This summer I participated in the Tokyo International Book Fair and took the opportunity to visit a number of Japanese publishing houses. One that particularly interested me was Gentosha, where I had the good fortune to chat with several editors. The Gentosha editorial department exuded a uniquely enterprising spirit, just like the books they produce. I asked them what was different in the way they went about their daily work, compared to other publishers. The reply by their editor in chief (a woman) surprised me: "That's a funny question! We have meetings and conferences, we brainstorm over how to produce good books… I just assumed that editors everywhere do the same thing."

The editor in chief was right; an editor's work is pretty much the same everywhere. My primary task as an editor in Taiwan is to seek out new Taiwanese authors, but my daily routine does indeed consist of meetings and conferences aimed at trying to produce good books.

So those are the similarities in our editor routines. Here, however, I'd like to highlight whatever differences there may be, however minor.

I usually arrive at my office at 10:30 a.m. and leave around 7:30 p.m. I don't need to punch a time card. But at least twice a week I work past 10 at night, and at least twice a month I work on the weekend. So I would guess that on average, I work about 50 hours a week.

Of those 50 hours, a good third is taken up by reading. If I add the time I spend reading at home, that amount increases by half or more. I can divide my reading material into several categories. One is news about the publishing industry: what attention-grabbing books were published this month, what they were about, what promotional tools or tricks were used to sell them, and so on. Most of this information comes in the form of e-mails or blogs by my fellow publishers.

Another of my reading categories is books and materials I collect about events or issues of interest to me because of their direct relevance to my work or life. This process often leads to the discovery of new writers or to plans for new book projects.

Yet another category is random reading with no particular objective in mind. I like to browse through blogs and check out bloggers of particular interest. Or I might skim through a book or magazine and make a note of some fascinating bit of information, even if it isn't of any immediate use. Finally, I like to read on subjects I've been interested in for many years, such as classical Chinese literature, Greek cultural history, and literature about food and drink.

Another third of those 50 hours is occupied by meetings with writers. Our three-person editorial department publishes from 18 to 24 titles a year, and as the editor in chief, it's my job to meet with our authors. In the past, when 70 percent of our books were by Taiwanese writers, I would have five or six such appointments a week. Now, as the publishing market has changed, our proportion of Taiwan-based authors has fallen to 30 or 40 percent, and my weekly meetings with them have consequently decreased to two or three. These get-togethers may be for the purpose of seeking out new writers, or finalizing the content of a manuscript, or making adjustments or revisions during the writing process. To work on optimizing a book's marketability I might bring a photographer or designer to the meeting, but only if the writer is someone with whom we already have a close working relationship. I make it a practice to meet with authors at intervals, section by section, in the course of producing a manuscript. Then, when the text is finished, all that are left are minor revisions or additions. We then decide on the layout of any graphics, the overall design of the book, and the choice of titles and subtitles. Finally, I hold an editorial meeting, explain various aspects of the project to the other staff, and pass the baton on to another editor or an outside designer.

I spend the remaining third of my time working with other departments, primarily marketing. To assist the people devising the sales promotion strategy for a book, I provide them with a description of the content and unique features of the book, an introductory blurb, text samples, and ideas for the cover and page designs. When the book is one we want to push especially hard, I make a point of pitching it to various purchasers. Each book requires its own customized marketing strategy, so we hold at least one or two meetings with people from the various departments involved in the process. Although the general manager of the company serves as chair of these meetings and makes the final decisions on strategy, responsibility for actually carrying it out lies with the marketing department, and it is the duty of the editorial department to provide them with the necessary support. Marketing requires meticulous attention to detail, so they are careful to check the accuracy of every claim, every figure, with the editorial department. At this stage we may meet once or twice daily at any time for short, ten-minute meetings at my desk. Every week I also meet with the general manager to discuss sales results and marketing efforts as well as overall market trends and pending problems.

I roughly divided my day-to-day routine into three categories, but in fact there are many other activities I have to fit in as well. These include meeting with colleagues, writing articles or sitting for interviews requested by newspapers or magazines, and reading and writing letters and e-mail. These odds and ends feel as if they take up another full third of my time. But since they are a hodgepodge of activities that cannot be easily categorized, I have simply included them in the three categories I described above. Although they may not be directly related to "production" per se, they strike me as an essential part of the publishing business. Often it is precisely these kinds of interactions that generate opportunities to publish good books. It may be a relatively passive process, but "making connections" in this manner is itself a productive activity, I believe.