A Workshop on Copy Editing and Publishing, was organised by Chevalier T. Thomas
Elizabeth College for Women, on 09 January 2015. The workshop threw light on the various facets of publishing and copyediting, with
interesting inputs by distinguished veterans in the field, Mrs.Nalini
Olivannan, Director, Emerald Publications, and Mrs.Nandhini Iyengar, Senior
Copy Editor with Oxford University Press.
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| Dr. Nalini Olivannan |
The various aspects of Publishing starting from Commissioning, where the publisher decides on the
need for a particular book and approaches a writer for the same, to the process
of Editing, Production, Marketing, Distribution and Sales were touched upon
with illustrations from each domain.
Mrs. Nalini also elaborated on the book-editing process, and stressed upon the need for the
writer-editor sync' which is instrumental for the book to see the light of day
in the shortest possible time.
After the publisher sends it to their Editorial team (who are a list of subject experts),
to see if the content of the book fits into their publishing programme, it is
then sent to the Developmental Edit section, where the content is developed and
sifted for errors. From here, it goes on to the Illustrations department,
followed by the line-edit, and then the final manuscript is drawn up.
Outlining the four stages in the production process, namely, Copy
Editing, Proof-reading, Design & Layout, she said that each category of
books requires a separate approach to all these four stages. For example, a
book for toddlers cannot have more than three to five lines in a page, etc,
while a book on self-motivation normally has a font that is 12 in size, with
other similar criteria.
The Contracts & Legal Department takes care of the Royalties, Copyrights, etc, she
said, and she also highlighted the various terms involved in publishing trade
(it is not an industry, but a trade, said Ms. Nalini).
 |
| Dr. Nandhini Iyengar |
Dr. Nandhini spoke on the process of
copy editing, and the
various prospects that are available for copy editors. "Editing, is the
cleaning up of a manuscript", she quipped, and added to say that,
"the manuscript must be properly clothed, before it sees the light of
day!"
Highlighting the various errors that happen in the realm of Language, like
Sentence construction, Grammar, Vocabulary, etc, she said that although copy
editing can help you read a lot on a variety of topics, it is important for the
editor to cultivate a right attitude towards his manuscript, as, the whole
process is obviously a lonely job.!
Dr. Nandhini
also dwelt at length on the various nuances of copy-editing, with illustrations
given out through work-sheets. "There should be a visible improvement in
the manuscript in terms of grammar, structure, tone and clarity, and there
should be no missing elements such as Tables and Figures. Moreover, the chapter
should be homogeneous in style and tone, with no jerky transitions between
sentences or paragraphs" she observed, and gave a few pointers on making
changes to the work. "Changes should be made only to correct mistakes, and
not because you think you can improve the text. Also, remember that the text is
the author's and it is her/his privilege to write in a particular style. In
addition, one should also alert/query the author about major changes," she
said. Dr. Nandhini ended on a positive note by saying that, "In addition
to the language skills, the editor must cultivate the right attitude and learn
to enjoy doing something that is often frustrating and appears boring. At the
same time, an editor gets to read many interesting and informative books that
others may not have had a chance to read. This is ample compensation for a
long, arduous and largely anonymous contribution to the world of
publishing", she signed off.
In short, the workshop was highly commendable and immensely useful to the hundred
odd students (that includes five of our own students from the I MA class), and
staff who had come from various city colleges for the programme which was
organised in collaboration with the Chennai Literary Festival.
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