Journal
Notes from inside the press: how a book gets written, edited, designed and published.
119 items, page 4 of 6
Writing
Scene and summary in narrative non-fiction
Narrative non-fiction borrows scenes from fiction, but it must earn them from evidence. How to balance dramatised moments with honest summary.
Editing
Exposition in speculative fiction without the info-dump
Readers of fantasy and science fiction will work to understand a new world, provided you do not make them sit through a lecture first.
Publishing
Legal deposit, and why your book goes to the British Library
Publishing in the UK comes with a legal duty that many new publishers do not know about. It is simple to meet and it puts your book in the national record.
Publishing
Metadata is not marketing
Categories, keywords and the description do a duller job than a campaign, and they do it every day for years.
Production
Hardbacks: case laminate and dust jackets
A hardback's design is either printed on the case itself or wrapped around it as a jacket. Each approach changes how the book is designed and made.
Design
What goes on a copyright page
The copyright page is small print, but it does real work: legal notices, bibliographic data and the details that booksellers and libraries rely on.
Writing
Grief as the engine of a plot
A death can start a story, but grief has to keep it moving. How loss becomes a plot rather than a mood.
Editing
Adverbs are not the enemy; stacked modifiers are
Deleting every word ending in -ly will not fix flat prose. The real problem is usually a pile-up of modifiers doing a verb's job.
Publishing
What pre-orders are for
Pre-orders are not only early sales. They are a signal to retailers, a planning tool for the publisher and a way to give interested readers somewhere to go.
Design
Designing a cover for a thumbnail
Most readers first meet a cover at the size of a postage stamp. Design for that size, and the full-size version tends to look after itself.
Design
Widows and orphans
A stranded line at the top or bottom of a page is small, but readers feel it. What widows and orphans are, and how typesetters remove them.
Editing
Authenticity reads: what they are for and what they are not
An authenticity read can tell you where a portrayal rings false. It cannot tell you whether you are allowed to write a book, and it should not try.
Editing
How to read an editorial letter without despair
The first read of an editorial letter is for feelings. The useful reading comes later, and it goes in a particular order.
Publishing
What producing an audiobook involves
An audiobook is a separate production, not a by-product of the print edition. It needs rights, a script, a narrator, careful proofing and its own ISBN.
Production
Trim sizes and what they tell a reader
Before a reader looks at the cover, the shape of a book has already told them something. Trim size is a design decision, not only a technical one.
Design
Drop caps and raised initials
A large initial letter can open a chapter with real presence, or look like an afterthought. How drop caps and raised initials are set well.
Writing
Portal fantasy: why the door matters
In portal fantasy, the way a character crosses into another world tells the reader what kind of story it will be. The door is never just a door.
Editing
Decide once: serial commas, capitals and other house choices
Many style questions have no right answer, only a consistent one. The skill is in choosing early and sticking to the choice.
Publishing
Proof copies for reviewers
Proof copies are sent before publication so that reviewers, booksellers and others can read in time. How and when they are sent matters as much as the book.
Design
When the title is the image
Some of the strongest covers carry no picture at all. Here is what it takes for type alone to hold a cover.