EDITING AND PUBLISHING

ALE B205

Editing is a stage of the writing process in which a writer or editor strive/s to improve a draft by
correcting errors and making words and sentences clearer, more precise, and as effective as
possible. The process of editing involves adding, deleting, and rearranging words to cut the
clutter and streamline overall structure.

Editing involves making revisions to and suggestions about the content of a document. It includes
improving the accuracy of language, the flow, the organization and structure, and the overall
readability of the text. It also involves checking for grammatical and spelling errors.

In other words, editing involves a detailed review of a document while making additions, deletions,
or other changes to conform to a specific, agreed-upon standard in order to prepare the document
for a specific audience. A document should be edited at least once before it is proofread.

Editing has come to mean various things over the years, and even within different publishing
houses, the term can be used to cover a multitude of individual tasks. Within newspapers and
periodicals, the terminology shifts still further.

But let’s not get bogged down there today. In so far as it relates to what you, the author, can do at
the drafting stage, ‘editing’ is:

Copy editing: This is the stage where you check that what you’ve written makes grammatical
sense. Is that brilliant idea conveyed in a way that people can actually understand it? Do your
subjects and verbs agree? Is there a consistency of style? A key example of what to look out for
here is what kind of English you’re using. Is it American English, British English, or the beautiful
Irish hybrid that is Hiberno English? This will have all sorts of impact on grammar as well as
spelling. Consider this sentence.

In British English: Shall we take the dog for a walk?

Page 1 of 76
And now in ‘Irish English’: Will we bring the dog for a walk?

Neither’s wrong. In fact, they’re both right. But what matters is consistency. If you’re writing in
one form of English or another, stick with it and readers won’t be distracted by it. If you keep
flicking between different spellings of ‘color’ and ‘colour’, to use another example, or ‘I’m on
holiday’, ‘I’m on holidays’, and ‘I’m on vacation’, you’ll lose your reader’s attention. As I
doubtless have here.

Proof reading: Often confused with copy editing, proof reading is the science of going through a
manuscript with a fine tooth comb to make sure that the correct letters are in each word, that all
capital letters are where they should be, and that the book is, from a mechanical standpoint at least,
error-free. It sounds obvious, but it’s amazing how quickly the brain corrects mistakes without us
absorbing them. This is what proof reading aims to avoid. One ages-old trick for successful proof
reading is to read the text backwards, so that you’re not fooled by the context of the individua l
words and can, instead, ascertain that they’re spelled correctly.

Structural edit: This is critical to your first draft. Does the story make sense? Are the characters
coherent (and necessary)? Is the plot plausible? How’s the pacing? How’s the dialogue? Are there
consistent themes throughout the book? How can we improve upon this?

So what are you looking for when you are editing your own work?

 A strong opening – the hook that will keep the reader turning the pages.

 Clear Point of View – ensure that you are not head hopping, that you stay in one characters
remember they, cannot know what another character is thinking, but they can see their facial
movements and body language and interpret these.

 Show Don’t Tell – ensure you are using action and dialogue in each scene to move the plot
forward and describe the scene.
 Believable dialogue: no information dumping or characters telling each other what they
already know for the benefit of the reader. Read your dialogue out loud to ensure it flows. Try

Page 2 of 76
 and convey, the way dialogue is delivered through the words spoken rather than using dialogue
tags, adverbs or qualifiers (e.g. he bellowed, and see below the note on exclamation marks)

 Ensure the reader knows who is talking at all times

 Ensure there is conflict, resolution and change for every character

 Flashbacks – keep them short, use sparingly

 Check for the repetition of words/phrases or events – they can jar the reader out of the story

 Delete exclamation marks – the guideline is one per chapter

And make sure you use paragraphs – either block paragraphs with a full line between each one, or
the first line of each new paragraph indented. Speech marks are also vital to show who is speaking
and when.

