February 23, 2013
Old & New Editorial Processes (4)
Translation and / or Copyediting
Once a manuscript has been included in a publication plan there are two possible steps: publishing it in its original language or translating it into another. If translation is decided, this is the next step. If not, manuscripts are copyedited.
Translation
Translators, like authors, had to follow, and still follow, the same editorial requirements when presenting their own translated manuscripts, [1] since original and translated manuscripts are both copyedited in the editorial department.
Copyediting
Copyediting manuscripts is the first and most important part of the editorial process. When planning the production of a book, it has always required more time than any other process, since it includes a careful and detailed read-through of the text looking for errors in spelling, grammar and syntax, [2] and introducing editorial style.
Before PCs, copyeditors did their work on double-spaced typewritten manuscripts, and made their hand-written corrections between the lines.
With computer-generated manuscripts, their work can be done exactly that same way on hard copy. Corrections are introduced later in their electronic versions. Or they can be copyedited directly on-line in a PC.
On-line copyediting has three basic advantages: it saves time, it considerably increases a copyeditor’s productivity, and it eliminates previous processes.
These changes will be discussed later, after we say few words about the next immediate step: book cover, interior design markup, and illustration. [3]
[1] That is, before PCs: two readable copies of the manuscript to be typeset, cleanly double-spaced and typed in standard-size good-quality paper. Now, with PCs: two keyboarded complete computer-generated double-spaced printed copies of the manuscript in standard-size good-quality paper with their electronic version in magnetic disks, CDs or DVDs.
[2] For example: orthographic errors, dangling or misplaced modifiers, faulty parallel construction, overuse of words or phrases, redundancies, unclear antecedents, verb-subject agreement, word repetition…
[3] Cf. “Old & New Editorial Processes (1)” February 2 2013; “Old & New Editorial Processes (2)”, February 9 2013; “Old & New Editorial Processes (3)”, February 16 2013.
February 16, 2013
Old & New Editorial Processes (3)
Reading the Manuscript to Determine Its Publication
This was, and still is, the most important step in the whole process of book publishing. This is a part of the editorial process that, basically, has not changed much. Reading the submitted manuscript is an evaluation to determine if it has the necessary merits for publication. It also helps to determine where it fits—if it does—in the editorial policies of the publisher.
This evaluation, though, has never been enough. Once the editorial department has accepted a manuscript as a possible future publication, the production department should determine its cost, and the sales department must determine its possibilities in the book market. Most of this market study has always been done in consultation with librarians, who, after all, are in direct contact with the reading (buying) public and are interested in acquiring a particular number of copies of a successful good-selling book.
Roughly speaking, when a manuscript arrives in an editorial department its future depends on its literary quality, its cost-benefit analysis, and its market-oriented forecast.
Once a manuscript gets a positive response from these three evaluations, the next process is its translation or its copyediting, or both. [1]
[1] Cf. “Old & New Editorial Processes (1)” February 2 2013, “Old & New Editorial Processes (2)”, February 9 2013.
February 9, 2013
Old & New Editorial Processes (2)
The Editorial Department Receives a Manuscript
When authors send their manuscripts to publishers and submit them for publication, they are asked to comply with certain rules. That is what manuals of style are for. [1]
Before PCs, these rules included some requirements for manuscripts that basically asked that they should be complete. That means that they should have included all the parts of the book. [2]
Most publishers used to ask two readable copies of the manuscript to be typeset: an original typescript for evaluation, editing, copyediting and markup, and a carbon copy for design and production planning. Manuscripts submitted were to be cleanly double-spaced and typed in standard-size good-quality paper. More details can be found in manuals of style.
Now with PCs, these requirements have changed with computer word processing. Most publishers now ask two readable complete copies of the manuscript—called print outs—: a keyboarded copy for evaluation and editing, a second keyboarded copy for design and production planning, and their electronic version in magnetic disks, CDs or DVDs for electronic or on-line copyediting. Markup will be done later on a new copyedited printout. Complete computer-generated manuscripts submitted should also be double-spaced and printed in standard-size good-quality paper. Other details can be found again in manuals of style.
If in either case the author’s manuscript was or is accepted for editorial processing, then the next step was or is to read it in the editorial department to determine its publication. [3]
[1] Cf. “Manuals of Style (1), September 22 2012; “Manuals of Style (2), September 29 2012; “Manuals of Style (3), October 6 2012; “Manuals of Style (4), October 13 2012; “Manuals of Style (5), October 20 2012.
[2] These parts are: title page, table of contents, preliminary texts, full text, back matter (appendix, notes, glossary, bibliography, and index), captions and legends, and tables and illustrations.
[3] Cf. “Old & New Editorial Processes (1)”, February 9 2013.
February 2, 2013
Old & New Editorial Processes (1)
In the past—until the introduction of PCs—editorial processes were a lot more complex and slow. They followed more or less the following sequence:
1. The editorial department receives a manuscript.
2. It was read to determine its publication.
3. Translation.
4. Copyediting.
5. Book cover, interior design markup, and illustration.
6. Galley typesetting.
7. Galley proofreading.
8. Page makeup.
9. Page proofreading.
10. Press sheet preparation.
11. Press sheet checkup.
12. Printing and binding.
PCs have substantially modified both processes and timing in the following way:
1. The editorial department receives a manuscript.
2. It is read to determine its publication.
3. Translation.
4. Copyediting.
5. Book cover, interior design markup, and illustration.
6. Electronic page makeup.
7. Page proofreading.
8. Press sheet preparation.
9. Press sheet checkup.
10. Printing and binding.
I will continue posting about this.
[Image: Jost Amman: Der Buchbinder (The Bookbinder), 1568, engraving.]
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