The Role of the Editorial Director
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Handout version, September 2016
AP/WRIT 3004 3.0 (N) Books and Bookmaking in the 21st Century (Winter 2017)
Thursdays 2:30 – 5:30 Room: CB 115
Instructor: Geoffrey Huck, Ph.D. [email protected]
Instructor’s website: http://www.yorku.ca/ghuck/
General description: This course surveys the process of publishing a book from the evaluation of manuscript through the printing, marketing, and distribution of the final product. The structure and function of the organizational units of a typical publishing company – including acquisitions, editorial, production, art & design, rights & contracts, marketing, sales, customer service, fulfillment, and the business office – are examined. The focus is on both printed and electronic books, and attention is paid to technological developments that are changing not only how books are produced but also what constitutes a book, how it is written by writers, and how it is purchased, accessed, and read by consumers. Students participate in workshops in which they assume the roles of key personnel in a publishing company, Lion Cub Books, and learn how publishing decisions are made. Classes include lectures, discussion, and simulations.
This course is a prerequisite for AP/WRIT 4721 6.0 (Y) Book Publishing Practicum. Together, these courses constitute a sequence that culminates in the publication of a real book through Leaping Lion Books in the second year of the sequence (see http://www.yorku.ca/llbooks). Students in AP/WRIT 3004 prepare for the publishing roles they will assume in AP/WRIT 4721.
Learning objectives 1. Understand the organization of the book publishing industry 2. Understand the organization of the typical book publishing company and the roles played by key personnel. 3. Understand the forces that continue to shape the industry and are likely to drive demand in the market now and in the near future. 4. Understand the technological context in which changes in the book industry are occurring 5. Understand the substantive editorial contributions that publishers make to the content of the books they publish 6. Understand the significant design, production, and marketing decisions that publishers make that affect the way books are received, perceived, and sought out by readers 7. Understand why publishers make the decisions they make concerning the content, design, format, price, and distribution of the books they publish
1 Texts Required John B. Thompson, Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the 21st Century, 2nd Edition (2012, Polity Press) Chris Eyles, All for the Money, 2016, Leaping Lion Books. (= Text 1) Arthur Haberman, Wild Justice, MS. (= Text 2) Text 3 To be Determined
Recommended The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition (2010, University of Chicago Press). (Note that all York students should have access to the electronic version of the Chicago Manual of Style through their library account, so it’s not necessary to buy this book for this course.)
Course requirements: Grades are based on two quizzes (15% each, total 30%), three workshop memos (20% each, total 60%), class participation (9%), and a presentation (1%).
Tip for getting a good grade in this class: This should be an enjoyable course if you come to class, participate regularly and avidly, and do all the assignments on time and as directed. Read this syllabus carefully and often – most of what you need to know about how the course operates is here.
Please note that because an important purpose of this course is to prepare students for AP/WRIT 4721 6.0 Book Publishing Practicum, and because that preparation depends on learning through workshops about some of the complex decisions that publishing a quality book requires, it must be rigidly organized. Following the instructions in this syllabus closely should allow you to develop the knowledge you will need in order to successfully publish the manuscripts assigned in the Practicum in the allotted time during the 2017-18 academic year.
Readings: The Thompson book is designed to give you an introduction to the publishing world and the background knowledge you’ll need to make intelligent decisions in the workshops as well to prepare you for the Practicum. The three workshop texts are required reading for the workshops. Obviously, intimate knowledge of the workshop texts is necessary if you are to contribute meaningfully to a satisfactory publishing plan for them.
Brief description of workshop assignments: For each of the three assigned workshop texts, the class will be divided into teams representing the operating directors of a hypothetical publisher, Lion Cub Books. Although there will be a number of teams, for the purposes of the exercise each team is to assume that its members make up the entirety of Lion Cub Books and that there are no other teams or members of Lion Cub Books outside that team. The object for each team will be to come up with an integrated and persuasive publishing plan for the designated book. This means that the team will have to submit plans for allocating the budget and for editing, producing, and marketing the book, with each operating director responsible for his or her area of operation.
In the first workshop exercise, all students will work on Text 1 in their assigned teams. The second workshop will be devoted to Text 2 and the third to Text 3. The composition
2 of the teams may be altered for Text 2 and 3, so that you might have different teammates for those workshops. Ideally, each student will have the opportunity to fill the role of three different director positions (i.e., a different one for each text workshop) by the end of the course. Sometimes, however, because of the mathematics associated with the number of students in the course, this will not be possible and some students may be arbitrarily assigned to fill the same position twice.
For each workshop text, each team will have an assigned budget that may be augmented by special fund-raising activities. When a team reaches agreement on a comprehensive book plan, each member is to prepare a written memorandum to the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of Lion Cub Books (in this case, the course director), arguing for the portion of the proposed book plan in his or her area of responsibility.
An important part of each workshop exercise is determining how to allocate scarce resources so they have the maximum impact on the success of the book. Each director will estimate the costs of her/his particular plan on a worksheet that is to be distributed first to his/her other team members and, when agreement is reached, then to the course director along with the memorandum.
For the assignments concerning Workshop Texts 2 & 3, each director will have added responsibilities, as explained in the instruction section below
It should be emphasized that, for the purposes of the three memos and worksheets, each director must work together with the other team members to produce a persuasive, integrated total bookplan. If the directors can’t work together, that reflects poorly on each of them individually, and notice will be taken of that in grading. Each team, of course, is also competing directly with the other teams. The teams will be ranked according to the persuasiveness of their plans and that will figure into each student’s grade.
Presentations: During class on March 30, the members of each team will be scheduled to provide the class with an oral presentation of their bookplan for Text 3 (TBD). Each team will be given about 15 minutes to explain and boast about the great plan that they have come up with for that text. Thus, each team member will have only a brief few minutes to discuss the plan for the text in his or her area of responsibility.
Quizzes: Quizzes will test students’ knowledge of the assigned readings and the content of lectures, presentations, and class discussions. The first quiz will cover the assignments, presentations, and lectures through February 2, the second quiz from February 9 through March 23.
Rubrics 3 Memos (max. 20 points each) I Consistency 3- fully consistent with other team members’ plans 1.5- somewhat inconsistent with other team members’ plans 0- importantly inconsistent with other team members’ plans II Style 3- no stylistic errors 1.5- one or two stylistic errors 0- three or more stylistic errors III Content 4- contains all necessary elements
3 2- missing 1 or 2 minor elements 0- missing a major element III Argumentation 4 – very persuasive plan 2- generally persuasive, but with minor problems 0- not very persuasive IV Depth/breadth/originality of coverage 2- better than average 1- average 0- importantly defective in some respect V Team participation 3- missed no deadlines 1.5- missed one deadline 0- missed more than one deadline and/or removed from team VI Team rank (based on total team scores for I-IV above) 1- top half .5- top ¾ (i.e., between bottom quarter and top half) 0- bottom quarter Total = 20 possible points on each memo 3 memos X 20 each = 60 points 2 Quizzes (max. 15 points each) Each quiz will be worth 15 points and will consist of either all multiple-choice questions or a combination of multiple-choice questions and short-answer/essay questions. For the multiple choice questions, each answer will be worth 1/2 point. The short-answer/essay questions (if any) will be worth 1 point each. Thus, 2 quizzes X 15 points each = 30 points Class Participation (max. 9 points) 9 – contributed regularly and productively to class discussions (independently of team participation, which is calculated separately under Memos above) 6 - attended regularly, but contributed only occasionally to class discussions 3 - attendance spotty with occasional participation in class discussions 0 - have you dropped the course? Presentation (max. 1 point) 2- good / excellent 1- fair or absent without documentation & someone else read your presentation for you 0- poor or absent without documentation & someone else had to extemporize in your place
Computers and phones in class: For the three workshops, each team will require the use of a computer with WiFi (wireless) capability for access to the York web and Internet in the classroom. Students who have laptops should therefore bring them to class if at all possible. Any team in one of the workshops none of whose members has a laptop with WiFi will need to coordinate with the course director at least one week before the workshop or auction.
