Introduction
The process of editing is integral to any literary work. It entails reviewing, reorganising, modifying or rewriting a literary piece of work in order to improve its quality. Fact checking is also an important part of editing, especially for non-fiction work, and requires substantial research to support the literary work. Copyediting is a part of the editing process that requires improvements in the presentation of text. It involves basic formatting, condensing text and ensuring consistency in style and grammar, and correctness of the text. Proof reading is the last stage in the editing process before publishing. The typeset text is again read through and production errors are corrected at this stage. Printing and distribution follow this process. The onus lays with editor to transforms an otherwise raw piece of work into a publishable and commercial literature. Thus, an editor is regarded as the most important person in the life of a writer with a publishing contract (Hally n.pag.).
In the twentieth century, editors have played an important role in shaping the English-speaking world. The practices established by them are followed in editing even today. The objective of this paper is to discuss the publishing milieu of Michael Korda and the effect of her work on contemporary publishing. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section briefly describes the editor’s background and significance. The second section discusses the significance of the editor’s work in contemporary publishing. The third section concludes the paper.
Profile of Michael Korda
Michael Korda is a well-known writer and novelist. He was born in 1933 in London to an English actress and a film producer and artist (Ovguide.com n.pag.). Thus, he seems to have inherited the genes of creativity, art and public speaking from his parents. He moved to New York in his early twenties and started his career as a research assistant to a play writer. He joined Simon & Schuster (S&S), a book publisher in New York, in 1958 and his performance earned him the designation of editor in chief in the firm.
During his stint with S&S, Michael Korda edited books of the famous writers Richard Nixon, Ronald Regan, Larry McMurtry and David McCullough to name a few (Italie n.pag.). In 2005, he stepped down as editor in chief and currently holds the title of editor in chief emeritus (Italie n.pag.). He continues to be an editor for the books of a few eminent writers like David McCullough. Michael Korda is a powerful name in book publishing with his rich experience and immense contribution to the field of editing.
Michael Korda has also authored biographies and books, both fiction and non-fiction. His bestsellers Queenie and The Fortune, Power and Charmed Lives have received critical acclaim. He has also worked with a New York based television studio, CBS television. He has served in the army and taken part in the Hungarian revolution, for which he was made the Commander of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary in 2006 (National Cable Satellite Corporation n.pag.).
Effect of Michael Korda’s Work on Contemporary Publishing
Michael Korda is one of the most influential and successful names in publishing of the twentieth century. He has played an integral role in shaping S&S and the English-speaking world. He has been instrumental in changing the face of publishing and laying the foundation of contemporary publishing. The publishing milieu when he joined S&S was characteristically genteel and respectable, but unadorned. The credit goes to Michael Korda for glamourizing the process of book publishing. He drew his inspiration from the bold and ferocious editing style of his senior colleague, Robert Gottlieb (Fulford n.pag.). He felt that Gottlieb’s approach to editing was transformational rather than minor error correction. He set out to revolutionise the field of book publishing by making it more exciting, attractive and rewarding. His book ‘Another Life’ describes his journey in the book publishing field and how the cottage industry format of book publishing metamorphosed into big business (Powells.com n.pag.).
The key attributes that helped him achieve this change was his endeavour to make the stories entertaining, captivating and star-studded without compromising on his honesty and integrity. He exemplified that the task of an editor is not just manual, but requires a lot of relationship skills, delving deep into the context of writing and offer transformational changes to incorporate vividness, grace and smoothness in the flow of writing.
During his editing stint, he worked with a wide variety of authors. There were larger-than-life portraits like Ronald Regan, presidential autobiographies by reluctant and struggling authors like Richard Nixon, self-narrated story of a retired underworld mafia and famous writers like Graham Greene in pursuit of literary acclaims (Powells.com n.pag.). It is important to have good relationship skills to deal with such eminent personalities without losing focus of the work in hand.
