Week 7: The end of the long road, it is now a book!

Last week before READING WEEK! We prepped for this week with 2 more chapters from Greco and 1 New York Times article. All of which touched ground on the process of how a book is made.

This week:

• We began by reviewing some mistakes made in the book publishing assignment BECAUSE it is time for another one. Keep in mind for week 8 the Periodical Case assignment is due. (Also, we did go through the Periodical Publishing Case Study instructions).
• Then we picked up where we left off last week with the cruel news that not many authors get the chance to pay their bills just from writing.
• After that, we began on some new content. What are the publisher’s duties when it comes to the process from manuscript to product. We revised how they manage contracts, P&L accounts, organization, approvals, budgets, and meetings. As well as how they oversee the design production, marketing, and sales.
• We got more into the book design by watching a TedTalk from Chip Kid, (a funny guy who apparently has a watery mouth and distracting crooked glasses). Who actually has an interesting position on the rise of E-books. And I think we all agree does a fantastic job designing book covers.
• Moving on, we looked at layout designers, printers, and production choices, (just in case if they ever want to do a mechanical bound to your book, take a right and start running). Also, took a quick look at the POD and how it had a great idea in theory but was not as successful in real life.
• Marketing and Sales, Tip Sheets, Galley, and ARC. As well as retail sales of books and National Sales.
• Finally, Promotions of the book, book fairs, conferences, and literary festivals.

And with that, we successfully covered the whole road a manuscript must go through to become the final product!

The industry not only keeps growing but also keeps evolving. Yet there are some things that remain the same, like the worth a physical book can have. Getting to know how much work is in the making of one makes me want to smell a book even more and hug a book even harder. But since E-books and the internet are in the picture now. Does this mean the process is of more value? Should physical books cost more? Or less? Or should the steps be minimized or even let AI do them? How does self-publishing even compare to publishing a book with a contract? Should we let the internet do it all? Since the internet is such an accessible tool for all and with a few clicks we can access pretty much everything and everything we desire. Is the industry taking into consideration all of the works that are out there for readers and is the impact the way we want it to be?

Something to reflect on:

If it is such a long way to go from manuscript to product. And If it goes through so many people in the process, should self-publishing be considered “publishing” properly?

For next week:

READING WEEK!

But for week 8:

Readings for this week are:

• “Twinkle Twinkle”, by Stephen Marche
• “The Automation of the Publishing Industry”, by Gideon Rosenblatt

And there is an Assignment due before next class:

• Periodical Publishing Case Study

DON’T FORGET

Have a great reading week and see you in class!