Donna Maree Hanson, Author, Phd in Creative Writing

I’m very pleased to be able to bring to you an interview with James (Jim)  Frenkel, who is currently a senior editor at Tor books. Books he has edited have won a number of  awards, including the Hugo Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction, the American Book Award, the Shamus Award, the Edgar Award,  and the Scribe Award.
JF: Born and bred in New York City, I have been an avid reader as long as I can remember. I can’t say what except for genetics made me such an avid reader or for that matter why I’ve always been fascinated by science and technology. But I have. I’ve also always been a very active athlete . . . though a retinal detachment in 1986 has limited my athletic activities to work out exercises and fast walking on a treadmill for cardiovascular exercise. I’m still avid about all these things, as I am about film, cooking, and spectator sports, especially baseball, with American football being my second most favorite sport.

I’ve been in publishing since 1971.

Why did you become an editor?

JF: In college I was an English major, and  I wrote fiction and non-fiction whenever I could, as well as being a reporter for the school newspaper. When I graduated from college I wanted to write the Great American science-fiction story . . . but I needed some kind of a job, a steady paycheck that would enable me to get my own apartment. And I thought publishing would be a sensible business in which to work—I could find out how to get published, make contacts, make money . . .

Unfortunately for my writing career, when I started working in publishing I realized that I liked editorial work. I liked the excitement of publishing books, and in particular, I liked editing books.

That was it for me as writer. I realized that I was a better editor than I was a writer, and I could do more good as an editor than I could as a writer.

What is the most important aspect of your editing role?

JF: That’s hard to say. Perhaps the most important aspect of the job is identifying manuscripts that are likely to be worth publishing. Without a track record for editing successful books, an editor can’t really sustain a career.

Of course, part of recognizing manuscripts that are likely to make books that critics will like and  readers will enjoy is being able to see the potential in a manuscript. That’s not easy. I think many young editors tend to overestimate the difference they can make in the overall quality of a work of fiction. Being able to tell the difference between a manuscript that is competent but no more than that and one that really has the potential to become a terrific book is a big part of being able to identify worthwhile projects.

It’s relatively easy to identify a book that is so good that it has “bestseller” written all over it.   Any competent editor should be able to do that. But what is much more difficult is to look at something that is not already wonderful but has the real potential to become wonderful and realize the potential there . . . and also have the skill to be able to work with the writer effectively enough to enable that writer to make that book fulfil its potential.

But while those skills are vital to being a good editor, it is also essential for an editor to be able to work with the other people in a publishing company. Publishing is a collaboration—between author and editor, but also between the editor and the art department, the production department, the sales and marketing departments, the advertising, promotion and publicity departments, the contract department . . . and every other department in a publishing company. Editors have to be good co-workers, or they can waste the potential of a terrific project.

Which areas of editing to you find the most enjoyable?

JF: I love the editing; but the thing I love the most is the finished product—holding a terrific book in my hands, seeing great reviews, strong sales . . . it’s like being midwife to a birth of a baby. No, it’s not the same—I have children, and their births were two of the most amazing, important moments of my life . . . making books is second best, but it’s also great.

In your view can editing be taught?

JF: That’s a good question. I don’t really know. I think that competent editing can be taught, but I am not sure that someone can be taught to be the kind of editor who can do the things I mentioned regarding the kind of editing that can turn a competent book into a great book.

How do you define the editing role?

JF: If an editor did all the kinds of things an editor does, but in a different kind of business, he or she might be called a producer or director if it was film or television; if it was a business that involved developing and producing some other type of product, an editor might be called a product manager. Editors are responsible for procuring rights to books . . . and then making sure that everything that has to be done to bring the book to a successful completion as a project is done, coordinating with all the departments that are involved in the process. So—producer, director, project manager . . . facilitator. How’s that?

What areas of editing do you find most challenging?

JF: Marketing—this is, I think, the most challenging part of editing, simply because every book is its own marketing challenge. There are many books that are relatively easy to market, but there are also a number of books that will either succeed or fail depending on the effectiveness of the marketing efforts. Such books require creativity, energy and the efforts of the entire company working in concert. That’s a lot of work, and if it isn’t done right, it just doesn’t work.

