The craft involves learning techniques and best practices, which range from the rules of grammar and style mastered by copyeditors to the diplomatic ways of phrasing suggestions

The art of editing lies in exercising taste and making aesthetic judgments,

The editor, then, is a connector—a conduit from writer to reader—but also a translator, improving the communication from each to the other.

The Latin origin of edit, edere, meaning “to bring out” or “to put forth,” usefully expands our understanding of the role. Editors take the work of authors and put it before readers.

What the word editing connotes to most people—correcting and improving an author’s text—is only a part of what book editors do.