Dan Kraus up at American Libraries has done a really great job of filming and editing a short video interview with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who will be the keynote speaker at the 2008 Midwinter Meeting. The shots of his hands are particularly amazing. Says Dan, “I was sort of obsessed with them - they were the size of small dogs. If it had been my own movie it would have been three minutes of his hands.”

Take a look if you haven’t seen it:

http://alfocus.ala.org/videos/conversation-kareem-abdul-jabbar

Recently one of our authors asked me for a list of of ALA Presidential Themes, 1990 to the present. I knew that our in-house library staff would have the answer, and I could have walked or called upstairs to the library, but I’m all about the multi-tasking, don’t you know. So I pasted the question from the author’s e-mail message into the Ask-the-Librarian VR chat box on ilovelibraries.org, which is staffed by our very own librarians.

Snip, snap, and the answer is served up, easy as pie. A great service for our authors and our copy editors! Thanks!

Didn’t I think I was so clever in my “24 weeks to a finished book” post, until I was one-upped by Dan Kraus upstairs at AL with his video “One article: From beginning to end.” Ah, well, that’s OK.

Very cool stuff, Dan. And I love the new AL Focus site!

I’ve answered a few questions this week from authors who are a bit confused by our job titles here at Editions. These titles are standard in the publishing industry, so it doesn’t often occur to me to explain the organizational relationships. Perhaps most confusing is the title of managing editor. What is the managing editor’s organizational relationship to the editorial director? How about to the acquisitions editors? The copy editors?

These relationships can vary a bit among publishers, but here’s the skinny at Editions: Our managing editor, Christine Schwab, reports to the editorial director (fellow blogger and my boss, Patrick Hogan) and is a peer to the acquisitions editors (me and, until recently, Laura Pelehach).

Christine effectively has one foot in editorial and the other in production. She takes what an acquisitions editor has deemed to be a final manuscript and

• evaluates the level of copy editing it will require
• queries any missing or unsuitable bits in the text or the illustrations
• preps the manuscript for copyediting
• hires and supervises one of our regular freelance copy editors
• facilitates communication between the copy editor and the author
• preps the copyedited manuscript for production
• reviews the proof layouts and vets the work of the proofreader

The “managing” bit in her title refers both to managing the copy editors and to managing the editorial aspects of the production process.

Some of our products are rather more complex than others, so the steps described above are a bit simplistic. Indeed, she wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t mention her work on Guide to Reference. She is not only vetting the copyediting and answering a raft of questions about the huge and idiosyncratic editorial stylesheet, but also training the copy editors to work within an online authoring system. Luckily for Editions, Christine is more than up to the task.

Christine joined Editions early last year, but she and I have worked together off and on in some capacity for 11 years now. We even shared adjoining offices for a while at the University of Chicago Press. Well, actually it was an office and an adjoining storage closet. (You might think that Christine had the short end of the stick there in the storage closet, but it depends on your perspective. I had the only window, but she had the only door.)

On GR, Christine works closely with associate editor Steven Hofmann . . . and this just got too complicated for one blog post. Look out, Steven. You’re next.

American Libraries editor (and filmmaker) Dan Kraus has crafted a fabulous video to introduce the staff. I’m so jealous. Maybe I can be in his next film…

An anonymous benefactor has bought the American Library Association half an island on Second Life. Mark Bard had already set up shop on behalf of ALA’s Washington Office in space courtesy of the Alliance Library System. The Washington Office hosted a presentation by David Lankes (more information here).

While in Chicago for meetings, Mark got together with Jenny Levine to work on terra-forming. Jenny invited colleagues to stop by to get an introduction to Second Life and learn about what Mark was doing. With some trepidation, I took a look, along with TechSource’s Teresa Koltzenburg and from Marketing, Tina Coleman and Sam Florio. I can feel the time slip away into the vortex. We asked a lot of questions. (Yeah, one of mine was: How long did it take you to build that?) Jenny urged us to get in there and experiment, see where it takes us. OK, I’ll loosen up and play. But somebody else go first.

I’m finally burrowing myself out from under a pile of manuscripts and other projects that need tending to after the ALA Midwinter Conference in Seattle. As in the case of vacation, the work doesn’t disappear while at conference, but, also as in the case of vacation, conference fuels me with ideas and energy that stay with me throughout the year.

What’s the appeal of conference? Networking. The opportunity to share ideas with like-minded peers, maybe pick up a few ideas and perspectives. I was talking with one very forward-thinking librarian who made a point–that I’m about to butcher because I can’t remember the eloquent way she said it– but it was about the importance of giving of yourself in your networking situations. Coming at it with a selfless spirit. This is a crude way of putting it, but it was something like “You gotta give to get.”

