"Andrew Lias" <anrwlias at hotmail.com> writes: > > I think that's brutally unfair to editors. They're not miracle > > workers, you know and turning a 900-page doorstop into a tightly > > plotted story a third that size in the time frame that most editors > > have isn't bloody likely. > > I take a middle stance. A lot of books that do reach the public sufer > for a lack of rigorous editing. However, you are correct, editors do > suffer limitations. A bigger limitation is that authors who are > successful can become 600 lb. gorillas. What editor is going to stand > his ground when confronting a defiant Steven King, for instance? I > think this is one reason why many authors have earlier works that seem > tighter and better focused than their latter works. Yep. Steven King is more important to a publisher than *any* editor. Even Robert Jordan would be, I'd think. -- David Dyer-Bennet, dd-b at dd-b.net / http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/ John Dyer-Bennet 1915-2002 Memorial Site http://john.dyer-bennet.net Dragaera mailing lists, see http://dragaera.info