“Of all the ways to begin a book on medical editing, a poem would not be my first (or second or third) guess,” a review1 of my recent book, Medical Editing: A Guide to Learning the Craft and Building Your Career,2 begins. Fortunately, the reviewer concludes that the lighter touches enhance the book, which is mainly for prospective and beginning medical editors but also can serve others. Both in content (see Box) and approach, the book draws on my learning over the years as editor, writer, and teacher of writing and editing. The following is the tale behind the book, with emphasis on my experience as an “editor as editee.” Box. Contents: Medical Editing: A Guide to Learning the Craft and Building Your Career, by Barbara Gastel (University of Chicago Press, 2025)* Chapter 1: The Scope of Medical Editing Chapter 2: Key Resources for Medical Editors Chapter 3: Approaching an Editing Project Chapter 4: Copyediting: Editing for Mechanics and More Chapter 5: Substantive Editing: Editing for Content and Organization Chapter 6: Editing Conference and Career Communications Chapter 7: Additional Aspects of Medical Manuscript Editing Chapter 8: Ethics: Your Own and Others’ Chapter 9: Careers in Medical Editing *For a detailed table of contents, see https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo257227736.html. The Path to the Book People often ask how long it took me to write the book. Depending on the perspective, the answer could be about 50 years, about 25 years, about 10 years, or intermittently over a few years. My involvement in editing began […]