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- Writers Resources - |
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Book Editors Talk to Writers |
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 Book Editors Talk to Writers byJudy Mandell John Wiley & Sons 223 pages, 1995 ISBN 0471003913 Reviewed by John A. Broussard, PhD To the author who has received nothing but rejections from editors, it may come as a surprise that those editors can talk. But there is more than this surprise contained in Mandell's book. The advice from various editors is sufficiently consistent to warrant a writer's close attention. Get an agent! The larger the publishing house, the more need there is to do so. Other sound advice? Don't phone editors, even though a few may not mind hearing from successful authors. Don't worry about your ideas being stolen. And above all, don't quit your day job. As with any collection of interviews, the replies run the gamut from effusive to taciturn, but all are worth reading, especially if they touch upon your specialty as a writer -- textbooks, romances, travel memoirs, cook books or others. The first chapter, on publishing lingo, is essential if you intend to read the book. And the interview with Lindsay Waters on University Presses is a gem. Don't miss it! Some of the editors in this collection turn out to be surprisingly naïve. The notion, for example, that a new author can simply go out and pick an agent might as well have come from Wonderland. Agents, or at least those who aren't looking for "up front" payments, are not lining up to be selected by the new author. On the other hand, the anecdotes cropping up in this book are always instructive, sometimes delightful, and in at least one instance unbelievable. This editor listed as her pet peeve: "When writers I've rejected ask me to spend another half-hour giving them names, addresses, and phone numbers of other publishers to contact." Believe me, that is chutzpah! But perhaps the average author will be even more startled by the editor who said: "Writers are my favorite people." Perhaps the flaw in Book Editors Talk to Writers is the emphasis Mandell and her selection of editors place on authors who have already been published. Those are not the writers who need to know what editors think, what they talk about, how they negotiate, etc. Despite that reservation, this is still a highly recommended primer for the aspiring author. It needs to be read, not once but several times, and it deserves a place on the reference shelf. |
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