Instant messaging or texting or e-mailing or accessing social media during regular class time seriously degrades the learning experience not only for you but also for your fellow classmates because it can be a serious distraction. If you want to engage in any of those activities, please have the courtesy to do so during an announced break or leave the classroom. Class participation points will definitely be deducted up to the maximum (9 points) for the electronically discourteous.
Attendance: Any information conveyed by the course director in class (including the first class on January 5) will be assumed to have been received and understood by all class members. Material from lectures and class discussions may well inspire questions for
4 quizzes, and instructions may be given concerning exercises and events. If you miss a class, you should plan to get notes from one of your classmates. (You obviously won’t be able to get a full recapitulation of a missed class from the course director.)
If you are ill – especially if you are ill with a fever or any illness that feels serious to you – you should definitely stay home or visit a doctor rather than come to class. Even repeated absences from class discussions won’t result in a penalty if you have a note from a doctor or the York CDS (Counselling and Disability Services). Similarly, if you have a family emergency that keeps you from participating in several class discussions, you should try to get a note from a doctor or CDS.
It is essential for the success of this course that each student participate fully with each of his or her team members in the workshops and the presentations. If you need to be absent during any of these, you must coordinate with your teammates in advance so that their work will not be adversely affected. If a team’s progress in formulating its publishing plan is at all hindered by the absence, unavailability, or silence of a team member during a class workshop, that member’s team participation score will be marked down accordingly, unless it is due to illness or family emergency supported by a note from a doctor or York CDS. NB: Any team member who is absent from a class workshop without consulting in advance with his or her team members may be immediately dropped from the team at the discretion of the course director if the latter believes the team’s effectiveness is being compromised. In such cases, that team member will be replaced by the course director, who will, for the remainder of that workshop exercise, fill in for the dropped member. Any team member whose work is inhibited by the lack of participation of another member of the team is strongly encouraged to let the course director know so as not to lose points as a result.
Extensions: Writing assignments are due at the beginning of class on the date indicated. A nonmedical extension may be granted if the course director receives a student’s request at least ten days before the assignment’s due date. A medical extension will be given only in case of illness or family emergency supported by a doctor’s note or a letter from CDS. Papers turned in late without an extension will be marked down as follows: 1-2 days, 1 grade point (e.g., B+ to B); 3-4 days; 2 grade points (e.g., B+ to C+); 5-6 days, 3 grade points (e.g., B+ to C); 7 or more days, 4 grade points (e.g., B+ to D+). A paper not turned in by the last date to submit term work (April 5 for the Winter Term), will receive a grade of 0 (zero) on that assignment. Note that if you wish to turn in an assignment late, you may only do so by handing it in person to the course director or as an attachment to an e-mail message sent to him. Do not leave an assignment in the PRWR office or under the instructor’s office door.
Alternate arrangements for taking a quiz may be made if the course director receives a student’s request at least ten days before the quiz. Otherwise, an extension will be given only in case of illness or family emergency supported by a doctor’s note or a letter from CDS. If you are truly ill, it’s usually best to visit a doctor when you are able and get a note so that you can take the quiz when you are well.
For this class, I will not be able to sign a Deferred Standing Agreement for any component of the course, because so much of the learning depends upon teamwork and class participation. If you think you may need a DSA, you would do well to drop the course before the drop deadline (March 10, 2017).
5 E-mail etiquette: You may submit your memo assignments via e-mail to the course director with the following caveats: 1. Use your yorku.ca account to send any message that contains an attachment. Points may be deducted if you send a message with an attachment from any other account. 2. You should not consider your assignment submitted unless you have received an acknowledgment of its receipt. You should save that acknowledgment (as well as a copy of the original submission e-mail) in case a disagreement should arise about whether (and if so, when) the assignment was submitted. 3. You might not receive written comments on your e-mailed assignment, and the course director is not obliged to print it out for you. 4. Once you have submitted a paper by e-mail, please do not thereafter hand in a paper version of it unless asked.
Grades and re-evaluations: A student may request a re-evaluation of a grade on a memo or quiz only by submitting a hard-copy letter to the course director in person during class or office hours. Please note that subjectively determined marks (e.g., the distinction between “somewhat inconsistent” and “importantly inconsistent” or between “very persuasive” and “generally persuasive”) will usually not be re-evaluated. Note also that the style and quality of the student’s letter requesting re-evaluation will be taken into account in determining the final grade for the memo or quiz. Thus, the student’s grade could decline, improve, or remain the same.
Important Course Information for Students: All students are expected to familiarize themselves with the following information, available at the Secretariat’s Course Information for Students website: http://secretariat.info.yorku.ca/files/CourseInformationForStudentsAugust20121.pdf Academic Honesty and Integrity Access/Disability Ethics Review Process Student Conduct Standards Religious Observance Accommodation
Resources for students who have not yet had courses in copyediting, substantive editing, and/or book design The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition (2010, University of Chicago Press) Betsy Lerner, The Forest for the Trees, Revised & Updated Version (2010, Riverhead) James Craig, Designing with Type, 5th Edition (2006, Watson-Guptill) Timothy Samara, Design Elements: A Graphic Style Manual (2007, Rockport) Alexander W. White, The Elements of Graphic Design (2002, Georgetown)
6 Schedule:
Date Activities Topics (Readings)
Jan 5 Introduction: The publishing industry; book company organization, professional memos & e-mail Jan 12 The profession; chains & agents (Thompson 1-51, 59-77, 85-100) Jan 19 Big & small publishers (Thompson 101-18, 126-52,188-222) Jan 26 Shrinking windows (Thompson 238-70, 285-91, 313-52, 361-76) Feb 2 Quiz 1; The big squeeze (Thompson 292-312, 377-409) Feb 9 Text 1: 1st team workshop (Text 1 Eyles 1-95) Feb 16 Text 1: 2nd team workshop (Text 1 Eyles 97-178) Feb 23 No Class: Reading Week Mar 2 Text 1 memos due; Text 2: 1st team workshop (Text 2 Haberman I-II) Mar 9 Text 2: 2nd team workshop (Text 2 Haberman III-IV) Mar 16 Text 2 memos due; Text 3: 1st team workshop (Text 3 reading TBA) Mar 23 Quiz 2; Text 3: 2nd team workshop (Text 3 reading TBA) Mar 30 Text 3 memos due; Team presentations
Important Dates Jan 18 - Last date to enrol without permission of instructor Feb 1 - Last date to enrol with permission of instructor Mar 10 - Last date to drop course without receiving a grade Apr 5 - Last date to submit Winter term work Apr 5 – Last date to withdraw with a “W” on your transcript
Winter Reading Week: Feb 18-24
7 Instructions for Assignments: (Memos to the EIC)
Scenario: Lion Cub Books is a small publisher of trade books, primarily literary and genre fiction, biographies, histories, memoirs, plays, and film and sports books. You will assume that you are one of four to six operational directors of Lion Cub Books, and your supervisor is the Editor-in-Chief (EIC), who has just signed up three manuscripts for publication. Although enthusiastic about these manuscripts, the EIC admits to having not read them. The EIC asks the operational directors to participate in the creation of a persuasive book plan for the manuscripts that will result in their successful publication. Since this is a simulation, no books will actually be published in this class, but class members are expected to learn the procedures that would lead to publication if Lion Cub Books were a real publisher.
