Editors on Editing: What Writers Need to Know About What Editors Do (57 page)

Reference publishing is
not
, by most definitions, high drama. It is made possible by slow accretions of scholarly knowledge, and in its most serious forms is itself a deliberate, thorough, and painstaking process. Since the first encyclopedists and dictionary makers turned their attention to collecting and structuring human knowledge, their efforts have been replicated countless times up to the present in works great and small. The essence of the intellectual process remains the same yet, clearly, the environment in which this process takes place is vastly different. Today there is a marked increase in the number of publishers that produce reference works, in the array of topics treated, and in the sheer number of such works published. Behind it all are the realities of demand and supply. We live in a world in which people need and want easy access to systematized knowledge, and publishers, like any other businesses, will provide the “products” that their markets demand.

Reference works exist in many formats. Although the impressive array of types defies a single, narrow description, we know reference works when we see them: general encyclopedias, specialized encyclopedias, “Companions,” guides, handbooks, dictionaries, glossaries, bibliographies, indexes, almanacs, atlases, anthologies. Narrative histories or overviews might be
included as well, when they are sufficiently comprehensive and authoritative to be considered “encyclopedic” in their teaching about a field.

Reference books can, of course, be shaped for various audiences. Works planned for academic or professional readerships find a substantial portion of their market through libraries and other institutions, and are packaged and priced accordingly. At this writing, such works typically approach one hundred dollars per volume, and can run to thousands of pages, in several volumes. Whether frequently updated handbooks or once-per-generation summations of scholarly learning in a field, these works are of strong professional interest to their intended readerships. Trade reference works are written to satisfy the avocational interests of a broad general readership; in addition, they may serve as a “resource of first resort” for scholars or professionals in related fields. They are most often planned to extend to one volume, are priced to be accessible to individual book buyers (currently, books priced at fifty dollars approach the upper limits), and are available through retail bookstores, in addition to direct mail and other channels.

What do these books have in common? We might first approach the question by considering the use to which most readers will put them. Generally speaking, a reference work is not meant to be read sequentially from beginning to end; rather, it is meant to be consulted for specific information. The transparent and readily accessible structure of the work, perhaps alphabetical, thematic, or chronological, and the editorial apparatus built into it (for example, the extensive patterns of cross-references found in encyclopedias) make it possible for the reader to find a particular piece of information without having to sort through daunting amounts of extraneous material. Reference works systematize knowledge and allow for easy access to it on the part of the reader.

A second view of reference works is from the standpoint of their financial profile. In common publishing parlance, reference books are known to “backlist” well, meaning that they are not only major titles in the years when they are published, but go on to reach their markets for some time, perhaps even for generations in successive editions. They are viewed as long-term, steady, and relatively predictable income producers when compared to, say, a best-selling romance novel. The other side of the equation is that they are generally quite expensive to produce. They involve substantial editorial costs, including in-house development efforts that may require several years, and substantial marketing expenses that are ongoing for the life of the book. Reference books endure.

Publishers are (or ought to be) sensitive to audience demand. If new parents need a guide to the latest wisdom on childrearing, if attorneys need a systematic handbook of new tax law, if general readers want a reference source for ideas in fields as diverse as music and archaeology, chances are that observant publishers will eventually respond. They will do so either by initiating projects themselves or by looking carefully at projects that are proposed to them from outside by prospective authors. Large audiences exist for specialized reference sources in business, law, medicine, engineering, and other areas of professional practice; scholarly audiences seek systematized knowledge across the full spectrum of academic disciplines from the sciences to the humanities to the arts. And there are avid general readerships for authoritative information in subjects ranging from gardening to politics to literature.

What makes a field particularly fertile ground for reference publishing? An
emerging
area of scholarship, where the challenge of structuring or systematizing knowledge still remains, yields wonderful opportunities for such projects. Women’s writing, a focus of concentrated scholarly effort only in the relatively recent past, is one area in which exciting original research is now being synthesized in reference works of various types.
Advancing
areas, altered sometimes radically by significant new directions in scholarship, also provide rich possibilities for reference works. Military history, now expanded much beyond the traditional “drums and trumpets” to include important societal dimensions, is a good example. And some areas—advances in scholarship or not—are just perennial favorites for general audiences who never tire of information in whatever form it is served up: the American West, the Civil War, and Sherlock Holmes, to name a few.

Packaging, pricing, and marketing variations aside, there exists very little difference in the kind of editorial challenge posed by academic and trade reference works. A more significant gulf, in my experience, lies between single-author and multiauthor volumes. Single-author reference works—though charged with the special burdens of comprehensiveness, balance, authority, and lasting appeal attendant to any reference work—mirror the editorial process described in other chapters of this volume, and thus need
not be a special concern here. Multiauthor reference projects, however, bring with them unique issues of intellectual coherence, teamwork, and long-term project administration; for this reason, they are an appropriate focus for this chapter.

I will use as my model here a multiauthor trade reference encyclopedia; though directed to a more specialized audience, a multiauthor academic reference work would present the same kinds of editorial challenges, writ large.

