In praise of Toni Weisskopf

Toni Weisskopf is the Publisher of Baen Books and its most active editor. She is also my editor. At a party once, I heard her talking to a young woman who wanted to be a writer. I wandered over and commented that Toni was good at developing beginning writers. Toni responded, "If by developing you mean, 'Keep your fucking hands off my prose,' then I suppose I am." That comment nicely summarizes the attitude she encounters from me regarding my work. I strive to earn that attitude by delivering ...