Name: Becky Saletan
Age: 45
Title: Editor-in-chief, Harcourt
How long have you been at Harcourt? Since June 2004
How long have you been in publishing? For 23 years, astonishingly.

Mediabistro: Can you describe Harcourt's publishing mission as a whole?

Saletan: We aim to publish a range of books for people who love to read. We are known particularly for literary fiction and literature in translation but we are doing increasing amounts of narrative and other reader-friendly nonfiction. We are not snobs but we tend to concentrate on "real writers" who will ideally settle into a long relationship with us rather than on one-shot ideas or what Robert Giroux, a longtime Harcourt editor before he went to FSG, famously called "'ooks"—gimmicks between covers that aren't quite books.

Mediabistro: What kinds of books to do you work on/are you looking for? Conversely, what kinds of books don't you want to see at all?

Saletan: I am pretty eclectic. I edit both fiction and nonfiction. In fiction, I like to say I care first about voice, second about character—though I might reverse those two—least of all about plot: I just like plot to take care of itself and not be a problem.

Mediabistro: What kinds of books to do you work on/are you looking for? Conversely, what kinds of books don't you want to see at all?

Saletan: I'm a big champion of nonfiction, which I believe can be every bit as original and creative as fiction. (It always makes me a little sad when gifted nonfiction writers reveal that their true ambition—their highest ambition, as they see it—is to write fiction.) I am particularly drawn to books that gain impact by going deep rather than wide, and that have some personal thread of passion—or obsession—running through them. That encompasses a lot of "narrative nonfiction," though sometimes I think we've too narrative-obsessed, and not every little story is a window onto an entire era or universe, much as an agent or author will try to persuade you otherwise. I like books that shake up the status quo and get at the currents under the surface of daily life with imagination and force. So while I don't do many music books per se, I took on a memoir we're publishing in January, Jen Trynin's Everything I'm Cracked Up to Be, about the author's thirteen minutes of fame in the rock world, for its razor-sharp evocation of fame and failure.

I don't do self-help or how-to in the usual sense. I have a very low threshold for what I perceive as sentimentality or phony emotionalism—sometimes to the detriment of my commercial success, probably! I am not particularly interested in workmanlike books that dutifully troop through a given topic at full breadth—as I say, I tend to gravitate toward books that achieve their impact by going narrow and deep rather than comprehensive.

Mediabistro: How many manuscripts do you receive in a given week or month? Do you look at everything that gets sent to you?

Saletan: I probably get about a dozen proposals and manuscripts a week, plus queries about another half dozen. I do not look at everything that comes to me, because as editor-in-chief, I get a lot sent to me for which we might be the right house but I am not necessarily the best editor. So I funnel many projects through to other editors. Those projects that they want to buy I will end up reading, at least in part, with my "chief" hat on. And in some cases I have my very astute assistant, Stacia Decker, who is well on her way to being an editor herself, read first and screen for me. I grab for my own reading pile the projects that grab me, those that are manifestly "big" and time-sensitive, and also those that come from literary agents I respect, those whose taste I tend to share and who I know have a sense of what projects are right for me. I am a thorough but not fast reader—in fact, I still hear that voice in my head pronouncing words as I read, a habit you're supposed to outgrow by third grade, I think—so when a full manuscript comes in I will often take the first 75-100 pages home with me. If that much is compelling, even if it's flawed, I'll keep reading. If it's not doing anything for me by that point—especially true for fiction—there usually isn't much point in reading carefully on.

Mediabistro: What are the qualities in a manuscript that immediately grab you and make you keep reading/want to work on a particular book?

Saletan: Distinctive voice. Passion. Authenticity and precision of observation. In fiction, convincing dialogue, ambitious reach. In nonfiction, something genuinely important to say, a sense of who you're saying it to, and an interesting, original (but not gimmicky) approach to structure. With Jen Trynin's book, I initially saw a proposal. The sample chapters weren't quite there, but the overview, which as I recall it she'd written as a letter to her agent, had this very snappy, almost percussive quality that I could completely imagine as the mode in which she could tell the whole story. And she did.

Mediabistro: You described Harcourt as an editor-centric house in an article on agents and editors. Can you elaborate on what that means?

Saletan: Harcourt is one of the perhaps few remaining houses that doesn't have a formal editorial board. We consult with our colleagues in sales, publicity, marketing, and rights, but we aren't ruled by them, and final decisions about acquisitions are made by our publisher, André Bernard—an editor in his own right—and me. Although we obviously factor in practical considerations and editors' experience and track record, we place a lot of weight on their passion for a given book—not only how cogently they make the case for it, but how ardently we sense they are going to fight to bring it through the long process leading up to publication, in which editors are not always the ultimate decision makers but continue to be the book's most important advocate. We are also very much oriented, as I mentioned above, to long-term relationships with writers, where a productive collaboration between editor and author is paramount. So saying we are editor-centric is also a way of saying we are author-centric.