As indicated above, the class will be divided into teams of three or more operational directors each. The assignments will be handed out during the third week of class. Within each team, one member will be designated Lion Cub Books’ Editorial Director, another will be its Production Director, and a third will be its Marketing Director, who will also assume the role of Business Director. These are the core directors that every team should have. Some teams may have, in addition, a Rights & Permissions Director and/or a Web Director.
As one of the operational directors of Lion Cub Books, you are charged with the task of preparing a memorandum of 1 to 1-1/2 pages (single-spaced) addressed to the EIC recommending a plan in your area of responsibility for publishing each book. Thus, the Editorial Director will be concerned with creating an editorial plan, the Production Director with creating a production plan, and so on. However, the final plan you recommend in your memo to the EIC cannot be prepared without consultation with your teammates, because your plan will necessarily be integrated with theirs. That is, the individual publishing plans of the three directors should ideally make up a coherent and persuasive publishing plan for the book as a whole.
It is essential that each team develop a plan that is within budget. For all three texts the starting budget is $1,270. You are to assume that this is the amount of grant funding for each title provided by Canada Council for the Arts to Lion Cub Books and that no other funds for publishing the book will be made available by the EIC. However, each team also has the option of devising a money-raising activity to augment the $1,270. This activity, and the money you project to receive from it, must be realistic. For example, holding a bake sale in Central Square is realistic, but getting the mayor of Toronto to flip pancakes for you is not. You are to decide what is realistic, but remember that it has to be something that you are absolutely certain you can do. Your projection of the money that you believe you will receive from the activity must be equally realistic. You should support this projection with evidence (for example, you might be able to determine a realistic financial goal by asking an organization that held a bake sale last year in Central Square how much it actually raised).
8 Note that the $1,270 from Canada Council is the total that each team as a whole will receive from the EIC, not the amount each operational director on a team has to spend. Of course, if a team were to devise a plan that is under budget, that’s fine.
For Text 1, we will take the contents of an actually published book to stand for a manuscript that the EIC has signed up. That is, you are to assume that the text between the covers is simply a manuscript waiting to be published. You will have the advantage of seeing how the actual publisher of this book in fact published it: Just by looking at it you can infer something about the real publisher’s publishing plans. One stipulation of this simulation is that you cannot create a plan that mirrors what was actually done. Your task as a Lion Cub Books operational director and team member is to come up with a plan that would, if it had been adopted by the real publisher, have produced a better book than the one that was published.
The directors will use special worksheets to develop their plans. The worksheets, and notes on their use, can be found at the end of this document. These worksheets are to accompany the memos to the EIC.
After a discussion with their teammates about the book in general, team members will each decide what kind of plan they want to argue for in their area of responsibility and will fill in their initial worksheets accordingly. The Business Director (or the Marketing Director in the absence of a Business Director) tallies the initial worksheets to determine the total costs proposed at that stage. If the costs exceed the maximum budget allowed for a book, then the team members need to negotiate among themselves to come up with plans that don’t exceed the maximum costs allowed. After this negotiation, the Editorial, Production, Marketing, Web, and Rights & Permissions Directors will fill in their final worksheets and the Business or Marketing Director will tally them again. If members still can’t agree on a plan within budget and total costs exceed the maximum, then the Business or Marketing Director, in the report s/he prepares for the EIC, will recommend where cuts should be made. In general, although all directors are equally valued members of the team, for decision purposes the Editorial Director’s recommendation trumps the recommendations of the Production and Web Directors, the Marketing Director’s recommendation trumps the Editorial and Rights & Permissions Directors’ recommendations, and the Business Director’s recommendations trumps all others’.
For Texts 2 & 3, the requirements and procedures are exactly the same except (i) the texts may be unpublished manuscripts, and (ii) each director has additional responsibilities, as specified below.
Preparing a Persuasive Memo
Your memo to the EIC recommending a publishing plan in your area of responsibility will be graded more or less against a professional standard: If it would serve as a persuasive memo in a real publishing situation in an actual publishing company, then it should receive the highest possible grade. (However, this is not to say that your memo has to display all the knowledge and professional wisdom of someone who has spent many years in the business.) What makes a memo persuasive is the judicious deployment of cogent facts and logical conclusions derived from uncontroversial premises. If you can imagine new strategies to edit, produce, or sell the book without adding to its cost, so much the better. The style of the memo is also crucial in lending credibility to its author –
9 if there are many misspellings and grammatical solecisms, the memo is less likely to persuade (and points will be taken off). Beware of empty statements not backed up by evidence: “I personally feel this book could sell a lot of copies” is not persuasive. Nor are your own personal reactions to the book of overwhelming interest – it’s not necessarily the case that if you liked/disliked the book, so will everyone else in the world. It’s more persuasive to say, ‘The humour in this book is very similar to that in Amy Sedaris’s I Like You, which currently ranks #385 on Amazon.ca’s best-seller list, and the author has a platform because of his previous success as a writer of a popular blog” than “I enjoyed the humour in this book.”
If at all possible, compare your book with similar books in print. The Production Director will want to research what has been done by other presses with books like this. What kinds of design features are found in comparable books that have sold well? Does the book need photos or drawings? The Marketing Director will want to know if competing titles were published in jacketed cloth or original paperback. How well have they sold? What sorts of advertisements were used? Is the title satisfactory, given the competition? The Editorial Director will want to compare the writing in the book with that in similar books. How much work, if any, needs to be done to bring the book up to their standard? The Web Director should check the web sites of other presses, noting how they promote their books on their sites. The Rights & Permissions Director needs to know not only what permissions will be needed to publish the book and how much they’ll cost, but also how other presses have sold derivative rights to other companies (film rights, audio-book rights, bobble-head dolls, etc).
Remember that there is no “correct” answer for any of the items on the worksheet, nor are there “correct” or “incorrect” recommendations or plans. What matters most is the persuasiveness and inventiveness of your arguments.
As suggested above, you should limit your memo to 1 to 1-1/2 pages. Longer memos in a business situation often are not read carefully. Try to be clear, concise, and orderly. Check your memo carefully for grammatical and spelling errors. Include your worksheet(s) with your memo.
