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Series:   Elements in Publishing and Book Culture

Editing Fiction

Three Case Studies from Post-war Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2022

Alice Grundy
Alice Grundy
Affiliation:
Australian National University, Canberra

Summary

Editing Fiction considers the collaborative efforts of literary production as well as editorial practice in its own right, using case studies by Australian novelists Jessica Anderson, Thea Astley and Ruth Park. An emphasis on collaboration is necessary because literary criticism often takes books as finite, discrete works rather than the result of multiple contributors, engaged to differing degrees. The editorial process always involves a negotiation over edits for the sake of the work, taking its potential reception or projected sales into account. Through examination of the archives, this Element shows that editing can be formative, limiting, commercially directed, a literary collaboration – or a mix of all these interventions. For editors and scholars alike, the Element examines practices of the recent past, seeking to determine the responsibilities of editors and publishers to authors, the text itself and to society; and the interrelation of editorial work, social conditions and market forces.
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Keywords

editingpublishingbook historyliterary criticismpost-colonial studies
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Publishing and Book Culture
Online ISBN: 9781009039383
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 04 August 2022

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Editing Fiction
  • Alice Grundy, Australian National University, Canberra
  • Online ISBN: 9781009039383
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Editing Fiction
  • Alice Grundy, Australian National University, Canberra
  • Online ISBN: 9781009039383
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Editing Fiction
  • Alice Grundy, Australian National University, Canberra
  • Online ISBN: 9781009039383
Available formats
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