Katharina Muders

"Key figure" or "endangered species"?: The changing role of the editor in book publishing from Beatrice Davis's day through to 2008 Katharina Muders

Essay from the year 2009 in the subject Communications - Journalism, Journalism Professions, grade: 1,7, The University of Sydney (Media and Communications), course: Editing and Manuscript Preparation, language: English, abstract: In this essay I am going to provide an overview of the changing role of the editor in book publishing from Beatrice Davis's day through to 2008, a phase marked by incisive and far-reaching alterations. At first I will expose the role of the editor and his challenges in the age of Beatrice Davis, who was a pioneer in her business as one of the first literary editors in Australia. Then I will point out important changes, the publishing industry went through, and in which amount these also had an impact on the role of the editor. Not only market changes and commercial pressures, but first and foremost the digital revolution plays a determining role in this development. Finally, I will outline the role of the editor today and glance at the future prospects of the editing business, according to Morrison (2005) who is concerned with the question: "Has editing had its day?"