From: Wojtyla, Karen <WOJTYLAK>
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 14:46:00 -0400

As an editor, I've been interested in the lively discussion on the issue of editorial credit lines. Thanks to Sue Alexander and Susan Kuklin and the other authors who appreciate their editors and would like to see them get credit. But I have to agree with Marc Aronson and Brenda Bowen that it wouldn't be particularly appropriate or practical. Part of this is the difficulty of determining who deserves credit for what, as Marc pointed out. What do you do if one editor acquires a book, makes suggestions and then departs, and another editor also works on a book? What about colleagues who may read a manuscript and offer valuable comments? Copyeditors may discover logistical or structural faults--should they be credited? What about the editors in chief or publishers--they run the departments, after all, and their input may be important--are they the "producers"? I hate to think of a long line of requisite credits, just like Hollywood--and don't you press fast forward over all those lovely people's names when you're at home with the video? The author and/or artist are the stars of their books, and I think it should remain so. I never met Ursula Nordstrom, but from her letters in Dear Genius I think she would have hated the idea of authors vying to have her name on their books. She often mentions colleagues and their appreciation for an author's work--she seems to have seen the editorial process as much more collaborative than competitive. A question for Leonard--I was intrigued with some early mentions of May Massee. Is there any biography (book or article) about her that you could recommend? These founders of the children's books departments were a formidable group of women.
Received on Wed 12 Aug 1998 01:46:00 PM CDT