Do you have any advice to aspiring editors?

JF: Don’t do it unless you’re prepared to work ridiculously long hours for low wages.  With very few exceptions, editors spend their days doing administrative work; that means that reading and editing is done at night and on weekends.

Only someone who is single-mindedly committed to the cause of excellence in publishing should become an editor. It hurts the books and the authors if an editor isn’t truly committed to the job. And I’ve seen too many editors who thought publishing was glamorous and then burn out in one or five or ten years, leaving mediocre or poorly published books in their wake.

For new entrants to the market, where is a good place to start in the editing field?

JF: As an editorial assistant.

As part of my editing course, I am contemplating the topic of editing and I thought that interviewing editors about editing would be a good way to get the thought processes moving. From discussions with different editors, I find there are lots of views and lots of things to discuss. Particularly, that the word editor encapsulates many things, from the person who buys short stories and novels to the person who proofreads a manuscript before it goes to the printer. An editor can be a project manager, a creative consultant, a boss, a collaborator, a wordsmith and even one with an eye for detail. I am speaking mainly about fiction but even procuring the right non-fiction manuscript takes an eye for the market and good writing.

While Ellen Datlow was in Canberra recently, we were talking about editing and I thought it would be cool to interview her for this blog. Our main discussion point was whether editing could be taught. Ellen thought not and then she was worried she had upset me. She hadn’t and I thought her views were very intriguing.

For those of you who don’t know, Ellen Datlow is a multi-award winning editor and most short story writers worth their salt want to be published by her. For many years she did the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror with Terri Windling. (Ellen did the horror component) and every year she would publish a list of recommended reading along with the stories chosen for the publication. I had the honour once, long ago, to have a story mentioned.   Here is a little about Ellen from her website.

Multiple award-winning editor Ellen Datlow has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for almost thirty years. She was fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and SCIFICTION and has edited more than fifty anthologies, including the horror half of the long-running The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror.

You will have to go there to read more about Ellen. You will see she is a very busy person and I thank her so much for agreeing to be interviewed on this blog.

Why did you become an editor?

ED: Not really sure. I loved reading and wanted to work with books. The two options I was aware of were to work in a bookstore or go into book publishing. To tell the truth, I had no real knowledge as to what an editor does until my second book publishing job. My first in the business was as sales secretary to the New York salesman of Little, Brown & Co. Some of that time I helped to read the read slush (it was unusual then to have one person dedicated to reading slush and there is no such job now). So I knew that manuscripts became books somehow. I only worked there six months before I left to become an editorial assistant at a different publisher. That’s when I began to learn what editors do.

What is the most important aspect of your editing role?

ED: Working with a writer whose story is almost there and helping that writer make it better; and to continually encourage the writers whose work I admire to produce powerful stories (and I hope, allow me to publish their work if I have a venue to do so). That’s the creative side. I also have a responsibility to buy stories that readers want to read whether in a magazine/webzine I’m editing or an anthology. If my anthologies don’t sell I: 1) will have no income and 2) have no way to buy and publish stories/writers.

Which areas of editing to you find the most enjoyable?

ED: The initial reading of a fabulous story. Seeing how that story can be made better, and working with the writer to make it so.

In your view can editing be taught?

ED: No—Copyediting of course can be—it’s a technical skill, based on a thorough  knowledge of grammar and spelling (plus the smarts to know when a lapse in accepted rules is authorial intent or carelessness).

But acquisitions/substantive, and line editing cannot be. I’m continually learning as I edit over the years but the instinct for what works and what does not, what can be made better and what can not, is innate.

How do you define the editing role?

Ellen supplied the answer to this in an article she wrote for the SFWA handbook. I have put an excerpt of Ellen’s article  here…

There’s a big difference between editors and copy editors. I have nothing but respect for copy editors, but I become rabid when I read articles and off-hand remarks mixing up the functions of editor and copy editor. I’m primarily a short story editor, so that’s the kind of editing on which I’ll concentrate, although there’s certainly some overlap with novel editing. I’m going to use the word magazine to include both print magazines and webzines.

