How to be a really good editor - Li Xin's "Making a Book"

This book is edited by Li Xintan, the former editor-in-chief of Sanlian, and originates from the lecture notes and audio recordings of various lectures given by the author since 2005. Although interlacing is like a mountain, the book talks about the yang scheme of accomplishing things, talks about the bottom line of career and career, and talks about the trade-off between talent and knowledge, these are all the same.

In the part of expounding the "ability of editors", the author cites a large number of examples, very specific, outsiders also read vivid and interesting, causing people to think, such as the author talks about planning, talks about innovation, talks about the "change" and invariance of the triptych, talks about the modification of text, these contents, to our workplace, can touch the bypass.

Agree with the author: "The right idea is half the battle." At the same time, the perception is not obtained through theoretical learning, but relies on long-term practice and exploration, self-motivation, and continuous growth.

Editor, in the Modern Chinese Dictionary, its entry interpretation is simple: first, the person who does the editing work; second, the intermediate professional title of the editor in the news and publication organization.

In addition to recognizing that editing is a profession, the definition of editor Wang Zhenduo is more objective and direct - "according to social and cultural needs, in accordance with the guidelines, the use of material carriers and technical means to organize, collect, review, select and sequence spiritual products, and create a certain pattern of cultural symbols as a social media activities."

The book defines the role and nature of the work in Li Xin's eyes from the two dimensions of inward and outward, and clearly expounds the editing as a profession and activity.

Inwardly, first, if the editor himself is a book lover, the love of reading is righteous, because he is knowledgeable and specialized. An editor who wants to be an expert in a certain field needs to specialize on the basis of erudition. Second, editors need to be passionate. Third, editors must also have insight. Fourth, editors need to be competent. Except for the first point, it can be understood at a glance. The last three points need to be combined with the work itself and personal feelings to resonate, learn from and improve.

Let's start with "passion." It's a cliché-sounding phrase. The author believes that the so-called passion is a kind of persistence, and there are good books that must be found and must be returned. It is really the courage of a strong man to break his wrist.

He gave the story of Ulysses' first publication in China. At that time, Mr. Li Jingduan, president of yilin publishing house, contacted Wang Zuoliang, Zhou Jueliang, Zhao Luorui, Yang Yishen, Feng Yidai, Shi Xianrong, Dong Leshan, Mei Shaowu, Lu Gusun, Ye Junjian and a large number of other old gentlemen for the publication of this book, but they were all rejected.

Even Mr. Qian Zhongshu was reluctant to wade into muddy waters. First, the original work belongs to the pioneering work of stream-of-consciousness novels, which is extremely difficult to translate, and has been considered obscene and yellow books in politics. Mr. Li eventually found Xiao Qian and Wen Jieruo, but Xiao Qian was old and not necessarily willing to join. Mr. Li signed a contract with Wen Jieruo, asked Wen to translate, and Xiao Qian proofread it.

When actually translating, there were too many places where Xiao Qian's help was needed, and finally the contract was changed to a joint translation. This is not enough, Mr. Li also entrusted people to find more than 30 kinds of reference materials related to the original work abroad, handed them to Xiao Qian and Wen Jieruo, and helped them add more than 6,000 notes of about 100,000 words to the book, so that the translation work was done very rigorously.

At the same time, he organized experts to rehabilitate the original work, saying that the book was not an obscene book or a yellow book. Later, the impact of this book was also known to everyone. This is passion, the passion that must be produced to get a good book.

Let's talk about "understanding." Combined with the actual publishing practice, the author used a word that can replace "understanding", called "book sense". I like the word very much, and I like its definition even more: book sense is a kind of understanding, an intuitive judgment of the book, a perception of the essential characteristics of the book.

In detail, when an editor is faced with a bunch of text and image materials, he should know how to edit, how to organize, and how to process, so that these materials can be compiled like a book, a good book that people like, and a book that meets the expectations of readers.

Behind the sense of books, there is also a need for professional sensitivity, only with professional sensitivity can we find the author, find the topic, and find that it can become the subject of the book, which is also a sensitivity to market demand.

The same ingredients, different cooks, may have different flavors due to the heat, seasoning, shape of the slices, and the way they are plated. That's how I understand it myself.

But it is also in response to that sentence, the threshold for editing is very low, it seems that anyone can do it, but the road is deep, it is easy to mix up the days, but it is not easy to do a good job.

Whether it is the understanding or professional sensitivity here, it takes a lot of practical experience and hard work to obtain, and may only be able to know a little spark. That is to say, it is easy to be an editor, it is not easy to be a good editor, and Lu Yao knows that horsepower has been seen for a long time.

Finally, the author spends the most space on it: the ability to edit. There are four main aspects of editors' abilities: planning ability, desk kung fu, communication ability, and innovative value-added ability.

Planning ability is composed of three main parts: topic selection planning, editorial planning, promotion and marketing planning.

Topic selection planning refers to the discovery of topic selection from scratch, to demonstrate whether a topic can be neutral in the publishing plan and how to make it a project. An editor needs to follow four principles for topic planning:

First, whether it has publishing value (ideological value, academic value, cultural value, historical value, etc.);

Second, if you want to publish this book, can you innovate and add value to the work;

Third, oppose generalization and reject mediocrity;

Fourth, if you don't do something, you can't give up your profession and strengths to follow the trend of the topic, to plan the so-called hot topic selection, and you can't be mercenary, and you can't just be profitable, and you have to publish a book when you see funding funds. Among the four principles, the emphasis on innovation and added value is particularly prominent. This is also the content of the innovative value-added ability in the editing ability.

