants, or sales reps. Many of these people argue it's worth taking a job that's not editorial as a stepping-stone to employment in the industry. Others recommend doing volunteer work or internships. These can be really useful, especially if you're interested in literary fiction and some big and small companies (Allen & Unwin, Lonely Planet, Overland , Meanjin ) will take on interns from time to time. However, avoid doing so much unpaid work or administrative and other duties, that you feel exploited or that you can't develop your skills. It's a fine balance. Likewise, if you set up as a freelancer, try not to underquote for jobs or to take on jobs that are said to require “a light copy edit” and turn out to involve more corrections than a year-twelve exam! Peruse a job and quote and invoice properly for it.