Editors

On Twitter today, New York Times Magazine culture editor Adam Sternbergh offered advice for freelance writers–an invaluable peek inside the mind of an editor.

To help all the freelance writers in the audience, we’ve collected his advice into a handy Storify post below…

If you want to see all the responses generated by his posts, you can check out the #BetterFreelancer hashtag on Twitter. For all the editors in the audience, Sternbergh also started a #BetterEditor hashtag. (Via The Awl)

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As the number of self-published books grows, indie authors need editors more than ever. Kirkus Reviews recently launched new editorial services, one way for self-published authors to polish their work.

On the Morning Media Menu podcast today, we spoke with Kirkus editoral director Perry Crowe about these new offerings.

Crowe explained: “Having been the indie editor at Kirkus and seeing lots and lots of self published books, I’ve seen some very basic mistakes–like confusing different versions of their/there/they’re and punctuation issues.  There are simple things that need to be caught because it jars the reader out of the reading experience.”

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Kirkus has launched a new book editing division. The new service will provide editing, copyediting, proofreading and copywriting services for unpublished and self-published authors.

The book editing division follows the success of Kirkus Indie, the company’s review program for self-publishers. Meg Kuehn, COO of Kirkus explained in the release: “Offering book editing services is a natural extension of our brand. We’ve been notorious for our high editorial standards for decades, and our success working with independent authors in the Kirkus Indie program paved the way for new author services that serve this fast-growing segment of the industry.”

Editors looking to participate in the Kirkus program must have experience working at a big six publisher or at an “award-winning” independent press such as Graywolf, Kensington or Abrams.

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GalleyCat contributor Jeff Rivera interviewed Grand Central publisher Jamie Raab for mediabistro.com’s So What Do You Do? feature today.

In the interview, Raab (pictured, via) defended her imprint’s standard practice of giving authors a 25% royalty rate for eBooks: “We have an infrastructure to support.” She outlined the values of what traditional publishers have to offer whether they are new in their writing career or established New York Times bestselling authors.

When asked on whether or not she fears big-name writers will take a less traditional publishing route, she replied: “I think about that a lot because I know it’s on authors’ minds. And I think it’s incumbent on every publisher to do a better job than they’ve ever done before — more creative on marketing and eBooks, working in partnership more closely with their authors, keeping them in the loop, publishing more strategically.”

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As writers carry out their new year’s resolutions to revise their manuscripts, they have to be wondering: what do editors want this year?

The Andrew Lownie Literary Agency, a London-based company, has decided to ask that question to twenty different editors. His list included HarperCollins associate publisher Myles Archibald, Random House publisher Trevor Dolby, Penguin Press/Particular Books editorial director Georgina Laycock, Little, Brown publisher David Shelley and Bantam Press/Doubleday publishing director Susanna Wadeson.

Here’s more from Archibald at HarperCollins: “Ideas or stories with a strong, interesting narrative structure is essential for all media and is what non-fiction now needs. It is also interesting that non-fiction works well with broad subjects, or very specific, illuminating stories. Finally, it is striking how stories that seem to have waned from people’s memories can have a massive resurgence – so perhaps new takes on old stories might be a vein to mine.”

Joy Peskin has been named vice president and editorial director of Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers.

Peskin established her children’s publishing career while working at Penguin Books for Young Readers and Scholastic. Prior to this move, she served as associate publisher at Viking Children’s Books. At Penguin, she worked with Speak author Laurie Halse Anderson, After author Amy Efaw and Looks author Madeleine George.

FSG Books for Young Readers publisher Simon Boughton had this statement at Publishers Weekly: “At a time of great change, success is still built on a fundamental love of and ability to find and publish great stories—and Joy is both a savvy businesswoman and an editor with a great love of the book. Her outlook and vision are an ideal match for FSG; she’ll bring new authors and new vitality to a great program. I’m very excited for the imprint’s future under her direction.”

Alethea Spiridon-Hopson has been named Entangled Publishing’s new managing editor and an acquiring senior editor.

In her new role, Spiridon-Hopson will oversee the company’s new romance genre line (headed by editorial director Lori Wilde) called “Indulgence.”

Wilde gave this statement in the release: “Indulgence will focus on alpha heroes and storylines similar to those found in Harlequin’s very successful Desire line.  Our category romances will emphasize young, fresh voices within the traditional tropes.”

Spiridon-Hopson is looking for “flirty voices,” good humor and strong characters. Prior to this appointment, she served as an editor at Harlequin for almost seven years and worked as a freelance editor. In the past, she has worked with authors Bobby Hutchinson, Roberta Gellis and Lori Foster.

Yesterday Hachette Book Group USA announced two promotions at the Little, Brown and Company imprint.

Geoff Shandler has been named vice president and editorial director. Shandler will oversee the expansion in the imprint’s nonfiction program. Some of the authors he has worked with include The Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

Judy Clain has been named vice president and editor-in-chief. In her new role, Clain will chair the imprint’s editorial board, manage the editorial team, and serve as the lead ambassador to literary agents. Some of the authors she has worked with include Julie & Julia memoir author Julie Powell and Room novelist Emma Donoghue.

Bloomberg Businessweek recently profiled the literary development company, Paper Lantern Lit.

Founded by author Lauren Oliver and former HarperCollins children’s books editor Lexa Hillyer, Paper Lantern Lit has sold twenty young-adult novels to publishers and landed a “first look” deal with Fox 2000 Pictures.

Here’s more from Businessweek: “Schechter and Hillyer come up with ideas—or ‘sparks,’ as they like to call them—and sell the finished product to publishers. The writers, whom they find through friends or sites such as Craigslist, get a flat fee and bonuses based on sales. The publisher’s book deal is with Paper Lantern, which guarantees that the work will be done on time.”

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Anne Alexander has been named senior vice president and editorial director of National Geographic’s Books division.

In her new role, Alexander will manage the editorial development for the division’s general trade, direct response and digital books. She reports directly to chief creative officer Melina Gerosa Bellows.

Here’s more from the release: “Alexander had been an editorial consultant for National Geographic’s publishing group since October 2010 and was responsible for developing the special issue of National Geographic’s Exploring History magazine. She has extensive experience in the publishing business, having held senior editorial positions at Prevention and Natural Health and having worked internationally at AOL in the United Kingdom and with a major European publisher. While at Rodale, publisher of Prevention magazine, she led the Healthy Living Book Group, producing 30 books a year and managing a staff of more than 50 employees.”