In addition to these principles, topic selection planning should also pay attention to four issues:

First, learn to use ingenuity, small resources to bring great impact, learn to hitchhike, especially the media hitchhiker. To understand the preferences of the media, they generally like books with distinct ideological, topical, realistic, cultural and artistic characteristics.

This is in view of the characteristics of books published by Sanlian and similar publishing houses, in the world of children's book publishing, editors need to explore their own laws. For example, the media is generally more inclined to award-winning children's books, the Bingxin Children's Book Award, the National Excellent Children's Literature Award, the Bronze Sunflower Award, etc., and they are also more interested in the new works of famous artists.

Second, the topic selection planning should be centered on the author, which can not only package the author's work as a whole, but also earn a place for the publishing house in the resource grab. Here the author gives examples of the publication stories of works by writers such as Li Zero and Li Ao.

Third, the topic planning should study the author's psychology, to say the words to the author's heart, to give the promise to do what should be done, so that the author and the publishing house can trust each other.

Fourth, the topic selection planning should have strategic considerations and follow the principle: do not do it in unfamiliar areas, and do not do it without advantages. But to gain an advantage, several conditions also need to be met: brand, talent, resources and channels. Meet at least three items to make an influential book in the market.

Editorial planning, it first refers to the book planning that more concentrates on the publishing concept and intention of the editor, which requires more independent innovation of rich editorial work, and the other kind of editorial planning is the editor's discovery of existing resources.

The former kind of editorial planning, the author lists the "Cultural Life Translation Series" published by Sanlian, and the latter kind of planning is generally the reorganization, redevelopment and utilization of the original resources, which is of great significance to some large societies that have rich author resources and book manuscript resources.

The last item in the planning ability is publicity promotion and marketing planning. This is the requirement of the new era for editors, especially in this era of developed networks and many routines, editors must shout. The one who knows the most about books is the editor.

Therefore, editors should clarify the target audience and media effect of the book, and make full use of various tools such as the Internet for marketing. We must also learn to use the correlation between books to make overall planning and carry out large-scale promotion.

The author cites an example of a press conference after the publication of Mr. Yang Zhenning's book, which led to marketing failure because of the lack of planning. Therefore, it is still important to have a plan and not to plan.

Desk kung fu is also a word that does not seem to have new ideas, but specifically, the knowledge is all in the details. The most basic desk skills generally include: reviewing reading manuscripts, processing book manuscripts, dealing with technical problems in editing, writing review opinions, and writing promotional texts.

And these work are respectively reflected: content control ability, text control ability, the general principle of revision and desk kung fu three pairs of ink.

Content checks are mainly political views, knowledge views, academic and quality checks, tastes and tastes; text checks are mainly proofreading right and wrong; the general principles to be followed in revising manuscripts are mainly four: revision should respect the author's style; revision should conform to the author's wishes; can not change as much as possible; revision is only to solve the right and wrong, not to solve the problem of how to be better.

I want to go into detail about the last item: the three pairs of pen and ink of desk kung fu.

The first is personalized pen and ink, that is, in addition to respecting the author's wishes, editors need to follow the author's style to change the manuscript, but also need to exercise their own writing, which type of manuscript you edit, you yourself will be able to write which type of manuscript.

The second is the official pen and ink, including review opinions, award materials, compilation records, correspondence and archiving with the author, etc. The requirements of this type of pen and ink are standardized, concise, bright, and can clearly express ideas.

As far as the writing of review comments is concerned, there are several norms:

First, the basic situation of the manuscript and the author's situation;

Second, the unique value and shortcomings of the manuscript, which requires understanding the publication of similar books and the reaction of the social or academic and cultural circles and the market response;

Third, the editor's communication with the author and the revision of the manuscript (sometimes including a description of copyright issues);

Fourth, what problems were solved in the process of editing and publishing, and what problems were left behind, which needed to be solved by the editors of the second and third reviews;

Fifth, the editor's market judgment and marketing advice for this book;

Sixth, attach a detailed record of the revision of the manuscript, indicating which content was edited and modified on which page of the original manuscript, which is convenient for review.

Finally, there is the publicity and promotion pen and ink. What I want to emphasize here is that the propaganda pen and ink must be distinguished between printing on the book or not on the book, for example, the waist of the book is not printed on the book, it can be free, free, and open; but if it is to be printed on the book, it not only needs to obtain the consent of the author, but also needs to be carefully considered, because it will become part of the book.

After the first two abilities of the editor have been highlighted, the communication ability and the ability to innovate and add value are intersected in every aspect of the editing work. Communication skills, requiring editors to double business online, and innovation multiplied without further ado, there is already a lot of ink in front.

Outwardly, editors have to deal with authors, works, publishers, and society. In the face of the author, it is necessary to establish trust with the author, to stand in the position of the author to fight for the due treatment for the author, but also to stand in the position of the publishing house, to create a win-win situation for the two.

Editing is a profession, but also a medium, inheriting ideas, recording the development of human society, spreading the essence of human thought, for the author, is willing to make a wedding dress behind the planner, for the publishing house and society, is a screw, is the cornerstone, is the medium.

I think that everyone who is an editor needs to cool themselves down while being impetuous, and look at the experience and experience of their predecessors. The author also mentions that paper books don't go away because it's a way of life. Although I have always believed in such arguments, paper books need to be an indispensable part of life, or it requires the editor to do it with painstaking efforts.