Home - Peter Ginna

In What Editors Do, Peter Ginna gathers essays from twenty-seven leading figures in book publishing about their work. Representing both large houses and small, and encompassing trade, textbook, academic, and children’s publishing, the contributors make the case for why editing remains a vital function to writers—and readers—everywhere.

Peter Ginna

Peter Ginna has been a book editor and publisher for more than three decades. He is the author of What Editors Do: The Art, Craft, and Business of Book Editing. Peter was the founder, publisher and editorial director of Bloomsbury Press, an imprint of Bloomsbury USA; before that he held editorial positions at Oxford University Press, Crown Publishers, St. Martin’s Press, and Persea Books. He has taught in New York University’s publishing program and in the Columbia Publishing Course. Peter comments about books and publishing on the blog Doctor Syntax and on Twitter at @DoctorSyntax.

Reviews

"These honest and unflinching accounts from publishing insiders are a valuable primer on the field at a time where the value of editors and publishers has been increasingly questioned."(Publishers Weekly)

“Ginna has collected essays from 27 of his peers in the book business on everything from the importance of the author-editor relationship to the challenges of editing genre fiction to the ways editors must function as evangelists, creating buzz for their books.” (Entertainment Weekly)

“Every editor should read this book. It’s a top-notch resource no matter what niche or stage of career an editor is in.” (Editors Canada)

“Exceptionally well written. The prose is authoritative, entertaining, and informative. Each chapter is written by a leader in that topic’s realm.” (Copyediting)