The writer-editor believes in having his facts right. He spends significant time in fact finding, analysing and putting accurate information in his work. This attention to detailing helps him command the subject and write with assertion and credible authority. He took about three years to write the book on Lawrence, just because he wanted to probe beneath the surface, extract the true story and write it down (Couteau n.pag.). In biographies, whether Ike or Lawrence, he focuses on both literary and historic aspects while writing.
Michael Korda also strived to offer something new to people. Even while writing the book on Lawrence he delved into those aspects of his life that was not captured by earlier writers. His books he has authored offer novelty and freshness to people. But as a stylist, he used phrases that were already tried, tested and accepted by people. He has also been referred to as a cliché expert by some (Fulford n.pag.).
He ensured that his edited and written work were captivating and entertaining. One of his rivals aptly remarked that Michael was best in understanding what Americans would want to read (Getlin n.pag.). He gave important to adding fun and humour in whatever he wrote or edited, and also tried to make it easy to read for the people. He also suggested significant changes and reorganisation in the literary works for commercial reasons.
The writings display honesty and frankness as exemplified in his famous works, ‘Charmed Lives’ and ‘Another Life’. His professional integrity was put to test when he was asked to edit a biography of Nancy Reagan while also editing the memoirs of Ronald Reagan (Getlin n.pag.). He did well in the test and never compromised his integrity at any point of time during this process.
The flipside of adding sensation or glamour to a literary piece of work is the possibility of ignoring few vital elements of the story. Moreover, glamorisation encourages an editor to become marketing savvy, thereby losing their focus from their core responsibility of improving a piece of literature. In addition to this, a radical shift in publishing witnesses a fall in sales of celebrity memoirs off late (Miller n.pag.). Taste and preferences of people change and this change has led to fading of people’s interest in celebrity stories. Videogame journalism is an upcoming branch of journalism that discusses developments in video games. It is well accepted by today’s technology savvy and videogame passionate young generation.
Conclusion
Michael Korda was successful in changing the publishing environment in his times from genteel to glamorous through celebrity focus and making the literary work easy and fun to read. His key attributes that made his successful were his relationship skills, knack for fact finding, focus on making the story exciting and captivating, and his honesty and integrity. He was gifted with creativity and ease with words. These attributes are must learn for an emerging editor as it adds significant value to the process of editing. However, taste and preferences of people do change and so does the focus. Videogame journalism is a potential and upcoming branch of journalism that offers lot of opportunities for emerging editors. It is also important to concentrate on the core responsibilities of editors and not lose focus in attempts of being more market savvy.
Works Cited
Hally, Janice. “Editing, Copyediting and Proofreading”. Suite101.com, 20 Jul. 2009. Web. 25 Jun. 2012.
Ovguide.com. “Michael Korda Video:Book Interviews. Ovguide.com, 2012. Web. 25 Jun. 2012.
Italie, Hillel. “Longtime Simon & Schuster Editor to Step Down”. Washingtonpost.com, 3 Nov. 2005. Web. 25 Jun. 2012.
National Cable Satellite Corporation. “Michael Korda”. Q-and-a.org, 14 Oct. 2007. Web. 25 Jun. 2012.
Fulford, Robert. “Michael Korda's book on publishing stands in desperate need of . . . an editor”. Robertfulford.com, 7 Aug. 1999. Web. 25 Jun. 2012.
Powells.com. “Another Life: A Memoir of Other People, by Michael Korda”. Powells.com, 2012. Web. 25 Jun. 2012.
Couteau, Rob. “The Charmed Life: A Conversation with Michael Korda”. Tygersofwrath.com, 2010. Web. 25 Jun. 2012.
Getlin, Josh. “The Man in the Middle : How Will Michael Korda Edit Two Diametrically Opposed Books on the Reagans? Very, Very Carefully”. Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 1989. Web. 25 Jun. 2012.
Miller, Laura. “The Death of Celebrity Memoir”. Salon.com, 6 Jan 2012. Web. 25 Jun. 2012.
