Have you ever thought of the processes that your favorite books would have gone through before it reaches you? It takes a lot of effort before a book is finally released in the market. The writer, after finishing his/her work, gives it to the editor for editing it and then the publisher publishes it.
Editors and publishers both have equally significant roles to play. The success of a work, be it an article, a novel, any kind of book or any magazine depends partly on the writer and partly on the work of the editor and the publisher. The terms ‘editor’ and ‘publisher’ can be very confusing to many of us and they even sound similar.
Editor vs Publisher
The main difference between editor and publisher is that an editor edits the works submitted by the writer, by revising the work, correcting the grammatical mistakes, and making essential changes required. The publisher, on the other hand, can do a similar kind of work but he also has to look if the article published stands out in the market and reaches maximum audiences.
Comparison Table Between Editor and Publisher
| Parameters of Comparison | Editor | Publisher |
| Main role | An editor’s main role is to read and reread the work of the writer until and unless it is completely error-free. | A publisher’s work is to manage the work of the writer and he is more of a financial thinker. |
| Powers | An editor can work under the publisher or independently but when he works under a publisher, he has to work according to the publisher. | A publisher is the head of the publishing companies and he hires editors and employees to work under him. |
| Educational requirements | To become an editor, you need at least a bachelor’s degree in English or mass communication. For a specific type of book or article to be edited, you need to be an expert in that field. | To become a publisher, you need to have good advertising skills and should be able to think and make financial decisions apart from having a bachelor’s degree in English or mass communication. What matters more is your skills, not your degree to become a publisher. |
| Skills required | The editor must be good at grammar and should be able to proofread the articles. | The publisher should have good advertising, administrative, financial, and managerial skills. |
| Time taken | An editor’s work is a little more hectic and thus requires more time in comparison to the time required by the publisher. | Though a publisher also takes a long time, the time taken is comparatively lesser than that of the editor. |
Who is an Editor?
An editor does the editing work of the documents or the articles submitted by the writer. If he would have been hired by the publisher, he would have to submit the reviewed work to the publisher for approval.
An editor may also change a bit of the content or style of the work if the writer agrees. He proofreads the work and goes through every word to ensure there’s no mistake in it. He should also make sure that all the facts in the article are concrete and nothing is misleading in it.
Who is a Publisher?
A publisher acts as a leader in the publication of the book or the magazine. He makes sure that the work to be published is well appreciated by the audiences. For that reason, he does everything that would make the work highly desirable and at the same time profitable.
A publisher does the monetary work and thus presents the work so well that it would yield much profit. either he finances the writer’s work himself or deals with people who have enough money to finance.
They choose popular personalities to help in the endorsement process and also plans for launchings or press releases. He is also in charge and the head of the publishing house and no decision can be taken without his consent.
Main Differences Between Editor and Publisher
- An editor crucially reads the documents that are to be edited and makes all the changes that would enhance its readability. A publisher generally doesn’t do the editing work though he can. He manages the financial works related to publishing the documents.
- Publishers are heads of publishing houses and they employ editors to work under them while editors either work under the publishers or they work independently.
- Editors are usually the experts of the genre or the field in which the book is written while publishers are financial experts.
- An editor makes sure that the readers love the work of the writer while the publisher makes sure that the work reaches maximum people and at the same time, maximum profit could be drawn from the work.
- An editor is always less powerful than a publisher in a publishing house and the publisher can even fire an editor if he/she fails to do her work properly.
Conclusion
An editor thus plays an important role to make sure there are no grammatical mistakes in the article submitted by the writer and corrects if there are any. He has editing and proofreading duties. He is often hired by the publishers of publishing companies to work under them.
A publisher also holds a responsible position as he administers and looks after every step taken after the work is edited and before the work is out in the market. Any major decision cannot be taken without the consent of the publisher in the publishing company and the editors employed under him have to follow their instructions and work accordingly.
References
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13600861003644533
- https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12109-011-9242-3.pdf