Comparative Study On Chinese And American Book Editorial Practice

Editorial practice is of great significance to the book publishing industry. Books that are produced in the process of editorial practice are the basis of subsequent marketing and selling as well as the basis of the book publishing industry. With the development of Chinese book publishing industry, a great many new things about book editorial practice have taken place and some new problems have been brought about. America has experienced the similar process. Now, in the United States, a sophisticated and well-divided editorial practice system has came into being and has been playing a very important role in American book publishing industry. Comparing the history and current condition of editorial practice between the two countries is helpful for us to find out our shortcomings and learn from America's advanced experiences.This dissertation is divided into four parts. The first chapter overviews the history of book editorial practice in China and America and tries to find out the law of the cultural and economic aspects in their book editorial practice. The second part compares editors' salary, proportion and type between the two countries , and then sums up the differences between two countries' acquiring editors and editorial directors. The third part compares six main stages in the process of editorial practice in both countries, including information-collecting, business-writing, commissioning, scrutinizing, copy-editing and binding and puts forward advice on improving the editorial practice at evey stage. The last part introduces Chinese and American editorial organizations , tells the differences between them and comes up with the way of developing Chinese editorial organizations.