5 September 2022
Max Perkins didn't do as much administrative work as editorial assistants do today," said Daniel Vazquez, an editor at Astra House. Although he may not know exactly what the famous 20th-century editor's day-to-day was like-did Perkins work on The Great Gatsby in his office, or did he have to line edit at home because his nine-to-five was consumed by endless meetings?-Vazquez's statement is indicative of what a lot of younger publishing professionals say when asked about their workloads: namely, it's never been this bad.