The Role of the Editorial Director
The Editorial Director is responsible for the content or the “meat” of the book. Is that content sufficiently stimulating (or informative, or insightful, or provocative, or humorous, or terrifying) to attract a sizeable audience? Who will want to buy a book like this? Why will people want to pay good money to buy a book like this? As it’s written, will it appeal to this audience? What could be done to improve its appeal in this regard? For example, could the writing style be improved? How? Are there sections that are less effective than others? Should sections be added? What about organization? Does the book need an index or glossary or maps or drawings or photographs? You will have to use your own judgment to answer these questions. But you can get some hints about similar books through a judicious web search (e.g., go to
10 Quire and Publishers Weekly to find out what kinds of books publishers are publishing and how they’re going about it. (These are all activities that professional editors regularly engage in.) If you want to recommend that your author add material to or subtract material from the current manuscript, not only will you need the author’s permission, but you also must indicate in your memo what you will do if the author declines your recommendation. Consequently, you will have to prepare worksheets that accommodate both possibilities. You should assume that Lion Cub Books has no in-house substantive editors or copyeditors. Furthermore, because you have limited resources, the cost of hiring a freelancer to take on editorial tasks will be prohibitive. You will have to do any copyediting or substantive editing that you believe is necessary. If you think substantive editing is necessary, then in order to demonstrate that you can in fact undertake this task successfully, you will need to submit with your memo a sample of your substantive editorial work on the manuscript. For Text 1, this sample can be as short as three pages, but it must show that you can do what you say needs to be done. For Texts 2 & 3, the Editorial Director has extra duties, viz. copyediting 6 pages of the manuscript. This should be the first 6 pages of the first chapter. You should use standard copyediting symbols for your copyedit if you can. Again, if you are recommending a substantive edit, you should fully demonstrate both your substantive editing skills and your copyediting skills in these 6 pages. You must print out these pages yourself and complete your copyedit in pencil on the printed pages to hand in. Do not submit an electronic copy of your copyedit.
The Role of the Production Director
The Production Director is responsible for all physical aspects of the book (trim size, paper, binding) and often the way it looks (typography and design) as well. A cheaply produced book, such as a mass market paperback, may well begin to fall apart after a single reading, while an expensively produced book, such as a Smyth-sewn hardback with acid-free paper, should last for decades, even centuries. The more colour in a book and on its cover or jacket, and the more illustrations and photographs there are, the more costly it will be to produce (though it will probably look better). Longer books cost more to produce than shorter ones, because paper is expensive. Hardcovers, especially those bound in cloth and sporting a separate dust jacket, cost more than paperbacks.
The Production Director also handles the production of electronic files for the publication of e-books or other electronic content. Since there are several different formats for e- books, a decision must be made as to which to make available. The relationship (if any) between the specifications for a physical book and those for an electronic book must also be considered. (In this exercise the cost for e-publication is specified and you are give three options for the trim-size of the printed book.)
Design, as indicated above, may be an important responsibility of the Production Director (and in our exercise, it definitely is). They say you can’t tell a book by its cover, but market studies show that people are responsive to how well-designed a book is. A striking cover can catch the eye of someone skimming books in a bookstore. A handsome interior can lend authority and significance. Internal decorative illustrations can set a tone for the text. In general, books that look forbidding or are poorly or sloppily
11 designed are less likely to sell well; those that are attractively designed and illustrated do better. Often, the higher your production budget for a particular book, the more likely will it be that that book will turn out to be an attractive product. At the same time, it is essential that the book be produced according to a budget that all directors have agreed to. Thus, much of the work of the Production Director involves coordination with the editorial, marketing, and business departments to determine appropriate specifications.
For Texts 2 & 3, the Production Director has extra duties, viz. preparing an actual cover design for the book. You may draw this design freehand or use any design or drawing software to prepare it (but note that you shouldn’t attempt to e-mail the course director any files other than .doc or .docx or .pdf files). For Text 1, the Production Director should describe what will go on the cover. S/he may also provide a drawing, but it is not necessary to do so.
The Role of the Marketing Director
The Marketing Director’s job is to promote the book to the public. You want to ensure that most people who are likely purchasers will know about it and will be motivated to buy a copy. You’d also like to bring the book to the attention of the much larger market of potential purchasers, with which the marketing department acts as primary liaison. In a sense, the marketing department creates the market for the product by imparting to the public information about it that will result in sales. Meanwhile, the sales department tries to convince bookstores (physical and on-line) to display the book for their patrons. (The business department’s customer service and fulfillment divisions, which play no role in this exercise, are responsible for liaison with people who have already decided and are taking action to purchase the book.)
The Marketing Director’s interests are best served when a large number of copies of a particular book are sold and when those sales exceed editorial and business department expectations. While the Editorial Director will generally hope to see a large marketing budget for his/her books (because s/he wants the marketing department to be excited about the book), the Business Director may not want to throw money at a book that most agree is not going to sell well. If the Editorial Director is an optimist and the Business Director is a pessimist, the Marketing Director has to be a realist; s/he realizes that company-generated publicity can only do so much. What really makes a book fly off bookstore shelves is “buzz,” i.e., word of mouth, and that’s largely out of the marketing department’s control. While the marketing department can send copies of the book to a periodical’s reviewers, it can’t insure that the periodical will run a review, or that, if it does, the review will be positive. The Marketing Director will also be skeptical about the power of advertisements in major media: they’re very costly and the return on investment isn’t always known, although most web advertising campaigns allow you to track “click-throughs.” A large advertising budget cannot make people buy a book they don’t want. What marketing prefers is publicity targeted to the market segment (or “niche”) most likely to purchase – what it calls the “slam dunks”: let them know the book is available and they will definitely buy. People who loved the last book by Stephen King are already on the lookout for the next one. To identify this market segment, the Marketing Director will rely on known sales of existing books similar to the one in question. If you know how many copies the last book by Stephen King sold in the various market segments, you can make an informed guess about where and how to advertise. If you know how many copies another publishing company’s recent first novel
12 in the style of Stephen King sold in each market segment, you can guess where the audience for your author’s first novel in the style of Stephen King lies, and so on. As Marketing Director, you will certainly want to adjust your expectations concerning your book to take into account the actual performance of similar books that have already been published.
The Marketing Director is also responsible for identifying, and submitting the book for consideration in, the prize competitions it is eligible for. A book that wins a prestigious prize will almost certainly receive a promotional and sales boost.
The Marketing Director knows that only a very small percentage of trade books sell very well. The vast majority are lucky to break even. They are published to fanfare and twelve months later have to be remaindered or pulped because only a few people have bought them. Still, when you have a hot property that just may be one of those breakthrough books, you want to give it an appropriately major push. Bookstores pay attention to your publicity plans – if you don’t have a large promotional budget, that probably will be interpreted as a vote of no-confidence in the book, and the bookstore may decide not to order any copies. Similarly, the major media can’t review every book and often rely on the prominence of the author and publisher and how much publicity is planned for a particular title before deciding whether to have someone review it.
Nowadays, more and more marketing is done through cross promotions and web campaigns that may not cost anything. By joining with external partners such as a wine company or with Air Miles, you can sometimes get free and valuable publicity. The Marketing Director’s job is to figure out who the appropriate potential partners are and to persuade them to join in the campaign.
For this exercise – and, indeed, for all workshops in this course – you are to assume that you are publishing for the world market in the English language only. The distribution and sales of your book (the Business Director’s concern) will be through Lightning Source worldwide. If you want to advertise your book in any international market, you need to consider the costs of doing so.
For Texts 2 & 3, the Marketing Director has extra duties, viz. writing the text that will go on the back cover of the book. This should include a compelling summary or lead-in to the contents of the book and a short biography of the author.
If a team does not have a Business Director, then the Marketing Director must assume the Business Director’s functions in addition to his/her own. However, the Marketing Director is not responsible for the Business Director’s extra duties for Texts 2 & 3.
The Role of the Business Director
The Business Director’s primary task is to ensure profitability of the operation as a whole. In a typical publishing company, the Business Director will have overall responsibility in a number of areas that won’t concern us here (operation of the warehouse, fulfillment, customer service, royalty payments, etc.). For our purposes, the Business Director’s involvement in the exercise will be to evaluate the recommendations of the other three directors concerning the manuscript, to ensure that that the math in
13 their worksheets is correct, and make a final recommendation to the EIC that integrates them all and that offers the best chance for profit. All sales of physical books to bookstores will be print-on-demand through Kobo and Lightning Source.
