Publishing

[NW Mailing List]

Nothing better than a lively discussion. The good news is I now know people
are reading our NWHS books. The better news is I now have a few volunteers
for proofreading and a more than a few suggestions on how to handle errata
sheets.

First, all suggested corrections will go back to the original author for
comment and acceptance.

Second, printed errata sheets, as a minimum, can be stuffed into a scanned
book before it is sent out. On the branch line series of books we can
correct errors and publish the book as a new edition.

Third, I will look into how we can post errata sheets on the website. It is
not the technology, but the style of presentation we have to think about.

Fourth, it is up to you who think there is an error to advise the NWHS of
it. You can always email me at aschust2 at comcast.net 

One of the reason we went to small quantity printing is so we could deal
with issues like this. We normally print the branch line books in quantities
of 50 to 75. As we sell out we print more. While this results in a higher
unit cost per book, it avoids a large fixed cost that has to amortized over
hundreds of books. It also avoids a potential large inventory of unsold
books.  Re-prints are done the same way. The books are scanned and then
printed in quantities of 50 to 75.

Thank everyone for your comments.

Alex Schust

-----Original Message-----
From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org
[mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 9:51 PM
To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Subject: Re: RE: Publishing

Alex,
 
This is true in acedemic writing and publishing.  For both my wife's and my
Masters papers, it depended on who was reading them and what checker was
used the corrections that were asked for.  Now that I am puruing my
Doctorate, the differences are even more varied, even between the english
teachers I have check the papers at the high school I work at.  Technical
papers are the worst because of the particular nuances for each specialty.
What is proper grammer in one discipline is wrong in another.  I default to
APA but that does not work for books, so I would rely on what an editor
decides.  As for any percived errors, unless there is absolute proof, the
author is correct.
 
Kurt s. Kramke


On 01/03/13, NW Mailing List wrote:




Kim,



First, with both spelling and grammar, copy editors have different
approaches as to what is correct and I have had one professional copy editor
making changes to another professional copy editors work with respect to
grammar. Typos are generally easier to deal with but sometimes it depends on
the style guide being used. Word/publishing programs will highlight
questionable words or phrases, but you then have to decide how to proceed.
As an example I spell coalfield as one word where many publications will
spell it as two words. Another example is state names. I used to use post
offices abbreviations such as WV for West Virginia and the copy editor
agreed with it. However the Associated Press Style Book says not to use
them, but it is ok to use W.Va., but in some circumstances you should use
the full state name. Rather than trying to remember all of the rules for
state?s names (there are eight you never abbreviate) I now simply spell out
the entire name.



Another example is some copy editors use No. 1948 without a space, or
No.1948. I have done it both ways, but generally stick with the space
between No. and the numerals as recommended by the style guide. You are
supposed to spell out numbers one through nine and start using numerals at
10, but it is ok to use numerals such as 1, 2,3 etc. under some
circumstances. So there is some latitude in what you do.



Hyphenation can be an issue and you have to deal with the issue of dash, en
dash and em dash and non-breaking space which takes you back into grammar
issues. Software programs will normally highlight every hyphenated
word/phrase as an issue, but doesn?t offer advice on how to proceed. I have
had one copy editor use a dash, en dash and em dash in the same sentence. As
an example MP I-19+3458 which the N&W used on some documents and MP I-19.65
on others. In most of the writing we attempt to be consistent with N&W
nomenclature.



Many graphic artists work in pica points whereas I work in decimal points.
That affects some perceived grammar issues such as paragraph indentation.
Some copy editors prefer to indent the first paragraph of a new section,
others don?t and start indentation at the second paragraph. There is the
question of how much space between a heading and the first paragraph.
Depending on the line space that can add one or two pages to a chapter which
can add any multiple of pages to a book which then adds to the cost of a
book. Sometimes you make choices that are questionable, such as abbreviating
Company as Co. in a heading in order to save space. 



So the short answer is software programs will highlight words and phrases
that should be looked at, but the author/copy editor must decide how to
proceed. On the other hand sometimes you just miss stuff even though you
have been over a page multiple times. Errors are easier to spot once a book
or article is printed.



Alex Schust








From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org
[mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 8:48 AM
To: NW Mailing List
Subject: Publishing



Up front I know absolutely nothing about publishing. However in this day and
age of software, I don't understand spelling and grammar errors - for a new
book. Somebody with some insight care to educate us?

Thank you.

Kim
Huntsville

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