|
"Being an Editor: A Feast for All Senses"
Published in Perigee Bookmarks: Improving Your World One Book at a Time (Tuesday, May 04, 2010)
In my (gulp) twenty years as an editor of nonfiction, I’ve learned countless things from the authors I’ve worked with. Thanks to these amazingly varied and knowledgeable writers, I can hold my own in cocktail-party conversations about the differences between cirrus and stratocumulus clouds, how to carve a pumpkin using a power saw, the history of the phone book, and how to pop a Champagne cork with a sword -- among many other topics (I could go on, and I often do, especially after a whiskey smash or two).
But one of the most fascinating things I’ve learned comes from what also happens to be the first book I edited when I came to Penguin in the summer of 2004 -- the revised edition of a special-needs bible called The Out-of-Sync Child, which has sold more than 750,000 copies to date.
Here’s what I learned: We have seven senses, not five.
Sure, we’ve got sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. But we also have a sense of what our body is doing, even when we can’t see it (the proprioceptive sense), and a sense of balance (the vestibular sense). When the brain isn’t processing sensory information efficiently, these two senses, along with the others, can be a bit “out-of-sync.”
Working with an author like Carol Kranowitz – whose book has been translated into a dozen languages and has touched countless special-needs parents, educators, therapists, and of course kids – is truly a privilege, and a learning experience.
Now, twelve years after The Out-of-Sync Child was first published, I have the added privilege of working with Carol and her talented new co-author, perceptual motor therapist Joye Newman, on book that, we all hope, will touch an even wider audience.
Growing an In-Sync Child takes the principles of the first book to a new level, because it turns out that ALL kids, not just those with special needs, need to run, jump, roll, skip, and balance on their tip-toes. Why? Because these movements help the brain develop as it’s supposed to.
So take your kids to the park. And let’s go out for a cocktail sometime (but only one, or else my seven senses will start to get a little foggy). |