As an author, it can be incredibly difficult to see inconsistencies in your own work, be they
structural or typographical. Asking a friend to edit for you, or, better still, get your book
professionally edited. Editing is critical to ensuring that your work is of the highest standard and
won’t be viewed as ‘amateurish’ by potential readers and publishers. Editors and agents are
looking for work that is polished.

The Importance of Editing

Whether you're working toward completing an assignment or hoping to get something published,
tightening your writing and fixing mistakes can actually be a remarkably creative activity.
Thoughtful revision of a work can lead to clarification of ideas, a reimagining of images, and
sometimes, even a radical rethinking of the way you've approached your topic.

Page 3 of 76
Types of Editing

The ongoing edit and the draft edit. Most of us edit as we write and write as we edit, and it's
impossible to slice cleanly between the two. You're writing, you change a word in a sentence, write
three sentences more, then back up a clause to change that semicolon to a dash; or you edit a
sentence and a new idea suddenly spins out from a word change, so you write a new paragraph
where until that moment nothing else was needed. That is the ongoing edit...

"For the draft edit, you stop writing, gather a number of pages together, read them, make notes
on what works and doesn't, then rewrite. It is only in the draft edit that you gain a sense of the
whole and view your work as a detached professional. It is the draft edit that makes us uneasy, and
that arguably matters most."—From "The Artful Edit: The Practice of Editing Yourself" by Susan
Bell

An editor must have knowledge of the style to which the document at hand must conform and must
have the ability to make quick, sound decisions. Editors must also pay attention to every word on
the page; however, the types of changes an editor makes depend on whether the client requires
substantive editing or mechanical editing.

Substantive editing (also called developmental editing) deals with the organization and
presentation of existing content. Substantive editing involves rephrasing for smoothness or
improved clarity; reorganizing, reducing, or simplifying documentation; and modifying
explanatory tables, graphs, and charts.

Mechanical editing requires an editor to look for consistency in capitalization, spelling,

hyphenation, and table formatting, as well as the use of abbreviations, punctuation, and numbers.
An editor must also root out differences between the text and the tables, illustrations, and citations.
While mechanical editing may seem a lot like proofreading, remember that editing is more
comprehensive than proofreading. Mechanical editing can affect the content of the document,
while proofreading should never affect the content of the document. We'll talk a little bit more
about the differences between editing and proofreading shortly.

Page 4 of 76
Editing Checkpoints

"The final step for the writer is to go back and clean up the rough edges... Here are some
checkpoints:

Facts: Make sure that what you've written is what happened;

Spelling: Check and recheck names, titles, words with unusual spellings, your most frequently
misspelled words, and everything else. Use a spell check but keep training your eye;

Numbers: Recheck the digits, especially phone numbers. Check other numbers, make sure all
math is correct, give thought to whether numbers (crowd estimates, salaries, etc.) seem logical;

Grammar: Subjects and verbs must agree, pronouns need correct antecedents, modifiers must not
dangle (make your English teacher proud);

Style: When it comes to repairing your story, leave the copy desk feeling like the washing machine
repair guy who has nothing to do."—From "The Effective Editor" by F. Davis

Tinkering: The Essence of Writing Well

"Rewriting is the essence of writing well: it's where the game is won or lost... Most writers don't
initially say what they want to say, or say it as well as they could. The newly hatched sentence
almost always has something wrong with it. It's not clear. It's not logical. It's verbose. It's klunky.
It's pretentious. It's boring. It's full of clutter. It's full of clichés. It lacks rhythm. It can be read in
several different ways. It doesn't lead out of the previous sentence. It doesn't... The point is that
clear writing is the result of a lot of tinkering."—From "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser

Sources

 Bell, Susan. "The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself." W.W. Norton, 2007
 Davis, F. "The Effective Editor." Poynter, 2000
 Anderson, Jeff. "Everyday Editing." Stenhouse, 2007
 Zinsser, William. "On Writing Well." Harper, 2006
 Poundstone, Paula. "There's Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say." Three Rivers
Press, 2006

Page 5 of 76
What makes a good editor?