Mediabistro: In terms of overseeing a staff of editors, how much autonomy does each person have in choosing which books they will work on? How much of the decision-making process has to do with individual tastes vs. what would be best for Harcourt?

Saletan: I find it difficult to work well on books that don't excite me, so the notion of assigning areas of specialty is pretty foreign to me. The balance we seek on the list as a whole—and right now we are doing almost equal numbers of hardcovers and paperbacks, fiction titles and nonfiction—we have tried to achieve primarily by assembling a group of editors with complementary tastes and interests, without setting specific quotas. The shape of the list—and the lists to come—is an ongoing topic of discussion among us all.

Mediabistro: Dean Bakopoulos credits your support with giving him the necessary encouragement to work on a first novel. How important is an editor's feedback to the creative process?

Saletan: Probably how much we help is for the writer to say—or the reader. The fact is, this varies enormously writer by writer, even book by book. I'm a bit of a structurehead—I like thinking about the form a book should take. One thing I love about nonfiction is usually I come on board when there's just a proposal and maybe a couple of chapters. The project is still fluid, and many writers welcome having at least a sounding board at that stage, even a sounding board who puts in her two cents. It is possible but much more difficult to carve a radically different book out of an existing draft, and in my experience it often doesn't work all that well—the bones are usually too strongly set. I think the key distinction is evoking rather than imposing: The best writers to work with are those who have great capability and strong ideas but are open to hearing how it looks from out in the audience and reworking with that in mind.

Dean Bakopoulos was a somewhat unusual case. Editors generally prefer novels to short story collections because they are usually easier to sell, and knowing that, editors and authors often try to present what are essentially story collections as novels, or at least "linked" collections. Very often this doesn't work—it's still spinach, as Roger Straus used to say. But Dean had written a collection of stories that didn't really seem to me to be a collection of stories—it seemed to be a novel struggling to get out. I said that, and we talked at some length, and then he went away and came back a year later with an absolute home run, the novel Please Don't Come Back from the Moon.

One thing I think editors learn over time is that having a strong sense of what a book could be isn't enough. You're the editor, not the writer, and it won't work—or work very well—if the author isn't fundamentally on board with that vision and capable of executing it, albeit with assistance.

Mediabistro: Having worked for various publishers, and now being editor-in-chief of Harcourt, what skills or specific experiences have you brought to the job? What are some of the things you wish you'd known about the job and the industry when you started?

Saletan: I think the main thing you figure out over time—and I think it took me a long time to figure it out—is that there isn't some magical state of all-knowingness that you arrive at. The business of publishing is and always will be more art than science, and the people I saw as authorities were often flying on instinct. You have to have the courage of conviction in your (informed) instinct, and know that you will often fail. On a mundane, practical level, it's very useful to have worked in different houses because you pick up small ways of doing the universal process of producing and publishing books a little more efficiently or creatively.

And while I have the editor's besetting insecurity—"a smattering of everything, a knowledge of nothing," as a fortune cookie once summed it up for me—in working with young editors I realize there's a lot of little stuff I've learned that I can impart, whether it's a technique to try in negotiating with an agent or an angle to emphasize in presenting a book. I very much remember what it is to be a striving editor-in-the-making and hope that is reflected in the kind of boss I am. Unlike many publishing novices, I was not shocked to discover that books are a business, although I remember to emphasize that when I talk to those going into the field. I don't think I fully appreciated how time-consuming the job of editing is, and I take care to emphasize that too, because that has great bearing on the way of life that goes along with it.

Mediabistro: Can you describe and comment on any trends you've noticed recently in the publishing world lately, such as books being described as "like" another book?

Saletan: The "like" thing is perennial, though maybe it waxes and wanes, and in this age of short attention spans and insecurity, trying to hitch a book to a previous success is tempting, though it often fails. One trend that's working for us is toward publishing more trade paperback originals, which lets us get a book—especially a book geared to a younger audience—out there in the kind of numbers and at the kind of price that might allow a reader to see it and encourage someone to take a chance on it. Reviewers seem to have gotten over their resistance to treating these as seriously as hardcovers, and authors and agents, with only a few exceptions, seem to be much more receptive than they used to be, recognizing it's a way to compete in a challenging market.

Mediabistro: How long do you generally work with a writer from the time you sign them until the manuscript is complete? How hands-on of an editor are you? What can authors do (or shouldn't they do) during revisions to best coordinate with your editorial needs?

