Yes, but your average punter who isn't aware of the font of information available here, they would have no way of finding out.
I guess I started out as an "average punter', but regular references as to who was the latest ST editor at Pocket Books often used to turn up in "Starlog" magazine (early 80s), and then it almost became a game to watch out for this stuff, crosscheck with things like "Locus" (which my local SF bookshop always kept on the front counter), so I could report it in my club's ST newsletter.
If anything, the Internet, Memory Beta, etc makes it so much easier. So yeah, "average punters" couldn't care less, but when they do start wondering they stop being average - and they will seek out their own answers. Anyone with a need to know all the ins-and-outs of ST novels would own a copy of "Voyages of Imagination" and do a bit of Googling, or join bulletin boards.