Publisher vs Editor
The world of printed books has come a long way since the invention of the orienting press. Today we have big, almost gigantic publishing houses that are a guarantee of success as they have become brand unto themselves. A budding author would do well to know the difference between an editor and a publisher as there is a big difference in the roles and responsibilities of the two posts whether working in the same publishing house or in different companies.
Publisher
The task of taking on the project of publishing a book and fulfilling it from start to finish is the responsibility of a publisher. A publisher is the head of any publishing house or company and like the ship of the captain. He is in charge of the direction that the company takes and is assisted in his responsibilities by a board of directors who decide what and how to publish keeping in mind the financial interests of the stakeholders in the company, whether shareholders or the owners of the company.
All employees in the publishing company are answerable to the publisher, and he has the authority to hire and fire his team members according to his requirements. Major decisions cannot be taken without his approval. If an author wants a publishing company to publish his book, he has to understand the authority of the publisher in the company though there are agents who are a link between the writers and publishers. It is up to the discretion of a publisher to decide whether a book will rake in profits for the company or not. He is like a financer who arranges all the money for the book to take final shape and come out in the market.
Editor
An editor in a publishing house is always subordinate to the publisher. To be factual, there are many different types of editors working in a publishing house and all of these have the job of honing the works of authors to make them just right before publishing. Even authors cannot often get into touch with editors in big publishing houses, and there are agents who give manuscripts of works written by authors to the editors to sell or market the book. It is the job of the editor to make corrections in the manuscripts before it gets to the publisher for his approval. In a sense, the work that gets to the editor is raw, and he has to polish it to make it appropriate and suitable to be published by the publishing company.
Publisher vs Editor
• Publishers are heads of publishing companies who decide whether a manuscript is worth printing and publishing to be sold in the market. They work on behalf of the financial interests of the owners of the publishing companies.
• Editors are employees that work in a publishing company under the publisher and have the responsibility to check the works of writers to hone and polish them to be ready for publishing
• Publishers are heads of publishing companies and work as CEOs of these companies. Editors work under them and have to present manuscripts to publishers after making them suitable for printing and marketing