I began my publishing life at Little, Brown & Co. in Boston in 1982, and since that time I’ve done most things you can do in this business. I’ve held positions in sales, editorial, marketing and publicity, and as publisher, I’ve seen to pretty much everything else, from strategic planning to stocking shelves. I’ve worked for “big five” publishers, small independents, a university press, and for eight years I had my own company — an act of hubris for which I swear I was chained to a rock where an eagle visited me daily to dine on my liver. I love it all, but I keep coming back to the editor’s job of working with authors to execute on a concept and bring a book to life. Sometimes the concept arrives as a proposal or a manuscript, and sometimes the concept for a book is mine (or for a series – see “Music Matters” on the nonfiction page), but either way, I do my best to help authors write the best book they can.