“Wow, you work at a literary magazine? You must love reading.”  That’s what people always say to me when I introduce myself. It makes me feel somewhat embarrassed.

You might think, but isn’t that the truth? And if it is, why is that awkward? Yes, the truth is I love reading, but liking reading and working as a literary editor isn’t just a simple case of putting two and two together. There are some issues, for example regarding the distance between the personal and professional realms which arise.

A suitable middle-person

Reading is a personal thing. You can have your own preferences and tastes and navigate books with your passion. But working at a literary magazine is a public thing. You’re the middle-person between readers and books, and you need to take a step back to use a rational perspective to interpret and choose different books, and then think how to present those books in the magazine. I started working in this job in 2012 and have learned some skills along the way that I’m happy to share with you.

A literary magazine is a magazine, but it’s not something aimed at the masses. At the same time, it isn’t an obscure academic publication. It needs to be public-facing but at the same time not low-brow; as the editor, you have to take into consideration what readers want. People like novels, biographies, classical literature, comics and all types of books. The job of the magazine is to balance interest in all of these to create something like a “menu” of books. The editor also has to capitalise on a window of interest in a particular book or publishing trend to maximise reader interest, with the aim of getting them to pick up that book and read it. Even if you feel under pressure or you’re not familiar with that book or author or you simply don’t like it, you still have to forge ahead. I remember once I arranged an interview with a martial arts expert, and after the interview was confirmed I raced to the bookstore to read up on all aspects of martial arts. Fortunately in the end I think I did OK.

Meeting my idols

Apart from these restrictions, working for a literary magazine obviously comes with lots of perks. For a booklover, the greatest of these is obviously the chance to get my hands on new books first and meet my favourite authors, even though a lot of these people have now bowed out of the limelight and decline interviews or are simply too busy. The job allows you to use work as a reason to invite authors you admire for a conversation; sometimes, this can even blossom into a friendship. I have seen this happen many times before.

This sort of blurring of the lines between personal and private must be the dream of a lot of working people, and it’s what I try to focus on whenever I am struggling with the job, oscillating between calm and passion. These real-life encounters make me remember that I’m not alone in the vast literary world.

Now that I’ve shared some thoughts about transforming from a reader into an editor, next I’ll share some fun anecdotes about working for a literary magazine in Hong Kong.