During the third day of the world’s largest publishing gathering — the 41st Sharjah International
Book Fair (SIBF) — a forum was held to discuss the relationship between the author and the
editor and lessons learned within the space.
The forum moderated by Layla Mohamed featured an esteemed panel of accomplished writers
and publishers, namely; Mohammed Eissa al-Mu’adab, a Tunisian novelist and short story writer
who won the 2017 Tunisian Golden Comar Prize for the Arabic Novel, Soft Jihad; Neil Strauss,
an award winning American author, acclaimed podcaster, and a life-long contributing editor at
Rolling Stone; and American publishing stalwart Carrie Thornton, the Vice President and
Editorial Director at Dey Street Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers.
Starting the discussion, Carrie Thornton described her role as an editor and the many different
aspects of managing authors in the space. “My job as an editor is to form a truly intimate
relationship (with my authors), and forge a wonderful friendship. I take on the role of a therapist
and a teacher. I am also the steward of my author’s career for the long term, working on multiple
books through the years, helping them decide what to work on next.”
Thornton, who has been behind the success of over 50 New York Times bestsellers, added: “I
have two very important roles – the first, to be the mouth-piece for my authors in the publishing
house, advocating for my author to my colleagues who are selling their books to the stores and
distributors, and secondly, being a constructive critic, helping them produce their best work
possible.”
“Anything that gets younger people to read is great in my book”, added Thornton, who
elaborated how the social media platform TikTok has been vital in encouraging the younger
generation to read and have interest in books, especially in the fiction category.
Neil Strauss expanded on the balance of being both a motivator and a pundit saying, “Editors
are very good at delivering what I like to call a “compliment sandwich”. This is where we tell the
author, ‘this is what I love about the book’, then we tear it apart, but reassure them that we really
love their work.”
The popular columnist added: “I would say the only reason I am a decent writer is because I had
good editors and I think it rings true to anything you do in life – if you produce something in a
vacuum, with no one telling you how to make it better, you don’t get better.”
Mohammed Eissa al-Mu’adab took the floor to explain his account of the editor/author dynamic
and how it’s the editor’s job to take the role as the reader or public eye. He explained: “An editor
is like a surgeon; we have to be precise with our criticism but also remain sensitive to our
authors to give them constructive feedThe Tunisian writer added: “The reader of today is
intelligent and does not accept any book, and the authors and publishing houses that will
flourish are the ones that will value the guidance of their editor.”
Eissa al-Mu’adab ended with the point that it was important for authors to not be sensitive to
criticism, and that they should trust in the guidance of their editors, saying this is a team sport
and that great writers need great editors to create amazing books.