Most new Editions authors can guess what is entailed in the first part of the book publishing process: write, write, revise, revise, feedback from editor, revise, revise, final draft of manuscript ready for production. But what exactly does “production” mean? Workflow differs from one publishing house to the next, but here’s the ideal flow here at Editions:

Weeks 1-2: Acquisitions editor reviews and organizes manuscript files, creates ancillary informational materials, and transmits project to the managing editor

Weeks 3-4: Managing editor reviews manuscript and prepares manuscript files for copy editor; assigns copy editor; writes up manuscript-specific instructions for editing

Weeks 5-7: Copyediting; creation of interior design template

Weeks 8-9: Author(s) review and approve copyediting

Week 10: Copy editor updates files, incorporating final revisions from author(s); returns final manuscript to managing editor

Week 11: Managing editor reviews copy editor’s work; prepares files for typesetting

Weeks 12-14: In-house designer/compositor typesets book

Weeks 15-16: “First pass” proofs sent to professional proofreader; simultaneously sent to professional indexer for indexing and to author(s) for final review

Week 17: Proof corrections entered; “second pass” proofs generated

Week 18: Second pass proofs reviewed in-house and corrected; “third pass” proofs generated

Week 19: Third pass approved (in-house) for printing; final files sent to printer

Weeks 20-24: Printing, binding, and delivery to warehouse

Note that I said “ideal flow.” Projects can bottleneck; authors, editors, or other staff members have vacations or life issues, etc.; conferences happen. So we try to allow 32 weeks in our original scheduling. But more often than not, we hit the six-month mark.

I hope this gives you a bit of insight into why book production takes “so long.” Is it really such a long time, given the amount of quality assurance that enters into the process? Which step would you give up in favor of speed of delivery?

“Faster, better, cheaper—pick any two.” I’m not sure who said that first, but it’s certainly true in book publishing.

So, Borders is closing up several of its shops (including some Superstores in Chicago, I hear), severing ties with Amazon, focusing on its own online retailing. Question is, can Borders survive by books and music alone? Or what else is in store for this megalostore?
Pretty amazing how Amazon has gone far beyond being the online bookstore it started out as. Today, someone sent me this link. If nothing else, it certainly displays the charm of the “citizen” reviewer (be sure to read some of the over 900 “consumer reviews”…a coworker said this site has turned into its own “performance art” piece). I laughed til the Tuscan milk came out my nose.

We rarely change covers after a book is promoted. We did this time though. Judi Moreillon argued that we had missed the point when we designed a cover with a stock photo of a woman reading to children in a classroom. Why only one teacher? It’s all about the librarian being in a classroom with the classroom teacher. And she sent this picture. Well, I can’t say it won the day.

We don’t involve authors in our cover designs for a number of reasons. (Judi knows them.) I argued that she was being too literal, that the collaboration was “off-stage.” In the end, we went forward with a new cover with no photo. Judi believes teacher-librarians need to be true partners in reading instruction, in the classroom. This is what collaboration looks like. Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension: Maximizing Your Impact is due to be published in a couple weeks.

Today was our first weekly editorial meeting since conference. It took two full hours for Patrick, Laura, and me to give one another the lowdown on all of the current and prospective author meetings we each had during the conferences. Now that’s what I call a productive conference trip!

I saw one of our authors, Chrystie Hill, at the ALA Publishing reception at the Science Fiction Museum. I was very pleased to hear that she and Steven Cohen are in the final stages of writing Inside, Outside, and Online: Libraries Building Stronger Communities and Social Networks. They’ve been very productive as coauthors, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the complete manuscript.

I’m a subscriber to the Wall Street Journal. The day after New Year’s, groggy in the early morning darkness, I pulled the paper from its plastic sleeve and was shocked by the new format. “They shrunk my newspaper!” Though teasers had plugged a new design coming, I had forgotten. The Chicago Tribune had shrunk a few years ago. The Tribune Company claimed to want it make it easier for readers to handle the paper, but even a book publisher would know they were saving on newsprint.

On my train ride downtown, I read the special Reader’s Guide to the new design. I felt a bit of a geek as we pulled into the station, and I was still reading the special section, the newspaper about the newspaper. From “Publishers Letter: Embracing Change to Build on a Tradition of Excellence” to “Managing Editor’s Letter: New Look Same Journal Quality: Exclusives, Analysis and Insights” to “The Relevance of Good Design,” I kept reading. The Publisher wrote, “You now get updated throughout the day from many different sources, print and online. . . . We’ve re-thought the role of a newspaper as well as what you seek online. Your expectations of media have shifted, making this an era when you expect us to embrace change.” All publishers are grappling with the Internet and repositioning their formats. You get your professional information from many different sources, and you also have expectations that we embrace change. We think about what content is appropriate for the book format. We look for other ways to get our content out to you. This blog is one step in that direction.