a great editor retires, but he is not the last of his kind

By no means did all of Loomis's books succeed, but he understood and even appreciated the unpredictable dynamics of the publishing process. A former colleague quoted him in the New York Times as saying, "Every day when I wake up in the morning and come to work, I have no idea what's going to happen. All the books that I think are going to sell don't work, and all the books I don't think are going to work sell a lot and win awards. That's why I love this business so much."

via theatlantic.com

A fascinating, small piece on Robert Loomis with an optimistic outlook on editing. I'm glad to hear it (and think I may agree) as I head into a meeting with my editor toward the end of the week.

Filed under: Miscellany