BUSINESS MEETING NOTES:
June 2004
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Publishing
SIG
BUSINESS MEETING NOTES: June 2004 |
At the business meeting June 21 in Lake Tahoe, members of the Publishing SIG held a sort of "editors' swap meet," in which we shared advice, success stories, failure stories, horror stories, recommended reading, nods of agreement, sighs of sympathy, and "been there too" peals of laughter with other like-minded folk. Evidently the joys and frustrations of publishing - and a love for the language - span the SIG, and hence the nation and globe.
Here's what happens when Word Geeks Congregate:
1. Diane Bowen of Texas meant to recommend a book by Joseph M. Williams, Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, which goes beyond punctuation and grammar rules and gives guidelines on how to make sentences clear as well as elegant. It is a wonderful book for editors struggling to make technical information easier to understand. However, the book title she actually mentioned was Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing by John Trimble, which is also excellent.
2. Andrea Dailey of Oregon said her department has begun requiring proposal submissions from authors. This publication scheduling system has enabled her group to:
4. Elinor Ruark of Georgia asked for information about for-sale publications and on-line sales. She wants to know how other states are doing that, how they're handling credit cards, etc.
5. Jim Coats of California recommended the Huenefeld Guide to Book Publishing, which explains budgeting, scheduling, acquiring publications, marketing, organization, business practices and many useful rules of thumb for those who publish books.
6. Gloria Holcombe of Kansas recommended When Words Collide: A Journalist's Guide to Grammar and Style because it discusses grammar in plain English. It has helped her explain grammar rules to authors in a way that they can understand.
7. Bob Holcombe of Kansas asked for advice on how to deal with an author who stands behind the editor to watch his manuscript being edited. Tips included:
10. Judy Winn of Texas described a nontraditional cover design created by a graphic artist for a publication on feral hogs. Judy had thought that the very conservative authors would nix the cutting-edge design, but they loved it. She said she was glad that she hadn't followed her instincts to ask the artist for a more traditional cover to send to the authors.
11. Sandy Clarke of Iowa told of a high-quality glossy publication that was fine on proof from the printer, but in the printed copy, all the formatting (boldface, italics, etc.) had fallen out. She said she learned to ask a lot of questions of the printer when sending electronic files.
12. Lisa Jasa of Nebraska had a similar tale of woe: They sent the files for a 10-page newsletter to the printer, and it came back all in italics!
13. On the other hand, Mark Stadtlander of Kansas got help from one of his printers. He took a half-fold publication they'd been doing for 10 years and asked the printer how it could be done better. The printer said that if he took 1/2 inch from the width and 1/2 inch from the length, he could save $440. What a hero!
14. Amy Hartman of Kansas advised making sure the tech people understand that being able to communicate in English is just as important as knowing C++. It's helpful when coworkers literally speak the same language.
15. Kevin Smith of Purdue recommended "Grammar Traps," a feature of an electronic newsletter with communication tips and information produced by the Purdue Ag Communications department. It's a fun read, short and to the point, and it's distributed to all Extension employees. The url: www.agriculture.purdue.edu/agcomm/traps.html.
After the conference, Kevin sent the following note:
For the rest of the "On Target" newsletter, which may (or may not) be of interest, the link is www.agriculture.purdue.edu/agcomm/ontarget/index.htm. The author of Grammar Traps is Laura Hoelscher (although the authorship will likely rotate in the future). "Grammar Traps" is a regular feature of the Web-only publication "On Target. " "On Target" has been published since 1995 and is sent to Purdue Extension educators and those working in Purdue's School of Agriculture. "Grammar Traps" is a great resource because it treats common grammar and usage problems in a light-hearted style, it's succinct, and offers fairly straightforward solutions.
16. Linda Ulrich of Nebraska recommended the website Testy Copy Editors, saying it's one of the funnier copy editing sites. It's at testycopyeditors.org/.
17. Mary Ann Reese of Idaho told of a campaign her department waged to change the name of their college magazine from "Programs and People" to "Grow Magazine." They made wonderful mockups and got buy-in from deans and directors, only to learn that a small college affiliated with the Church of the Nazarenes already had a magazine by that name. The magazine publisher was adamant that Idaho could not also use the name.
18. Helen White of Texas recommended The Elephants of Style by Bill Walsh. She also told of an annual conference brochure she worked on. The graphic designer cut and pasted copy from the previous year's files. Once printed, part of the brochure had the conference located in Lubbock and another part had it in Houston. The press operator caught the mistake.
19. "Pleasure reading for word geeks" is how Glenda Freeman of Alabama characterized another of Bill Walsh's books, Lapsing into a Comma.
20. Meg Ashman of Vermont recommended these two items on crediting sources of information:
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Thanks to all who contributed to this exercise!
--Diane Bowen, former chair of the PubSIG
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