Editors on Editing: What Writers Need to Know About What Editors Do (67 page)

Forthcoming Books
.
New Providence, NJ: R. R. Bowker. Bimonthly cumulation listing forthcoming titles and titles published after July of each year.

F
OWLER
, H
ENRY
W.
A Dictionary of Modern English Usage
.
2d ed. Revised and edited by Sir Ernest Gowers. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. A good reference for answers to style and grammar questions.

G
AGE
, D
IANE
, and M
ARCIA
H
IBSCH
C
OPPESS
.
Get Published: Editors from the Nation’s Top Magazines Tell You What They Want
.
New York: Henry Holt, 1986. The title tells you all!

G
OLDBERG
, N
ATALIE
.
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
.
Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1986. A wonderful book for editor and author alike.

G
RAFTON
, S
UE
, ed.
Writing Mysteries: A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America
.
Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1992. Its value, for editors, is the background exposition by writers on how mysteries are conceived and executed.

G
ROSS
, G
ERALD
, ed.
Editors on Editing
.
3d ed. New York: Grove Press, 1993. Comments by many of the most prestigious editors in the business. Addresses all aspects of editing—structural, theoretical, practical—with wit and insight.

H
ODGES
, J
OHN
C, and M
ARY
E. W
HITTEN
.
Harbrace College Handbook
.
11th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990. A good basic reference for grammar and usage.

H
OWELL
, J
OHN
B
RUCE
.
Style Manuals of the English-Speaking World: A Guide
.
Phoenix, AZ.: Oryx Press, 1983. Lists annotations for 231 English-language style manuals from all over the world.

J
ORDAN
, L
EWIS
, ed.
New York Times Manual of Style and Usage: A Desk Book of Guidelines for Writers and Editors
.
New York: Times Books. The style book used by the editors of the
New York Times
, it is one of the important guides in the non-book publishing field.

J
UDD
, K
AREN
.
Copyediting: A Practical Guide
.
2d ed. Los Altos, CA: Crisp Publications, 1989. Solid background and guidance for the beginning copy editor, giving an overview of the industry and the copy editor’s role and position in it; takes the reader through the basics of the process, from learning awareness to bibliographies, typemarking, and tables.

K
UNITZ
, S
TANLEY
, and H
OWARD
H
AYCRAFT
.
Twentieth Century Authors: A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Literature
.
Bronx, NY: H. W. Wilson. See W
AKEMAN
for companion volume. A standard for editors.

L
A
B
EAU
, D
ENNIS
.
Author Biographies Master Index
.
Detroit: Gale Research. Index to biographical data on living and dead authors as they appear in selected biographical dictionaries.

Large Type Books in Print
.
New Providence, NJ: R. R. Bowker. Published biennially.

L
ARSEN
, M
ICHAEL
.
How to Write a Book Proposal
. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1990. Takes one through every step of writing a nonfiction book proposal, including a complete sample proposal to use as a guide. The author is a successful literary agent.

L
ONGYEAR
, M
ARIE
, ed.
The McGraw-Hill Style Manual: A Concise Guide for Writers and Editors
.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1989. A comprehensive guide to how to write for this book company. The book is a combination of in-house manuals written to the specifications of the needs of the house, especially in typemarking and typesetting.

M
CCABE
, J
AMES
P
ATRICK
.
Critical Guide to Catholic Reference Books
.
Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1980. An annotated bibliography of books by and/or about Catholics or Catholicism. Arranged by subject matter and cross-indexed by author and title. (o.p.)

M
C
N
EIL
, B
ARBARA
, and M
IRANDA
H
ERBERT
.
Author Biographies Master Index Supplement
.
Detroit: Gale Research. See L
A
B
EAU
.

M
AREK
, R
ICHARD
.
Works of Genius
.
New York: Atheneum, 1987. A major American editor writes about the business.

Medical Books and Serials in Print: An Index to Literature in the Health Sciences
.
New Providence, NJ: R. R. Bowker. Two-volume set published annually in May.

Microcomputer Market Place
.
New Providence, NJ: R. R. Bowker. Similar to all of their other “Market Place” titles.

M
ILLER
, M
ARA
.
Where to Go for What: How to Research, Organize, and Present Your Ideas
.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1981. A unique
sourcebook; it includes how to use libraries, reference books, and government information systems, and how to interview—by telephone and in person, (o.p.)

M
URPHEY
, R
OBERT
W. How and Where to Look It Up: A Guide to Standard Sources of Information.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1958. Designed to guide the layperson through the use of reference materials, it lists basic books available in a variety of subject areas, (o.p.)

Paperbound Books in Print
.
New Providence, NJ: R. R. Bowker. Multivolume set indexed by author, title, and subject. Final volume has publisher information and keys to abbreviations. Published semiannually in spring and fall editions.