The commitment to publish a major reference work is substantial by any measure—not just in dollars spent, but in time spent, as well. The editorial process from idea to finished manuscript may take the better part of two or three years, or even considerably longer. In view of this commitment, the editorial process will likely be an exacting one, with a great deal of advance discussion of substantive issues and administrative procedures, and as little as possible left to chance throughout the course of the project. In the following pages I will touch on the principal phases encountered in editing reference works (of course, there are as many variations in this process as there are reference book publishers), together with aspects of the author-editor relationship that emerge along the way. In this kind of long-term association, shared work styles and intellectual ambitions contribute not only to the success, but also to the enjoyment, of the process.

An obvious priority to the publisher at this stage is exploring the soundness of an idea, whether generated in-house or by outside sources. The acquiring editor conducts informal research, following a network of advice from scholars in the field, librarians, bookstore managers, and sales and marketing colleagues to answer a set of crucial questions.

Some questions concern the market for the work. How have other major works in the field fared in initial and long-term sales, and do competitive works exist that have an unyielding grip on the market? A busy market signals opportunity; a choked one, just the opposite. What audiences (or a blend of them) would be interested enough in the work to buy a copy? An ideal trade reference work, from the publisher’s standpoint, attracts a wide range of readerships. Consider, for example, the appeal of a comprehensive and authoritative trade reference volume on world politics to scholars in comparative politics, international relations, history, economics, and related fields; to professionals in journalism, international business, and international diplomacy; and to lay readers ambitious in their learning about the world in which they live. The encyclopedia format allows for discussions ranging from straightforward description, to synthesis (bringing together,
and providing context for understanding, a range of views on a particular topic), to interpretation (providing original thinking on a subject), allowing each readership to benefit from the work in distinct ways.

Other questions concern the substance of the volume. Is the field a new one, or is it advancing in such a way that there is a real general-interest, scholarly, or professional need for a reference work? A subject area in its extreme infancy may not yet be well enough articulated to lend itself to this kind of treatment; a field in which there is active, mature scholarship and enlivening debate is ideal. Other important questions: What “take” on the subject would allow the proposed book to make a unique contribution to the available literature and, therefore, stand a good chance of becoming a standard reference source? What should the substantive scope of the project be?

Finally, the publisher is likely to consider the selection of an outside general editor the single most crucial step in the process of commissioning a new reference work. I use the designation
general editor
instead of
author
purposely; while this person may contribute much of her own writing to such a volume, she must also function in a higher capacity, orchestrating the writing efforts of perhaps several hundred contributors. The general editor’s credentials—academic, professional, or experiential—are vitally important. They signal mastery of the material, and also the likelihood of acceptance by audiences and critics rightly concerned with the authority of the volume.

The publisher will look for a general editor who has contributed substantially and visibly to the field in question, and who has wide-ranging knowledge of the field’s outer boundaries, controversial areas, noteworthy new directions, and outstanding scholarly or professional voices. The publisher will favor a general editor who is widely networked in a field, and who can encourage participation in the project (as fellow editors, as advisers, or as contributors) by a wide array of distinguished colleagues. An important consideration as well is the prospective general editor’s instinctive sense of the volume’s potential audiences, and the myriad kinds of editorial “fine-tuning” that can be done to shape the volume to their particular needs and interests. A general editor who possesses a strong sense of audience will also be equipped to lend creative ideas to the eventual, all-important marketing effort.

During this period, the general editor and acquiring editor work closely together to establish preliminary plans for the volume—often in the form of a project proposal. I encourage prospective general editors to wrestle with all dimensions of the project, even if easy answers do not present themselves; at least in this way we know what issues need fuller resolution as the project moves forward. The proposal outline that I ask prospective
general editors to work from focuses on such issues as the state of scholarly research and public interest in the field (i.e., what is interesting about this field, and
why
is there a market for the proposed work?), the work’s intended audiences, and the work’s likely substantive range and organizational principles, as well as administrative issues including scheduling and the division of labor between general editor and publisher. Outside reviewers are asked to comment on the proposal, which may then go through several rounds of revision before final in-house approval.

“Personnel” issues need to be resolved during this time. Typically the general editor will select, and work closely with, an editorial board of some four to five fellow scholars or practitioners who bring complementary expertise to the project, and who assume responsibility for a portion of the editorial work. Expansive reference works are rarely within the ken of a single individual; the collective vision of an editorial board helps to ensure that coverage in the volume is both comprehensive and balanced. In this kind of arrangement, the general editor serves as the main liaison with the publisher, and is charged with final decision-making authority on behalf of the editorial board.

Finally, an additional layer of specialist knowledge is often brought to bear on the project through the creation of an advisory board. While the editorial board actively
creates
, the advisory board serves in a more reactive capacity, for example by reviewing successive generations of the table of contents and offering suggestions for possible contributors in their areas of expertise.

With the signing of a publishing agreement, the long-term partnership between publisher and general editor (or editorial board) officially begins. At this point the publisher may assign an in-house development editor to the project to guide the editorial board in the many decisions, great and small, that it must make about the organization and content of the book. The major accomplishment during development will be the completion of a detailed table of contents, a creative process that may require a year or much more of intensive editorial work. (“List of entry terms” is a more accurate expression to use than “table of contents” in the context of an alphabetical reference work. In such a work the reader looks up a topic of interest alphabetically in the body of the text, under a label known as the “entry term.” The entry term literally gives the reader “entry” into the content of the volume; thus, no table of contents is needed.) Although a considerable amount of thought will have been given to matters of scope and content during acquisitions, the detailed mapping of the internal structure
of a major project can only begin in earnest once all editorial participants, as described above, have signed on.