From: fran manushkin <franm>
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 12:17:38 -0400

I recall an editor in the 80's adding an editor credit on the copyright page of each of her books. My visceral reaction to this was "it's not right." It's not her book, and she has no right to it. (Remember, I was an editor for twelve years, so I'm not saying this casually.) I never thought of any books I edited as "mine" in any way. When I made suggestions about turning a single spread into a double, or deleting a few lines, or bringing a moment into more emotional fruition, it was the writer/artist's choice to agree or not. If she agreed, this became part of her vision, not mine. My pride was in helping to bring the book to as full a vision of the author's as I could; my gratification came from knowing I had been helpful to the writer and she/he had made her book better because of it.. This was all the reward I wanted or needed. Ursula used to say (often) "I don't work for grades." This meant she didn't go out of her way to seek out prizes or public recognition; but I also interpret her statement as "I know what I contributed to this book and so does the author, but it's her/his book, not mine." This is not to say that Ursula didn't woo librarians like crazy, but that her first loyalty was to the author's vision of the book, period. Fran
Received on Wed 12 Aug 1998 11:17:38 AM CDT