Welcome to the Nonfiction General Reading Zone!
This page presents general reads.
A Day in the Life of an Editor. There is a difference between an editorial role for a book and an editing role; I was part of both teams in various organisations. In editorial roles, one is responsible for the theme and structure of the book and completion of the publishing process in coordination with various teams. In the context of books, manuscript editing involves comprehensive work. There is a difference between the spoken language and writing. In the latter, there is more focus on the sentence structure, grammatical correctness, and tense consistency. There are comprehensive style guidelines in place. There is a concept of a native or first language, which can determine the writing skills. Accordingly, the editor determines the level of editing required for a manuscript. Due to the large number of books, major publishing houses have in-house editing as well as outsourcing. If an editing work is outsourced, it is important to review and make further corrections required to make the manuscript suitable for publication. Editing is done in the track change mode and the next stage involves coordination with the author to crosscheck that editing has not changed the intended meaning and seeking clarity wherever required. It further requires ensuring completion of the publishing process by reviewing the book in the typesetting stage, ensuring proofreading or reviewing proofreading, as well as final checks during the printing stage. Proofreading is different from editing. Proofreading involves comparison with the edited document, incorporating minor changes if required, checking and correcting minor errors and misses. Proofreading is usually done when we have the printed or soft copies of the typeset version. Both the aforementioned may reduce work for the subsequent editions of the book and allow focus on the new changes. Typesetting is again different from printing. Books come in different sizes. Typesetting requires setting the written document as per the typesetting style rules and the size of the book. Crosschecks are made at the individual chapter level as well as of the entire typeset version. When the typeset version of the book is approved, the final work is sent for printing and publication. Hence, the roles in major publishing houses are comprehensive in nature. Apart from the formal experience earlier, I am editing my own authored books now. In the dual role of an author as well as an editor, there is always a tendency to be perfect. That reduces work later on. However, sometimes it’s important to let the words flow so that thoughts and written words are in sync. Then one can get on with editing wherever applicable.
The Days and Times of Being an Author: This will come sometime later. Different genres require different ways of thinking and writing. Every book is a journey.
