Old & New Editorial Processes (4)

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.

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