Actually, I think that philosophy goes beyond just networking and is a key element of success: that is, generosity. One of the (non-ALA Editions) books I’ve been working my way through these day is called Never Eat Along and Other Secrets to Success One Relationship at a Time, whose lead author Keith Ferrazzi is a hugely successful marketing and sales consultant…one of those who started out from very humble beginnings, but used extraordinary skills connecting with people to succeed.
Ferrazzi describes the “networking jerk,” who, in some people’s minds may look like the ideal networker…the person who walks into the room armed with a martini, business cards, a “prerehearsed elevator pitch always at the ready”. This is the person who’s eyes constantly dart around the room looking for the most important person to talk to.

To Ferrazzi, the really great networkers are those who aren’t there to schmooze, but those who are there to help others make connections that will help them succeed. In other words, you use your network to help others in your network. A librarian you meet at a conference tells you how the library she’s working at has an increasingly aging population and she wants to create services for seniors. Wait a minute, a former colleague has started some successful senior programs at his library. How can you connect them?

The time for networking isn’t when you need something. A successful person (says Ferrazzi) is working on connecting and building his or her network all the time. To paraphrase him paraphrasing Dale Carnegie: You’ll be far more successful investing a little bit of time becoming genuinely interested in another’s success than you would spending years trying to get other people interested in your success.

In this regard, many librarians I’ve met are natural networkers. Most come into a situation expecting and wanting to help.

Still, it’s a good reminder when you find yourself in situation when you’re supposed to be networking. Think generosity. Think, How can I make this other person succeed? In my opinion, it takes some of the pressure off and makes the whole thing much more fun.

While at conference, be sure to stop by the ALA TechSource booth (1713) to take part in their Dance Dance Revolution demonstration. Note I’m saying “you” should take part…I’m not committing. I tried it over the holidays with my six-year-old twin nieces. I scored a “D” and lots of supportive “You’ll do better next time, Aunt Laura”. Not ready for prime time, as they say. Still it IS fun and pretty good exercise, and I’m thinking of buying a copy as part of my resolution to get in shape this year.

Gaming is an interest very near and dear to my heart right now. Before I leave for conference on Friday, I’m finishing up my work on a manuscript for an upcoming book on holding gaming tournaments in the library by Ann Arbor District Library’s Eli Neiburger. If you don’t know Eli, you’re missing out. A true fanboy with a Nintendo tattoo to show for it, he has run hugely popular gaming tournaments at AADL that have drawn some 100 teenaged boys to the library on a Saturday afternoon. How’s that for impressive?

In addition to knowing everything there is to know about putting together a tournament (why tournaments are the way to go when bringing gaming into the library, what games make for the tournaments, how to set up equipment, how to market to young gamers [no mean feat]), Eli is really funny (when in college,he was Head Writer for the University of Michigan Comedy Company) and holds nothing back (alas, that means a time or two, I’ve had to pull out my editing pencil for some of the saltier language…I know, I’m a killjoy). Here’s one of the sections cracks me up every time I read it:

For example, one of my favorite patron comment cards, received anonymously, politely, requested that the library should “Please offer Prostitutes and Pie.” Both services would certainly find their adherents, but that doesn’t mean that they would be appropriate for the organization. Nongamers may look at gaming events much the same way. Here’s why they’re wrong.

So, reading this is a nice kick-off to what I hope will be a fun and productive Midwinter. You’ll have your chance to enjoy Eli’s advice in prose spring/summer.

Today is getaway day for me for Midwinter, that is last day in the office. Then it’s off to conference town. I’m going to do my best to be aware of what city I’m in, they have a way of blending into one another.

I’m reminded of a piece on conventions from Ira Glass’s radio show “This American Life.” He interviews a woman who works at a bakery counter in Chicago’s McCormick Place, and she talks about how overwhelming it is to serve hordes of people from one profession. To paraphrase Glass: If one Mary Kay salesperson walks up to the counter, you’d think nothing of it. But when 90 come, it’s a different story. The woman tells how her math anxiety from school days resurfaced when an association of mathematicians was in town.

According to a Moscone staff person, all conventions have a life cycle. The first day people come as individuals, there is excitement, perhaps anxiety. By the second day, people are joining groups, finding their peers. In the third phase, people start getting sick of it. It sounds like there is no getting around the third phase, though striving for balance might help. I recall one of our authors told me that she likes to leave early, before she gets burned out.

Jenni is in town already for ALISE. I’ve recommended that she take time off between her conferences.