Although Lion Cub Books won’t itself print any physical copies of the book for sale, the Business Director (together with the Production Director) will plan to simulate the printing of 45 physical copies of the book for complimentary presentation to class members, members of the faculty and administration, and the author. In addition to these 45 copies, the Marketing Director may propose additional complimentary copies to be printed for potential reviewers or give-aways. The printing fee for all these copies must be calculated. The Business Director should also ensure that all fees charged by Kobo and Lightning Source for distribution are included in the budget. (Here we will assume a fixed fee of $185 for each book, which will be accounted for on the Production Director’s memo.
The Business Director does not especially care whether a particular manuscript is, from her or his personal perspective, “good” or “bad.” S/he is a numbers person: either the numbers add up or they don’t. However, s/he will be interested in how persuasive the publishing plans of the other directors are, especially if in the aggregate more costs are entailed than the budget allows. In that case, s/he will have to either (1) persuade one or more of the other directors to change their plans and lower costs, or (2) make a recommendation to the EIC that dissents from the recommendations of his or her teammates. If the latter, the Business Director’s judgment will prevail in this exercise.
Nevertheless, the Business Director is charged with the same task as the other directors, which is to prepare a persuasive memo for the EIC recommending a plan for publication. (Only in this case, s/he will be concerned with the overall book plan, not simply one operational aspect of it, as the other directors will be.) The principal question to be answered is: What is the best book plan possible for the book, the one that develops the inherent potential of the book to attract its widest audience, given the budget, and how can we implement it?
Most importantly, the Business Director has overall responsibility for the project as a whole. He or she certifies that the numbers and calculations are correct and complete in all team members’ worksheets and that the book plan is sensible and workable. (An error in the Production Director’s worksheet is equally an error in the Business Director’s worksheet, and both will be held accountable for it.) The Business Director also must ensure that the book plan is coherent and consistent. If the Editorial Director and the Production Director differ in their ideas about what should go on the cover or whether to include photographs, then that is a problem that the Business Director is responsible for straightening out.
The Business Director is also responsible for the timely submission of the team’s book plan. She or he must ensure that there is efficient and effective communication among team members and should prepare a written timeline for all members of the team, indicating when worksheets and memos are due. A copy of this timeline should be included with the Business Director’s memo. When a submission is received from a team member, the Business Director will indicate the time and date of receipt of the submission. In cases of dispute, the Business Director’s judgment will prevail. If a team member is delinquent in submitting a worksheet, the Business Director may elect to give that member a 24-hour warning, after which time the task of filling out the
14 worksheet may be performed by the course director. (The Business Director would then make a note of this delinquency in his or her memo to the EIC. Of course, this applies only to worksheets – each team member remains responsible for the preparation of his or her own memo, even if, because of delinquency, the worksheet has been prepared by someone else.)
In general, it will be wise to allow ample time for submission and circulation of worksheets among team members. The preliminary worksheets should be circulated during the first week after the first workshop, the final worksheets during the second workshop, and the memos during the week after the second workshop. This is most efficiently done if all members are present during both workshops and remain in the workshop until all questions have been resolved.
For texts 2 & 3, the Business Director has extra duties, viz. writing a second memo concerning how the team might raise additional funds to cover publication and further advertising costs. Use your imagination, but note that the activities should be something that students at York on the team could actually carry out, such as a bake sale. Don’t suggest impossibilities or implausibilities (such as asking the vice-chancellor of York to flip pancakes for you). If the Marketing Director has assumed the responsibilities of the Business Director in the absence of the latter, then the Marketing Director can ignore the Business Director’s extra duties for Texts 2 & 3. However, the Marketing Director is still obligated to perform his/her own extra duties.
The Role of the Web Director
The Web Director is responsible for the publishing company’s website and for the presence of each of its books on the web. While the Marketing Director may be responsible for paid advertising of a particular book on the Internet (e.g., Google Ads), the Web Director will set up the page(s) on the company’s site devoted to that book and will also be responsible for publicizing the book on free social media like Tumblr, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. Thus, the Web Director usually has a very limited budget, often restricted to give-aways of free books on sites like GoodReads. However, the importance of the job can’t be overemphasized. So-called viral marketing is extremely important for publishers these days, and the Web Director who can’t get her books mentioned on the web is simply not performing satisfactorily.
For Texts 2 & 3, the Web Director has extra duties, viz. preparing a plan and design for the Lion Cub Books web page for the book. You don’t need to design the entire web site or even the home page of the web site – you’ll only need to design the page for the book in question. For guidance, look at the Leaping Lion Books web site (www.yorku.ca/llbooks) and go to the pages for the individual books. You can assume that Lion Cub Books will have a standard format and template for each of its web pages (banner title, side menu, footer, etc.), which you can ignore or include, as you prefer.
The Role of the Rights & Permissions Director
The Rights & Permissions Director is responsible for all matters involving copyright, both rights that Lion Cub Books licenses from other presses and rights that other presses license from Lion Cub Books. You are to assume that the EIC has secured a signed
15 contract with the author for rights to publish the book in both print and electronic form in the English language throughout the world. However, if the author has included material that someone else (or some other publisher) has copyrighted – such as a map or a photo or a painting or a table or lengthy quotations – then Lion Cub Books (or the author) will have to pay for that material. Similarly, if another publisher wants to use material from a Lion Cub Books publication, then that other publisher will have to pay Lion Cub Books.
The Rights & Permissions Director has to keep a scrupulous record of all rights to be sold and bought for any particular book published by Lion Cub Books and the amount owed or promised for those rights. The R&P Director will also advise editorial, marketing, and business about the costs of licensing material that others own as well as potential income from the sale of rights that Lion Cub owns to others.
For this exercise, the opportunities to sell rights are necessarily going to be limited or nonexistent. The most important task of the Rights & Permissions Director will be to ensure that rights that need to be purchased by Lion Cubs Books are accounted for.
For Texts 2 & 3, the Rights & Permissions Director has extra duties, viz. preparing an additional memo discussing the potential for derivative works (audio books, instructor’s manual and student workbook for textbooks, television and/or film adaptations, and so on).