Saletan: This is another thing that varies enormously. With nonfiction, you might buy a book on the basis of a brief proposal and then wait three years or more even to see a draft. With a well-realized draft of a novel, you might put the book on the next available list. I'm very hands-on (read "compulsive" or even "sadistic") and generally work through at least two drafts with a writer, sometimes more.

I disagree with the stereotype of editor and author as antagonists in the editing and revision process—in my experience that is usually the most harmonious part of the publishing process. It is intimate and both parties have a lot of control over what is taking shape, unlike what happens when book meets world. Writers usually recognize when you are genuinely trying to make their work better. My only real advice is to take an editor's comments seriously, even if you ultimately disagree with them. I once had an author disregard my comments entirely. When I asked him why, he said, "I didn't think they were serious." I told him if I bothered to write it, it was serious.

At the same time, there's never just one way to address a problem. I tend to plunge in and suggest specific changes or solutions because I think specific, applied editing is much more helpful than general comments, but I tell authors that if they don't like the specific fix I've suggested, take it as a marker of a problem and see if there's another way to solve it. I never expect an author to take all of my suggestions and I will let the little stuff go even if I disagree. But I will fight about important points. The very worst thing authors can do is to try only to please me—an editor can't supply a vision or an idea, or at least not very well, we can only help figure out how to implement it. You have to keep in touch with what you're trying to accomplish.

Mediabistro: How involved are agents (or should agents be) during the revision process?

Saletan: It varies. Most agents are not that involved in the editing process—they have their expertise and I have mine, and too many cooks can spoil the soup. Increasingly, though, they seem to do significant editorial work with authors before projects are submitted. And as more agents these days are ex-editors, it's great having an editorial head on the other end of the phone on whom you can try out your ideas for what a project needs.

Mediabistro: Are you involved in the marketing process? Is that a factor when you're reading manuscripts and signing authors?

Saletan: Yes, I'm involved in the marketing process. Again, I see editors as advocates for their books throughout the process. One of the most important things editors do is figure out how to "talk" their books—how to present them succinctly and powerfully—and then help all the others in turn who must do so: publicists, sales reps, rights directors, etc. Editors have a chance to throw ideas on the table at the beginning of the process, especially at what is generally called a "launch" meeting—the initial in-house presentation of a given season's list—and can and should stay involved as plans take shape, even though they do not have ultimate authority in this arena. They can also help the author to convey to the house the ideas, abilities, and opportunities they bring to the party. Absolutely these factors—"platform" seems to be the operative word these days—influence the potential we think a book has and whether (and how much) we will offer for it.

Mediabistro: How involved in the design process are you? Do you get involved in every step of the publication process or does it depend on the project?

Saletan: I love the fact that books are still physical objects, and I genuinely enjoy thinking about what a book should look like. That said, like a lot of editors I'm not primarily a visual person. This is actually a good thing, because it allows a productive interplay. I generally say—about both exterior and interior design—"this is what I'd like it to convey" (and sometimes, "Here's the idiotic too-literal idea that's floating around in my head, just to give you an idea what I'm thinking, not what to do") and let them figure out how to translate that into strong and imaginative type and imagery. Because I like production, I have done some relatively design-intensive books given that I'm not an editor of illustrated books. At North Point I did an environmental book printed on polypropylene rather than paper, Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. The package was a significant factor in its success.

Mediabistro: What's your favorite part of your job? What's your least favorite part of your job?

Saletan: My favorite part of the job is, and always will be, finding great new writers and books to bring before the public. And I still feel most myself as an editor when I'm deep in the throes of editing. To my surprise, though, I've found the enabling and overseeing "chief" role much more gratifying than I'd expected. My least favorite part of the job is, and always will be, having my attention fragmented between a dozen places at any given time. Temperamentally, I'm the kind of person who likes to concentrate deeply on one thing at a time, but better than half the time that's not what it is to be an editor.

Mediabistro: What's the most exciting and/or unusual project you've worked on so far?

Saletan: I'm bad at saying what "the most" anything is, but editing has taken me some pretty unusual places and allowed me to work closely with some extraordinary people. Working with Hillary Clinton on It Takes a Village would definitely be high up on the list. Philippe Petit, author of To Reach the Clouds, about his 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers, is one of the most original and inspired people I've ever known, and working with him was exhausting and exhilarating. It was a privilege to work with William Langewiesche, who writes some of the best nonfiction around, and while living through the brouhaha over his portrayal of looting at ground zero in American Ground was painful, it was a valuable reminder of how little, as editors and publishers, we ultimately control books' fates, no matter how much we love them and how hard we work to bring them to the attention of the rest of the world. Sometimes, God willing, we succeed—and sometimes where we least dare hope to.

Rachel Kramer Bussel is an editor, writer, and blogger.

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