At the November MBPR luncheon, Josh Leventhal, interim director of the Minnesota Historical Society Press, Madeleine Vasaly, project manager at Quarto Publishing Group, and Kellie Hultgren, freelancer and founder of KMH Editing, gathered to discuss the soft skills needed to establish a successful career as an editor.

To begin the discussion, moderator Laura Zats, editorial manager of Wise Ink Creative Publishing and literary agent at Red Sofa Literary, asked the panelists to first address how they set the stage for positive collaboration with their authors. The panelists continued to discuss how they decide which battles — such as writing style, content, structure, timeline, etc.—are worth fighting with their authors and how they fight those battles. The second half of the conversation focused on the relationship between an editor and the rest of the publishing house, including the design, marketing, and sales departments.

An audio recording of this event is available to members in Member Resources. Thanks to all for an interesting, informative event!