16 Book Economics for Cost Estimating
Example
List price: $22.95 trade paperback Discount: - Discount (42%): $ 9.64 trade paperback- 42% = Net price: $ 13.31 - Royalty (10% list): $ 2.30 Author royalty: - Unit cost: $ 4.25 no royalty in this exercise = Gross margin (GM): $ 9.06 GM%: 68.1%
GM% = GM divided by Net Price Breakeven minimum 64% Profit minimum 68% If Man. Costs = $21,250 Manufacturing costs: And Print run = 5,000 copies plate (fixed) includes: Then Unit cost = $21,250 divided by 5,000 = $4.25 composition (Man. Costs divided by print run = unit cost) alts plates (Note: Gross margin is sometimes also blues called Contribution to overhead.) jacket prep
stock (varies by print run) paper presswork binding cover freight postage
17 Notes on the Editorial Worksheet The trim size of a book is the size of a book page once the paper sheets it comprises have been printed, folded, sewn or glued in a binding, and trimmed (this is called the “book block” on casebound books). While the paper stock used in printed books comes in a variety of sizes, some sizes are standard, reflecting the capacity of typical presses. Some standard trim sizes are 5” X 7.75”, 5.5” X 8.5”, and 6” X 9”, but other dimensions are possible. A designer may choose a nonstandard trim to impart a special effect or to accommodate certain typological or illustrative features. For example, art books and children’s books often use nonstandard trims to better display the type of artwork they contain. Naturally, nonstandard trim sizes are more costly to produce. While the Editorial Director doesn’t design the book, s/he will propose an appropriate trim size after conferring with Production and Design. Books whose word count is smaller than normal will sometimes be produced in a smaller size (5” X 7.75”), often with larger type and fewer words per page, so the book won’t appear too “thin.” In general, the larger the type, the more legible it is and the more it will appeal to a general audience. The smaller the type and the more words per page, the more limited the audience. For Texts 1 through 3, you are limited to three trim sizes: 6” X 9”, 5.5” X 8.5”, and 5”X 7.75”. In addition, in this exercise you do not have options for different type sizes: for a 6” X 9” book, the average number of words per page of full text is set at 350; for a 5.5” X 8.5” book, the average is 300; and for a 5” X 7.75” book, the average is 250. The cost to produce a book is very much influenced by its length. You will need to carefully estimate the total number of pages in the book to get a realistic idea of your typesetting and printing charges. This is called a “cast-off” and will be used by the Production Director to calculate the cost associated with format and length. Illustrations are costly both as regards the rights to reproduce them and as regards the printing costs. While printing costs are in the province of the Production Director, the Editorial Director (or the Rights & Permissions Director, if there is one) is responsible for the copyright fees. In the absence of an R&P Director, you are to assume a copyright registration fee of $50, and if the author does not supply them himself or herself, any drawings, paintings, or photographs in the book will cost $100 apiece for permission to print them in your book. (This is separate from the production set-up fees for photos, drawings, etc., which are to be accounted for by the Production Director.) Note that you can’t simply say that you or one of your teammates will provide illustrations yourself: if you are not buying illustrations from a professional source, you have to prove that you have the professional ability to produce them yourself by including an example with your memo. Royalties are usually a matter of negotiation between the Editorial Director and the author (or the author’s agent). For the purposes of this exercise, however, you are to assume that the author has signed a contract stipulating no royalty with no royalty advance. The index for a nonfiction professional or scholarly book is usually the responsibility of the author, but in a trade-publishing context, the index is often sent out to a professional indexer. You are to assume that the author’s contract specifies that the publisher will prepare an index at the author’s expense if it deems one is necessary. Of course, for novels, plays, and poetry, an index is rarely required.
18 Similarly, a glossary is usually the author’s responsibility. You are to assume that the author’s contract specifies that the author will prepare a glossary at his/her expense if the publisher deems one is necessary. Trade book publishers almost always use professional freelance copy editors and proofreaders if required. Occasionally, an assistant editor or intern will be asked to proofread a book if it’s running behind schedule, but this is the exception to the rule. At Lion Cub Books, the Editorial Director is responsible for copyediting and, as indicated above, no freelancers can be hired. If you feel that the writing in the book is good and all that’s needed is a light rewrite of a few sections – maybe a slightly fuller description of a minor character in a novel or an expanded explanation of some facts in a biography or memoir – then you would normally just suggest these changes to the author (and indicate that you will do so in your memo to the EIC). If the manuscript needs substantive editing, then at Lion Cub Books that will have to be done by the Editorial Director. If it’s your sense that the book needs a lot of work and none of the strategies above are appropriate, then your only option may be to cancel the contract. However, for the purposes of this class, you and your teammates are not permitted to offer a recommendation to cancel the contract, since that would leave your team with nothing to do. You must assume that the project will go forward.
Finally, as indicated above, if you are recommending additions to or subtractions from the existing manuscript, you will have to indicate what you will do if the author refuses and prepare different worksheets reflecting the different circumstances.
Notes on the Production Worksheet
An all-type cover design is the cheapest to produce, but a photo or illustration may convey much more easily than words can what a book is about, especially if the author’s work is not well-known. A striking image can also attract browsers at a bookstore. And just because budgeting for a photo or illustration generally gives a designer more flexibility to produce high-quality work, the Production Director would prefer it whenever possible.
A full colour (usually called 4-colour) photo or illustration is often more compelling than a 1, 2, or 3-colour photo or illustration. First novels published by major publishers hoping for a sizeable audience frequently have 4-colour covers, where black-and-white photos only rarely are effective. In general, a designer has more options when more colours are available, so again, a Production Director will try to find money in the budget for as much colour as possible. The Base unit cost on the Production Worksheet assumes a 4-colour paperback cover and back cover. However, this does not include either the $0.06 set-up cost for each colour image used on the cover and back cover or the permissions fees to use them.
While commercial publishers may publish cloth-bound books with sewn bindings, Lion Cub Books (like Leaping Lion Books) produces only paperback editions, with glued bindings. The cost for these is included in the Base cost.
19 A designer can place an illustration on the glued endpapers of a book to enhance the design. This is an especially good place to put an important map or an image that is the theme of a book. Sometimes simply using coloured paper for the endpapers of an edition can lend some elegance to it. This can be simulated in a paperbound edition by printing the inside of the paper cover in a solid colour. If the Production editor chooses this option, and additional $.60 should be added to the unit cost for both front and back endpapers (note: you can’t have a printed front endpaper without a printed back endpaper, and vice-versa).
Some cover designs call for embossing or special metallic inks, which make a book stand out, but are also costly. Lion Cub Books does not emboss its covers or use metallic inks.
Decorative images can make a title page quite handsome. A motif used on the cover can be repeated on the title page to enhance the design. Similarly, a motif can be extended to chapter and/or part opening designs. This kind of addition often adds to an otherwise plain design. If these motifs are common typographical symbols (such as those that can be found in the font library of Microsoft Word), then there is no cost for them.
Inexpensive paper, like newsprint, which typically contains acid, will yellow and become brittle over time. High-quality paper these days is acid-free, and ecologically conscious Production Directors prefer to use recycled paper whenever possible. Lion Cub Books uses acid-free, recycled paper, and this is included in the Base unit cost.
In addition to its print edition, Lion Cub Books also produces an electronic version of its books for distribution and sale by Kobo and by Lightning Source. Both Kobo and Lightning Source use the digital file to print on-demand paperbacks, and Lightning Source also makes available, though Amazon, a Kindle version. Kobo distributes an electronic version that is compatible with Sony Reader and other devices. The cost to Lion Cub Books for these two services is $185, which must be included in the total production costs.
Notes on the Marketing Worksheet
Print run usually determines the advertising budget, which in turn will determine how many advertisements can be placed and where. However, the Marketing Director has some discretion in assigning the budget, although at Lion Cub Books all marketing money comes out of the team’s total budget.
The Marketing Director’s job is to decide how to promote a book to the buying public through ads, author appearances and tours, and other publicity events. Today there are two types of advertising to consider, print and Internet-based. Ads in major media (whether print or electronic) cost a great deal and require a large budget. Targeting a niche audience generally requires only a small budget (a single ad in a metro gardening association’s newsletter, say, or one in the program for a local sailing regatta), but if the size of the niche you’ve identified is small, then targeting only them ensures small sales. If, in addition to niche publications, you want to advertise in some medium-circulation magazines for the book trade (perhaps Library Journal or Quill & Quire) and some small trade or literary magazines (Geist, Brick, and others), you could assign a moderate advertising budget. A large budget could pay for ads in the Globe and Mail, NOW, etc.