First of all, a short story editor solicits fiction. This may sound easy but it isn’t always so. Some writers write short stories because they love the form. Others do it because they believe (correctly) that writing and publishing even a handful of excellent stories can bring quicker recognition than novels. One of the biggest problems a short story editor has is keeping her best writers from moving exclusively into novel writing. Many writers, once they begin producing novels, no longer feel they have the time or energy to write short stories because of the (usually) lousy pay. Very few venues considered professional by SFWA pay more than ten cents a word for a story. Some pay up to twenty cents a word but most pay between five cents and eight cents a word. So short story editors have to regularly cajole and nag writers to write short stories rather novels. A good editor is pro-active, searching out new talent and encouraging established writers to produce short fiction.

Mechanics of editing

What areas of editing do you find most challenging?

ED: Project management is the most complicated but crucial chore of an editor. It covers everything else (including the reading and acquisition and editing of the stories).

Magazine editing is quite different in this respect than anthology editing. A magazine editor works more closely with the production department, which has a schedule—when is the edited manuscript due? When will the copy edit be done and what date must it be returned by the editor, who needs time to go over it herself and then query the author about proposed changes? What’s the date the proofreading will be done and given over to the editor and author and when must that be back to production?

If there’s art, it must be commissioned (at OMNI) or created (at SCIFICTION) in a timely manner.

For an anthology, the contract agreement will determine when I must hand in the finished mss to my in-house editor, who will put it through production. With all copy editing, for a magazine or anthology, I will go over the copy edit before querying each author. I will often stet a lot of the suggestions/changes before I contact the writer. I used to go over all the proofreading but now most publishers’ production departments can email the separate proofread stories to each author, so that they, not I can go over their own proofs.

My anthologies are invitation only so I don’t read much slush these days. But during the period of time I’m working on an original anthology (eight months to a year from verbal agreement with a publisher until I hand in the finished ms), I will prod the writers who have said they’d contribute and keep reminding them of the deadline. Over time, I might let them know that I have too many of a particular type of story or point of view and generally push the process forward. As stories come in I read and decide whether I love the story enough to buy it and determine whether it needs minor editing or a rewrite. If it needs a major rewrite before I think it would work, I won’t commit to buying the story on the first round (especially if the writer is someone I’ve never or rarely worked with before).

Marketing?

ED: I’m far from being a marketing expert but first you have to sell the anthology to a book publisher and for that you need a good, catchy idea, commitments from several big name writers who write the kind of stories that you’re planning on publishing, and a great title (if possible). The editor needs to write up a proposal explaining why your anthology is a great idea and will sell. If you have commitments from name writers include bios for each saying so and so—NY Times bestselling author of ….whatever.

The publisher does most of the marketing in advance—to the bookstores, sending galleys out several months in advance of publication, giving away galleys at Book Expo, a big convention for librarians, teachers, and booksellers. Publishers or professional writing organizations have writers/members there to giveaway and sign books (no books are for sale). There are panels and parties. There are Library organizations that have annual or bi-annual conferences around the US. Publishers push the titles they think will take off there.

Promotion and publicity?

ED: As you finish your anthology it helps if you can post the table of contents and the book jacket around the web-on your blog or on facebook and to genre news organizations. As an anthologist I’ll work with my publisher (or on my own) to set up signings and readings or talks with several of my contributors at conventions, bookstores, libraries, whoever will have us.

Copy editing and proofing?

ED: Not the editor’s job.
Do you have any advice to aspiring editors?

ED: Read a lot in the field in which you want to work. Be aware of the history of the field, learn office procedure –that’s as important if you’re working in-house for a magazine or book publisher as anything else. Start thinking about what kinds of stories you like and don’t like and why. As you edit more and more your taste will develop. If you edit different kinds of fiction, you’ll discover that some writers can write in more than one genre and those are sometimes the best writers you can work with.  Follow the work of editors whose work you admire and see if you can figure out what you like about their taste (it’s difficult to discern hands on editing skills). You can only notice the things that an editor doesn’t catch (and I don’t mean typos or grammar—that’s something the copy editor or proofreader should have caught). Repetition of words or phrases, a sentence that doesn’t track (not because it’s missing a word but because something in it should have been clarified), things like that.

Many thanks to Ellen for answering my questions.

More editing interviews coming up over the next few weeks.