Editing requires not only English language skills but also the intuition to know, at a glance, what
is right or wrong on the page. An editor must gain a "feel" for a project's meaning and intention.

An editor must look for consistency and clarity and should be able to look at any piece of writing
without bias.

An experienced editor recognizes unusual figures of speech and peculiar usage. He or she will
know when to make an actual change, when to suggest one, and how to do so tactfully. Helping
the author find his or her "voice" is a part of this process.

In work done by an effective editor, the mechanics are seamless and nothing is taken away from
the author's message or the reader's experience.

EDITING AND PROOFREADING

Is editing the same thing as proofreading?

Not exactly. Although many people use the terms interchangeably, editing and proofreading are
two different stages of the revision process. Both demand close and careful reading, but they focus
on different aspects of the writing and employ different techniques.

 Get some distance from the text! It’s hard to edit or proofread a paper that you’ve just
finished writing—it’s still too familiar, and you tend to skip over a lot of errors. Put the
paper aside for a few hours, days, or weeks. Go for a run. Take a trip to the beach. Clear
your head of what you’ve written so you can take a fresh look at the paper and see what
is really on the page. Better yet, give the paper to a friend—you can’t get much more
distance than that. Someone who is reading the paper for the first time, comes to it with
completely fresh eyes.
 Decide which medium lets you proofread most carefully. Some people like to work right

at the computer, while others like to sit back with a printed copy that they can mark up
as they read.

Page 6 of 76
  Try changing the look of your document. Altering the size, spacing, color, or style of the

text may trick your brain into thinking it’s seeing an unfamiliar document, and that can
help you get a different perspective on what you’ve written.
 Find a quiet place to work. Don’t try to do your proofreading in front of the TV or while
you’re chugging away on the treadmill. Find a place where you can concentrate and avoid
distractions.
 If possible, do your editing and proofreading in se veral short blocks of time. Your

concentration may start to wane if you try to proofread the entire text at one time.
 If you’re short on time, you may wish to prioritize. Make sure that you complete the

most important editing and proofreading tasks.

Editing

Editing is what you begin doing as soon as you finish your first draft. You reread your draft to see,
for example, whether the paper is well-organized, the transitions between paragraphs are smooth,
and your evidence really backs up your argument. You can edit on several levels:

Content

Have you done everything the assignment requires? Are the claims you make accurate? If it is
required to do so, does your paper make an argument? Is the argument complete? Are all of your
claims consistent? Have you supported each point with adequate evidence? Is all of the information
in your paper relevant to the assignment and/or your overall writing goal?

Overall structure

Does your paper have an appropriate introduction and conclusion? Is your thesis clearly stated in
your introduction? Is it clear how each paragraph in the body of your paper is related to your
thesis? Are the paragraphs arranged in a logical sequence? Have you made clear transitions
between paragraphs? One way to check the structure of your paper is to make a reverse outline of
the paper after you have written the first draft.

Page 7 of 76
Structure within paragraphs

Does each paragraph have a clear topic sentence? Does each paragraph stick to one main idea?
Are there any extraneous or missing sentences in any of your paragraphs?

Clarity

Have you defined any important terms that might be unclear to your reader? Is the meaning of
each sentence clear? (One way to answer this question is to read your paper one sentence at a time,
starting at the end and working backwards so that you will not unconsciously fill in content from
previous sentences.) Is it clear what each pronoun (he, she, it, they, which, who, this, etc.) refers
to? Have you chosen the proper words to express your ideas? Avoid using words you find in the
thesaurus that aren’t part of your normal vocabulary; you may misuse them.