20 Since Lion Cub Books’ budget is very small, niche publications are really the only alternative.
To find the cost of an advertisement in either a print or an electronic publication, look on the publication’s website for a link to a page for advertising. Often you will see something called a “rate card,” and this tells you how much the publication charges for various kinds of advertisements. Often, abbreviations are used that are not transparent (for example, “CPM”) – use the Internet to see if you can decode these abbreviations. If you think you’ve discovered that a quarter-page ad in the Globe & Mail or the New York Times will cost you only $26 for six months of continuous exposure, you’ve definitely miscalculated. (Make sure you understand the difference between a classified ad, which usually consists of only two or three lines of type and is probably useless for book advertising, and a space ad, which could fill a quarter page or more.
Some publicity for books is virtually cost-free. Social networks (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, etc.) are important avenues for publicity but cost almost nothing. Of course, an ad in these media will be not be free, though possibly still manageable. These will usually fall into the province of the Web Director, though the Marketing Director is responsible for paid advertisements in Facebook, Google, GoodReads, and other media. These days, publicity via social networks is virtually mandatory. The catch, however, is that you have to attract hits (or views, or whatever). Merely sending an e- mail message to your Aunt Jane may not result in many sales. But clever campaigns, especially those known as “viral marketing campaigns,” can be enormously successful. It just takes some inventiveness.
Reviews are also important. To receive a review, the Marketing Director has to plan to send out free copies of either the printed book or advance reading copies (so-called ARCs) to media reviewers. This is, obviously, an expense to the publisher, though here the costs of printing and mailing review copies are calculated on the Production worksheet and become part of the unit cost. Lion Cub Books sends out printed copies only – no ARCs.
Finally, consider submitting your book for literary prizes. There are prizes for all genres, and winning a prize can obviously translate into vastly increased sales.
Notes on the Business Worksheet
The Business Director will tally the worksheets of the other three directors twice. When the Editorial, Production, and Marketing Directors turn in their initial worksheets, the Business Director will check for accuracy and then tally them and compare the total costs with the maximum allowed. If the total costs exceed the maximum, the Business Director will propose adjustments to his/her teammates during the following discussion. When the three other directors give the Business Director their final worksheets after the discussion, s/he will check and tally them and again compare the total costs with the maximum allowed. If the total is less than the maximum and the Business Director is satisfied that the plan altogether is the best plan for the book, then no further adjustment needs be made. But if the total again exceeds the maximum, then the Business Director will use the worksheet to work out a further adjustment of the costs that does not exceed the maximum. The Business Director will then prepare a memo for the AP making a recommendation along these lines. (The other directors will have to stick with the plan
21 represented by the final worksheets they gave the Business Director.) Any discrepancies among the figures in the worksheets must be detailed in the Business Director’s memo.
In the “After Publication” section of the worksheet, there is a separate and independent exercise which does not depend on any of the figures that have to this point been calculated. Here you are to assume that your printer will print additional copies of Text 1 for $5.50 each and of Text 2, Text 3, and Text 4 for $4.65 each. These are copies that you will sell to bookstores at a 42% discount from list price. (There is no author royalty in this exercise.) Use these figures to determine list price, net price, and GM%, as indicated on the worksheet.
Notes on the Web Worksheet
Unless you plan to give away copies as part of a promotion or contest on a social media site, you probably won’t have any expenses. But you do need to detail what your plan is for promoting the book on the Lion Cub Books website as well as through any free social media. Note that just indicating that you’ll use Twitter won’t cut it – you need to say precisely what sorts of things you’ll say on Twitter. How will you get followers? If you want to use Facebook or Tumblr, exactly what content will go there? Who will see these pages and why will they want to access them? The more specific and detailed you can be, the better.
The point is that the Internet is full of useless information that no one bothers to look at. It can also be enormously productive as a tool in selling your product. In your memo, you’ll need to be very clear and persuasive about why it will be worthwhile to exploit these resources.
Since the Marketing Director is responsible for paid advertising, the Web Director will not accrue these costs, even if the advertising is on the Internet. The Web Director may specify a social media campaign involving the give-away of books, but the costs for these additional books will have to calculated as part of the Production Director’s duties. Thus, in this exercise, the Web Director should indicate no costs on his/her worksheet.
Notes on the Rights & Permissions Worksheet
It is essential to ensure that you have accounted for all costs of publishing in the Lion Cub publication any material that is copyrighted by others. This includes any photos, drawings, tables, charts, or text that originated in another publication, either print or online. Breach of copyright is a crime, and you don’t want to suffer the penalty that will result if you’re not extremely careful.
If you do want to include in the Lion Cub book material that was copyrighted elsewhere, you will need to estimate the cost. For this exercise, you are to assume that any photo, drawing, figure, or table will cost $100 in order to acquire the permission to reprint it in your book. Of course, if the author supplies photos, drawings, etc. that he or she created, then these are free to Lion Cub Books, but again for this exercise you are to assume that the author will supply no illustrations. However, if you or any member of Lion Cub Books plans to supply such materials (by drawing the images yourself, or taking photos, etc.), then those materials will be free. But in that case, you will have to
22 provide at least a representative sample of the drawings or photos with your memo to the EIC to ensure that they are of the appropriate quality.
In order to register copyright of the manuscript in the author’s name, the cost to Lion Cub Books will be $50.
Note that type fonts can be copyrighted. If you plan to use a font supplied by Microsoft or is otherwise specified to be free on the web, that’s fine. But if you find a special font that is under copyright, you should add a cost of $1.00 per printed page of the book. (So if the book contains 210 printed pages, you will need to add $210.00 to the R&P costs.
It’s unlikely that you will have any income from selling rights to material in the Lion Cub books publication. But if you can demonstrate persuasively that you will, you should indicate it.
23 SAMPLE EDITORIAL MEMO
Lion Cub Books
Date: March 5, 20XX
Memo to: EIC
From: Allan Neutrino, Editorial Director, Team 1
Subject: Derek Hatfield, Introduction to Sailing for Pleasure for Beginners
Derek Hatfield is probably Canada’s most famous living sailor, one of only about 120 courageous people worldwide who have ever sailed around the earth alone. In his last “Around Alone” race, he finished third in a field of nine, the only Canadian to complete the event. His new manuscript (as its title indicates) is a primer for pleasure sailing for the novice sailor. As he says in his preface, he hopes his book will soon gain a reputation as “an ideal introduction to the sport.”
There are several “learn to sail” books already on the market. In Canada, according to the Canadian Yachting Association (CYA), the most widely used is Sven Donaldson’s Basic Sailing Skills, published by the CYA in 1991 (120 pp.) and touted as “The Official Manual of the CYA ‘White Sail’ Standard.” The CYA also publishes Basic Cruising Skills, by Gillian West (205 pp.). The CYA represents over 250 sailing clubs, most of which teach sailing to beginners with Donaldson’s book. (Sailing is also taught countrywide in secondary schools and camps.) On its website, the CYA suggests that about 50,000 Canadians begin sailing each year.
Mr. Hatfield’s book appears to cover the subjects included in both CYA books except sailing under spinnaker and basic safety procedures; I would recommend that the author be urged to add chapters on these topics.
