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Are Book Editors an Endangered Species?

January 29, 2013 | Filed under: Nancy Flight and tagged with: book editors, editing, editors, publishing

Close up of a section of bookshelf lined with books, spines facing in. The “exposed” pages are facing out and an old letterpress ampersand sits on top of the books, facing the viewer, as if to ask the question, “And….?”In  December 2012, the world was supposed to end, the U.S. was expected to fall off the so-called fiscal cliff, and some commentators had already pronounced Canadian publishing dead or nearly so. As we know, the world did not end, and the U.S. has avoided plunging over the fiscal cliff, at least for the time being.  Will Canadian publishing also thwart predictions of its imminent demise? And what of the editors who earn their bread and butter by editing books?

Over the last decade, a long list of Canadian-owned publishers have closed their doors. Most recently, the venerable West Coast publisher D&M—which comprises Douglas & McIntyre and Greystone Books and is the largest independently owned publisher in Canada—filed for bankruptcy protection. If the company does revive, it is sure to be in a more compact edition.  In general, the smaller publishing houses are hanging on, though sometimes barely. The multinationals are going strong, and with the recent merger of Random House and Penguin, some are becoming even larger and more powerful.

What does all of this mean for book editors? Not only have many in-house editors lost their jobs, but fewer places remain for them to ply their trade as freelancers. The midsize publishers are mostly gone, and the smaller houses often do most or all of their editing in-house. This leaves the multinationals, but only a handful of editors outside Toronto edit for them. Moreover, with the unleashing of so many editors from the various defunct or ailing publishing houses, there is increased competition for whatever freelance editing jobs are available.

Many of the former D&M employees, including the editors, do not even plan to look for jobs in publishing. Of the five members of the editorial team, only one is now editing books. I will be going into teaching—well-known repository of former in-house editors, as well as freelancers—though I hope to have a part-time job in publishing as well.

Some freelance book editors are taking on self-published authors as clients. Others are writing or branching out into other types of editing. How are other book editors dealing with the new landscape? And what is the future for book editors?

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Written by Nancy Flight

Nancy Flight is Editor Emerita of Greystone Books, a past president of Editors Canada, and longtime mentor to editors.

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4 Responses to "Are Book Editors an Endangered Species?"

  1. Viola Funk says:
    January 30, 2013 at 1:48 pm

    Thanks for the thought-provoking article, Nancy. (And my condolences on D&M’s straits — I really enjoyed working with all of you there back in the 2000s.) As a former in-house book editor who also got laid off from her most recent position, I’ve had the good fortune to reinvent myself as an in-house technical editor. So, working on a variety of manuals issued in both print and (sometimes only) online editions. It is a completely different world to trade book publishing, as you can well imagine. But I’m lucky to have a stable of good, solid authors, and my job still fulfills those particular inclinations and cravings that originally led me into book publishing. (And draws on many of the same skills, I might add.) So — there is hope for us editors. Onwards & upwards!

    1. Nancy.Flight says:
      January 30, 2013 at 4:00 pm

      Great to hear from you, Viola, and congratulations on your successful reincarnation as an in-house technical editor! That is wonderful that you have found fulfillment outside trade book publishing, and I’m sure that does give a lot of us hope.

  2. Anita Jenkins says:
    January 31, 2013 at 11:50 pm

    This article announces that Nancy has been named associate publisher of the renewed Greystone Books. Wonderful news
    http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/01/31/greystone-books-rises-out-of-the-ashes-of-douglas-mcintyre/

    1. Nancy Flight says:
      February 1, 2013 at 12:19 am

      Thanks, Anita. It is exciting news. I guess I will be editing books for a little while to come anyway.

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