Style

Have you used an appropriate tone (formal, informal, persuasive, etc.)? Is your use of gendered
language (masculine and feminine pronouns like “he” or “she,” words like “fireman” that contain
“man,” and words that some people incorrectly assume apply to only one gender—for example,
some people assume “nurse” must refer to a woman) appropriate? Have you varied the length and
structure of your sentences? Do you tend to use the passive voice too often? Does your writing
contain a lot of unnecessary phrases like “there is,” “there are,” “due to the fact that,” etc.? Do you
repeat a strong word (for example, a vivid main verb) unnecessarily?

Citations

Have you appropriately cited quotes, paraphrases, and ideas you got from sources? Are your
citations in the correct format?

As you edit at all of these levels, you will usually make significant revisions to the content and
wording of your paper. Keep an eye out for patterns of error; knowing what kinds of problems you
tend to have will be helpful, especially if you are editing a large document like a thesis or
dissertation. Once you have identified a pattern, you can develop techniques for spotting and
correcting future instances of that pattern. For example, if you notice that you often discuss several
Page 8 of 76
distinct topics in each paragraph, you can go through your paper and underline the key words in
each paragraph, then break the paragraphs up so that each one focuses on just one main idea.

PROOFREADING

Proofreading is the final stage of the editing process, focusing on surface errors such as
misspellings and mistakes in grammar and punctuation. You should proofread only after you have
finished all of your other editing revisions.

Why proofread? It’s the content that really matters, right?

Content is important. But like it or not, the way a paper looks affects the way others judge it. When
you’ve worked hard to develop and present your ideas, you don’t want careless errors distracting
your reader from what you have to say. It’s worth paying attention to the details that help you to
make a good impression.

Most people devote only a few minutes to proofreading, hoping to catch any glaring errors that
jump out from the page. But a quick and cursory reading, especially after you’ve been working
long and hard on a paper, usually misses a lot. It’s better to work with a definite plan that helps
you to search systematically for specific kinds of errors.

Sure, this takes a little extra time, but it pays off in the end. If you know that you have an effective
way to catch errors when the paper is almost finished, you can worry less about editing while you
are writing your first drafts. This makes the entire writing process more efficient.

Try to keep the editing and proofreading processes separate. When you are editing an early draft,
you don’t want to be bothered with thinking about punctuation, grammar, and spelling. If your
worrying about the spelling of a word or the placement of a comma, you’re not focusing on the
more important task of developing and connecting ideas.

Page 9 of 76
The proofreading process

You probably already use some of the strategies discussed below. Experiment with different tactics
until you find a system that works well for you. The important thing is to make the process
systematic and focused so that you catch as many errors as possible in the least amount of time.

 Don’t rely entirely on spelling checkers. These can be useful tools but they are far from
foolproof. Spell checkers have a limited dictionary, so some words that show up as
misspelled may really just not be in their memory. In addition, spell checkers will not
catch misspellings that form another valid word. For example, if you type “your” instead
of “you’re,” “to” instead of “too,” or “there” instead of “their,” the spell checker won’t
catch the error.

 Grammar checkers can be e ven more problematic. These programs work with a limited

number of rules, so they can’t identify every error and often make mistakes. They also
fail to give thorough explanations to help you understand why a sentence should be
revised. You may want to use a grammar checker to help you identify potential run-on
sentences or too-frequent use of the passive voice, but you need to be able to evaluate the
feedback it provides.

 Proofread for only one kind of error at a time. If you try to identify and revise too many
things at once, you risk losing focus, and your proofreading will be less effective. It’s
easier to catch grammar errors if you aren’t checking punctuation and spelling at the same
time. In addition, some of the techniques that work well for spotting one kind of mistake
won’t catch others.

 Read slow, and read every word. Try reading out loud, which forces you to say each

word and also lets you hear how the words sound together. When you read silently or too
quickly, you may skip over errors or make unconscious corrections.