The current manuscript contains 25 chapters and would make a book of 195 total pages in a 6 x 9 trim size including front matter, back matter, blank pages, and 75 illustrations, each averaging 1/3 page in size. With the addition of the two chapters mentioned just above, I calculate that the final printed book will make a total of 210 pages in 6 x 9 trim including front & back matter, blanks, and 81 illustrations. All 81 illustrations are in the public domain, since they come from a 1921 Canadian government publication on sailing. I am including some samples of these illustrations and believe they will be satisfactory for our book. (I assume all internal images will be black & white and the cover will be 4-colour)
The writing is serviceable at its best. There are many unfortunate phrasings (“Sipping a cup of cocoa, the mast loomed high above me.”) Transitions are often awkward (“Now that you’ve set the main sail, belay the main sheet on a cleat and check the boom vang. Meals are prepared in the galley. The head is also down below.”) Too often, the author assumes more knowledge about terminology and technique than a beginning sailor would possess (“Make sure the pintel fits snugly in the gudgeon.”) These are problems that I will address in editing the manuscript. I am attaching a sample of the pages containing such phrases with the kind of editing I propose indicated.
24 The title is clunky and should be improved. I suggest that the marketing department consider Go Sailing! An Introduction by One of the World’s Foremost Sailors.
Both CYA books are paperbacks priced at $19.95 and are internally heavily illustrated with line-drawings. Ours will require equivalent features to compete. Although the Canadian market by itself may not be large, if Mr. Hatfield’s book sells moderately well through Lightning Source in the U.S. as well, we can probably justify the time, effort, and expense expended on this book. (In the U.S., books comparable to Basic Sailing Skills and Basic Cruising Skills are the U.S. Sailing Association’s Basic Keelboat [2003, 91 pp., US$16.95], ranked 70,269 at Amazon.com, and its Basic Cruising [2005, 128 pp., US$17.95], ranked 205, 118 at Amazon.com.)
I will need to meet personally with Mr. Hatfield to present our editorial plan if it is approved, since it involves major editorial work including the addition of two chapters. If Mr. Hatfield declines to add the two recommended chapters, I believe the book will still be successful because the author is so well known. I have prepared a second editorial worksheet for such an eventuality.
We will need to have a freelancer prepare an index and a glossary of sailing terms and charge the cost to the author. The author has also suggested we consider a “self-test,” which both CYA books include, though together with the index and glossary this would add another 10% in length. At this point, I don’t see a need for a “self-test,” since our book will not be specifically aimed at CYA courses. I therefore have not prepared a third editorial worksheet including figures for a “self-test.”
I recommend that the editorial plan suggested here be approved and that we move forward with the project as indicated.
25 SAMPLE PRODUCTION MEMO
Lion Cub Books
Date: December 21, 20XX
Memo to: EIC
From: Susan Quark, Production Director, Team 1
Subject: Derek Hatfield, Introduction to Sailing for Pleasure for Beginners
The Editorial Director’s cast-off suggests a book of 215 pages in 6 x 9 paperback trim. Total paperback copies to be printed are 57 (45 + 10 marketing review copies + 2 web give-aways). We won’t use printed end-papers, because we decided that the benefits won’t justify the cost. Final unit cost is $14.87, and total production costs are $1,032.59. This leaves only $137.41 for the other directors, but the team has agreed that this is adequate.
For the cover design, I want a striking photo of the author alone in his boat in high seas. The image will bleed at all four margins. The picture should convey that the author is fully in control of his boat (after all, the book is supposed to be about sailing for pleasure for beginners). Above all, the author should appear to be having a wonderful time. Since the author has provided more than 1,000 images to choose from, I think we should be able to find the appropriate cover photo.
I want the predominant colors to be blue and gold on the cover – blue for water and gold for the sun. We may use reddish-orange for the title if it works with the photo.
In accordance with the Marketing Director’s wishes, there will be space for a single two- line blurb at the top of the cover (but given that the cover will already be fairly busy with the photo image, the title, subtitle, and author’s name, I’d definitely advise no more than that).
The 6 x 9 trim-size should allow for generous margins and a comfortably large font.
26 Editorial Worksheet
Name: ______
Team: ______
Text ______
Date: ______
Preliminary _____ Final ______
A. # words (text) in manuscript or existing book:
B. # words per proposed printed page (text): (trim size 6 x 9: 350 trim size 5.5 x 8.5: 300 trim size 5 x 7.5: 250)
C. total printed pages if text runs continuously without no space (= A/B):
D. allowance for partial pages at beginning of chapters (= # of chapters X 0.5):
E. allowance for partial pages at end of chapters (= # of chapters X 0.5):
F. allowance for illustrations in text (= # of illustrations X 0.5):
G. front matter: 8 pp.
H. total pages in proposed book (= C + D + E +F + G):
I. # illustrations in proposed book (including cover) Color: B&W:
J. # pages of illustrations in proposed book (not including cover):
K. Permissions costs for illustrations (= # illustrations X $100)*: $______
L. # pages of quotations, tables or other material in proposed book ______
M. Permissions costs for quotations, tables, or other material (= $100 per half page)*: $______
N. Copyright reg. fee ($50)*: $______
O. Total editorial costs: $______
*if not accounted for by another director
27 Production Worksheet
Name: ______
Team: ______
Text ______
Date: ______
Preliminary _____ Final ______
Print costs Paperback Trim multiplier (print) 6 x 9 1.2 5.5 x 8.5 1.0 5 x 7.5 0.9
# Pages Base unit cost (print) 16-176 $8.00 177-224 $9.00 225-512 $10.00
A. Number of copies to be printed (= 45 + no. of marketing review copies & web give- aways):
B. Illustration set-up costs (production cost only, does not include permissions fees; this cost is independent of the number of copies printed) Colour (including cover): $.06 per illustration = $ B&W: $.03 per illustration (including cover) = $
C. Shipping costs ( =$1.00 per book X (10 books for author + no. of marketing review copies)): $
D. Final unit cost (print) (= (Trim multiplier X Base unit cost) + (Illustration set-up costs + (Shipping costs/no. of copies to be printed))): $ Add $.60 per unit for printed end-papers: $
E. Print production costs (print) (= Final unit cost (print) X no. of copies to be printed): $
F. Electronic costs (Kobo: $60 + Lightning Source: $125): $185
G. Total production costs (print costs + electronic costs): $
28 Marketing Worksheet
Name: ______
Team: ______
Text ______
Date: ______
Preliminary _____ Final ______
Print promotion Media name $ amount 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Electronic promotion Media name $ amount 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Review copies Media name (Costs to be calculated on Production Worksheet) 1.
2.
29 3.
4.
5.
6.
Total marketing expenses (not including review copies): $______
30 Rights & Permissions Worksheet
Name: ______
Team: ______
Text ______
Date: ______
Preliminary _____ Final ______
Copyright registration: $50
Illustration & other permissions fees:
______
______
______
Total R&P cost: $______
Projected income (if any) from sale of rights owned by Lion Cub Books:
______
______
______
Total R&P Income: $______
31 Web Worksheet
Name: ______
Team: ______
Text ______
Date: ______
Preliminary _____ Final ______
Detailed description of treatment of book on Lion Cub Books website: ______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
Detailed description of treatment of book in free social media (including any give-aways):
______
______
______
______
______
______
32 Business Worksheet
Name: ______
Team: ______
Text ______
Date: ______
Preliminary _____ Final ______
Part I
Prepublication Editorial expenses: $______
Prepublication Production expenses: $______
Prepublication Marketing expenses: $______
Prepublication Rights & Permissions expenses: $______
Prepublication Web expenses: $______
Total Prepublication Expenses: $______
Part II
After publication book P&L Book list price: Discount: Net price: Unit cost: Gross margin ($): Gross margin (%):
33