ethics | a reason to lie? | class notes

Is there ever a good reason to lie to an author?

No.

A big lie will always come and slap you in the face: you must never lie to an author about his or her work. As I said, they count on you. Your relationship with the Author is a symbiotic one.

BUT, what authors may not need to know:

However, there are a class of things that Authors do not need to know that do not relate to their book, and this is not lying, but these things are just not pertinent to the Author. Such things would be:

The everyday operations of the Publishing House (this information is proprietary information, unless it relates directly to the Author's book.)

How you conduct your business and how you acquire books.

Which other books your house has acquired of late - unless this information is already public - this is not up to you to necessarily share.

What the author DOES need to know is that you are an Ethical Editor and an Ethical publishing house with a good reputation and that information will ‘out’ pretty soon, or is already known. Most houses have established and known reputations and most Authors have agents to guide them as they negotiate the world of publishing as to the 'right' houses and Editors. You want to be one of those 'right' Editors... so build a reputation as an Ethical and fair editor.

ethics | plagiarism & trusting your authors

Plagiarism is almost the least of your worries because the accuser must prove the book is a plagiarized work which is very difficult, but not impossible as history has shown. As noted in Editors on Editing, Plagiarism is THE GREATEST AND LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES; YOUR ONLY DEFENSE AGAINST IT IS THE INTEGRITY OF THE AUTHOR…

Think of recent examples of plagiarism or stories that were simply untrue. As the Editor here, Evander Lomke - a well-known Editor at a trusted house that is international as well as in New York City, noted, Aside from having a broad general knowledge, there's little an editor could or can do but trust his or her instincts. In short, you have to trust your Author. Be cautious, yes, but trust your Author - and try to fact-check and publish reputable authors, but again there are no real guarantees.

One Editor tells me that his first job "...was comparing Haley's Roots to The African by Courlander. Roots was supposed to be a family history, yet Haley plagiarized Courlander's novel. Doubleday eventually paid a lot in an out-of-court-settlement ... Aside from having a broad general knowledge, as I say there's little an editor could do but trust his or her instincts. I doubt Haley's Doubleday editor would have suspected. Haley was already an established authority, having worked with the likes of Malcolm X."

The best thing you can do is double-check outside sources and have your author source and cite every fact or even little factoids for you so that even if they (the sources) do not show up in the finished work, you know what they are... this is important.

ethics | your responsiblity to your author

You should never lie to your author – your author depends on you for the Truth with a capital T. in the Platonic or philosophic sense as I’ve said before – Virtue, Love, Truth, the big emotions and loyalties that come with a capital letter before them not a small letter. Ethics means being ethical. No more, no less. This means that the Author is deserving of the ultimate truth of any issue AS IT RELATES TO his or her book.

You are the author’s chief and really, only advocate at the publishing house in admist a swirl of other editors and books and employees which can be intimidating for anyone.

Never “sugarcoat” the truth.

• If a book is not selling well, say so and give reasons as to why you think that may be; is there a remedy to this? A different way of pitching the book? It may just be that this is not a 'big book' and you, as the Editor, will have to break the news to the Author that you have done all that you can do.
• If reviews are not as many as you or the author expected, be honest about why you think that may be – again why that may be and what efforts you can take to pump the reviews up. Perhaps you can make another effort.
• If reviews are not as good, be honest and try to suss out why that may be the case. It may just be that the book is a not a good book “a dog with fleas’, or it may well be that your publicist did not send it to the right people. It is up to you to make sure that the book gets into the right hands for the particular type of book that it is and its genre.
• Did your author give you a good, substantive list of who might review the book? (not just friends for free copies…) on their Author Questionnaire
• Did the Author help provide good connections and did you follow through
• Did the author also write a letter informing the of their upcoming book which can help?
• Have you pulled out all he stops and whistles on manuscript and finished book? Is it what you expected it to be, both on your end and what the Author promised to deliver?
• Did you provide your sales team with all of the information they need or needed to hand-sell the book, keeping in mind that they represent hundreds of other titles and have about two or three minutes on average to represent each book for a medium-sized house with a medium-sized distributor?
• Have you pitched the book to the best of your ability to your Distributor and sales group and made every effort to get the book into all bookstores and representatives?
• You must be able to answer Yes to all of these questions. Although not each of these items is directly your responsibility, it is your book and your Author and in this sense, you oversee every aspect of the book as it makes its way through production.
• Have you, finally, followed up or seen that a letter is sent to each reviewer and each editor of the main media, concerning the book and its virtues? A letter from the Editor to the right journal or newspaper can make all of the difference.

There may be many more things; can you think of them? At least, however, the above list is a starting point and gives you some idea of what you, as the Editor, really owe your Author.

ethics | class notes | where to draw the line

As Editors, it is our job and our obligation to be ethical in all of our dealings with our Author and with our Publisher. There is no middle-ground here such as ‘sort-of ethical.’ You must be absolutely ethical in the true Platonic sense. Your loyalty is to your Author, your Publisher, and of course, to yourself. You must always be loyal to your Author – really, to all three as listed above. We have learned never ever to ‘sugar-coat’ or ‘protect’ the Author from obvious truths, such as how their book is selling, which reviews they are getting or not getting and why, and other matters as they relate directly to the Author’s book.

We must be fair and ethical in our contractual dealings and keep our word just as we expect our Author to keep his or her word. This is, after all, a binding, legal contract and more, we want to establish ourselves as editors or agents with integrity in the business with a good reputation. This is also key to your career.

We must be able to objectively support the Author’s work and be professional Editors while at the same time not trespass on the author’s right to freedom of expression (to a certain point, such as yelling “Fire” in a crowded movie house where there is none - one question; what do you do about a book that does essentially shout "fire" or something untrue and you know it to be untrue in this sense? Do you publish the "fire" book?) What types of books are alarmist in this sense that would cause people to action that could be potentially very dangerous and irresponsible? This is a thin line because of freedom of speech, yet there must be a line somewhere.

Remember that you are the Editor, not the Creator of the work. Be careful of your edits - it's not for you to rewrite the work, but instead, to craft the work so that it is, at the end, a better book. That's your job. You are not going to get the glory here and if you want that - then reconsider your career choice and be on the other side of the desk as an author becuse that is only slightly more glamorous. Publishing has been over-glamourized by the media and you need to remember that it is a job like any other. You are not unlike journalists who are members of the Fourth Estate - publishing should not be, in my view, exempt from the Fourth Estate as many of the same issues, rules, situations, will and do apply and we are bound, much like journalists by certain codes of ethics. Know them and put them into practice in your work.

Plagiarism - notes - the greatest & least of your worries

Plagiarism is almost the least of your worries because the accuser must prove the book is a plargiarlized work which can (though history proves not always) be very difficult. Plagiarism is not easy to prove, although this should be no excuse for you to let it slide or not be on the look-out. Remember, this is your reputation on the line.

As noted in class and previous notes, Plagiarism is THE GREATEST AND LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES; YOUR ONLY DEFENSE AGAINST IT IS THE INTEGRITY OF THE AUTHOR. In this sense, you want to do your due diligence and you will have to do some fact-checking yourself (which is good if you had an internship where you did this such as i did, you will thank god you are a good fact-checker - it's a job unto itself). Or, when you move up and have your own EA, then you can use your intern as a fact-checker, which is an interesting job in any publishing house. You certainly could do worse than being a fact-checker. it is one of the most interesting jobs, if you ask me.

continuation of tuesday, january 23rd notes ~ ethics

Continuation of January 23rds lecture notes and wrap-up will be here on Thursday.