A Day in the Life of a Book Editor (Part I)

Jane Henderson talks
to Saturday Writers

Jane Henderson, book review editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was the special guest speaker at the July meeting of Saturday Writers. 

SW president Jennifer Hasheider, along with the rest of the board, did an excellent job recruiting and hosting Jane at the monthly meeting at the St. Peters Community and Cultural Arts Center.

During Jane’s talk, and afterwards at lunch, she was candid, approachable, informative, and gracious when describing her review selection process and when answering questions about books, reviews, writing, and the changing world of publishing. 

Here are some highlights.

* Jane receives about 300 books a week for review. She held up some of the books from her “July stack” and explained why she might send one book out for review but not the others. (Some selection considerations are listed below.)

* Most of the books sent to her come from mainstream publishers and small presses, although she also receives books from independent authors.

* Due to cutbacks in print space, personnel, and revenue, the paper has a limit of three reviews each week--although occasionally a feature writer will do a story about a writer if there's something newsworthy. (She remarked that several newspapers have discontinued their book review sections entirely.)

* The main area of focus for book reviews is the paper’s readers, not the author.

* The paper sometimes reviews paperbacks, but rarely reviews self-published books.

* The paper does not review self-help or diet books.

* When selecting which books to send to reviewers, some considerations are:

   Is it newsworthy?

   Is it unusual?

   Is it unusually well done?

   Is it something readers are interested in reading about?

   Is it something readers should be interested in reading about?

   Is there a local connection?

   Who published it?

   When was it published? 

   Has the book won a major award?

   Is the book written by a known name of someone who is coming to town?

   What is the story about?

   Is it original or the first book of its kind? (She used the example of follow-on books about wizards similar to the Harry Potter series are not as newsworthy as the original Harry Potter books.)

* Stories are important.

* The best books have good plots, engaging characters, extraordinary use of language, and compelling stories.

 * A review is not just free publicity; it is one person’s opinion about a book.

* She trusts her reviewers and doesn't edit a lot. Reviewers conform to the newspaper's style and standards.

In my next post I’ll share some of Jane’s suggestions for local authors and publishers who want to submit their books for review: when to contact her, what to include in their submissions, and what to avoid doing.

Check out Jane's book blog here.