EDUCATION FOR ACQUISITIONS

Structural changes in the scholarly publishing industry have had a pro found effect on the training of acquisitions editors. In the past, acq uisitions editors were often trained first as copy editors. Now, they often begin as acquisitions assistants or transfer from other publishi ng departments, and develop a somewhat different set of shills than th eir peers with copy editing backgrounds. Contrary to the opinion that acquisitions editors are born, not made, many acquisitions shift can i n fact be taught, and the industry's new structure may encourage the r e-evaluation of the acquisitions role. The scholarly publishing world should place more emphasis not only on developing formal training oppo rtunities for beginning acquisitions editors, but also on education fo r those in mid-career. Combining such efforts with elements of the tra ditional mentoring process may produce move productive and effective s taff.