P
ITZER
, S
ARA
.
How to Write a Cookbook and Get It Published
.
Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1984. A step-by-step guide to finding and testing recipes, designing, writing, and publishing a cookbook, and distributing the final product, (o.p.)

P
LATT
, S
UZY
, ed.
Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations Requested from the Congressional Research Service
.
Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1989. 2,100 quotations—humor, majesty, gravity, bitterness, insults, smears “from the real world of cut and thrust politics.” A significant contribution to the lexicon of American politics.

The Reader’s Adviser
.
New Providence, NJ: R. R. Bowker. An annotated bibliography on books in print. Especially helpful for an acquisitions editor and for the beginner. See especially the section “Books on Books,” a good bibliography on publishing.

Religious Books and Serials in Print: An Index to Religious Literature Including Philosophy
.
New Providence, NJ: R. R. Bowker. Published biennially in the fall.

Roget’s International Thesaurus
.
5th ed. Ed. by Robert L. Chapman. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. The
classic
, this is a good place to look for a better word.

Scientific and Technical Books and Serials in Print
.
New Providence, NJ: R. R. Bowker. Two-volume set published annually in December.

S
HEEHY
, E
UGENE
P.
Guide to Reference Books
.
10th ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 1986. This guide is
the first place to look
for annotations on reference tools available throughout the world.

S
KILLIN
, M
ARJORIE
E., and R
OBERT
M. G
AY
.
Words into Type
.
3d ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986. One of the standard manuals
of style recognized by the publishing industry, it is often used in specialized fields in place of
Chicago Manual of Style
.

S
OLOTAROFF
, T
ED
.
A Few Good Voices in My Head: Occasional Pieces on Writing, Editing, and Reading My Contemporaries
.
New York: HarperCollins, 1987. His criticisms of the industry—especially its “corporate mentality”—are strong and clear.

The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy
.
Edited by Arlene Eakle and Johni Cerny. Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry Publishing, 1984. Comprehensive manual on U.S. record sources, stringently analyzed in terms of location, usability for specific time periods, and the nature of the information provided.

S
TRUNK
, W
ILLIAM
, J
R
., and E. B. W
HITE
.
The Elements of Style
.
3d ed. New York: Macmillan, 1979. A concise view of style and usage. Almost everyone uses it.

Subject Guide to Books in Print
.
New Providence, NJ: R. R. Bowker. A companion volume to
BIP
, it indexes in-print titles by Library of Congress subject headings. Published annually in October. There is also a
Subject Guide to Children’s Books in Print
(published annually in November) and a
Subject Guide to Forthcoming Books
(published bimonthly).

T
OMPKINS
, J
ANE
.
West of Everything: The Inner Life of Westerns
.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. An excellent examination of the genre’s elements. A
must
for all editors of westerns.

United States Government Printing Office Style Manual
.
Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. This stylebook establishes the standards for submission of materials to the Government Printing Office, giving guidance on form, style, grammar, binding, type size, etc., for all government publications. Revised and reissued every few years.

W
AKEMAN
, J
OHN
, ed.
World Authors, 1950-1970
.
Bronx, NY: H. W. Wilson, 1975. A companion volume to
Twentieth Century Authors
. Another standard for editors.

Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary
.
Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1983. This abridgement is based on the
Third New International Dictionary
.

Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged
.
Edited by Philip Babcock Gove. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. A major resource when dealing with American English.

Writer’s Market: Where to Sell, What to Write
.
Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books. The writer’s practical guide to the (primarily magazine)
publishing market. Compiled from responses to questionnaires sent to editors, publishers, and program directors, listings include basic information plus whom to contact, who buys free-lance material, editorial slant or focus, special needs, payment rates, etc. It is used broadly by authors.

Unless otherwise noted, copyright in the individual pieces is retained by the respective author.

“An Open Letter to a Would-be Editor” by Max Lincoln Schuster is reprinted by permission of the Estate of Max Lincoln Schuster.

“Are Editors Necessary?” and “On the Decline of Western Literature” by Richard Curtis are reprinted from the March 30, 1984, issue of
Publishers Weekly
, published by R. R. Bowker Company, a Xerox Company. Copyright © 1984 by Xerox Corporation.

“Breaking the Faith” by Maxwell Gherkin is reprinted from the June 1990 issue of
Publishers Weekly
, published by Cahners Publishing Company, a division of Reed Publishing USA. Copyright © 1990 by Reed Publishing.

“Mistah Perkins—He Dead” by Gerald Howard first appeared in the
American Scholar
. Copyright © 1989, reproduced by permission of the author.

“Editing Books for the Jewish Market” by Bonny V. Fetterman was first published in
Judaica Book News
, Fall/Winter 1991. Copyright © 1991 by Bonny V. Fetterman. Reprinted by permission of the author.