 Separate the text into individual sentences. This is another technique to help you to read
every sentence carefully. Simply press the return key after every period so that every line
begins a new sentence. Then read each sentence separately, looking for grammar,

Page 10 of 76
 punctuation, or spelling errors. If you’re working with a printed copy, try using an opaque
object like a ruler or a piece of paper to isolate the line you’re working on.

 Circle every punctuation mark. This forces you to look at each one. As you circle, ask
yourself if the punctuation is correct.

 Read the paper backwards. This technique is helpful for checking spelling. Start with the

last word on the last page and work your way back to the beginning, reading each word
separately. Because content, punctuation, and grammar won’t make any sense, your
focus will be entirely on the spelling of each word. You can also read backwards sentence
by sentence to check grammar; this will help you avoid becoming distracted by content
issues.

 Proofreading is a learning process. You’re not just looking for errors that you recognize;

you’re also learning to recognize and correct new errors. This is where handbooks and
dictionaries come in. Keep the ones you find helpful close at hand as you proofread.

 Ignorance may be bliss, but it won’t make you a better proofreader. You’ll often find

things that don’t seem quite right to you, but you may not be quite sure what’s wrong
either. A word looks like it might be misspelled, but the spell checker didn’t catch it. You
think you need a comma between two words, but you’re not sure why. Should you use
“that” instead of “which”? If you’re not sure about something, look it up.

 The proofreading process becomes more efficient as you develop and practice a
systematic strategy. You’ll learn to identify the specific areas of your own writing that
need careful attention, and knowing that you have a sound method for finding errors will
help you to focus more on developing your ideas while you are drafting the paper.

Ascher, Allen. Think about Editing: An ESL Guide for the Harbrace Handbooks. Boston:
Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2006.
Lane, Janet, and Ellen Lange. Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing. 3rd ed. Boston: Heinle ELT,
2011.

Page 11 of 76
Einsohn, Amy. The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate
Communications. 3rd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011.
Lanham, Richard A. Revising Prose. 5th ed. New York: Longman, 2006.
Tarshis, Barry. How to Be Your Own Best Editor: The Toolkit for Everyone Who Writes. New
York: Three Rivers Press, 1998.

Revising, Editing and Proofreading

Many students don’t differentiate between Revising, Editing, and Proofreading. What’s the
difference?

Revision involves analyzing the global level and paragraph level organization of the document,
and making changes to your draft on a global, paragraph, and sentence level to ensure that:

 The document addresses its purpose

 The document supports any claims its makes (main claims and secondary claims)

 The structure of the document is logical and supports the purpose and main claims

Editing involves looking at each sentence carefully, and making sure that it’s well designed and
serves its purpose.

Proofreading involves checking for grammatical and punctuation errors, spelling mistakes, etc.
Proofing is the final stage of the writing process.

A. Revision

During revision, take the following steps:

1. Confirming Purpose and Main Claim: The first step in the revision process is to confirm that
the draft actually serves the purpose outlined in the introduction. In case the paper hasn’t done so,
you need to either revise your purpose, or revise the paper so that it addresses the purpose. While
this may seem straightforward, it is very possible for goals to change during the writing process.

If your paper is persuasive, then your paper will likely also have a main claim. For example, if
your purpose is to recommend a solution to a given problem, then your main claim will be to

Page 12 of 76
follow recommendations A, B, and C. Even if your goal is simply to evaluate several options, you
will be making claims about each of those options (i.e. one is best, or that there are certain
advantages/disadvantages to each option). During the revision process, ensure that your main
claim is clearly stated in the paper (usually at the end) and that the paper supports that main claim
adequately. Each section of the paper should be doing something to support this claim.

2. Identifying and Checking Support for Major Claims: The main claim of the paper will be
supported by sub-claims; these will need to be adequately supported as well. Ensure that you’ve
provided sufficient supporting data (your own or from others) and explained how that information
supports your claims. For example, if your paper recommends a solution (its main claim), one
supporting claim would be that Solution X has certain benefits. In order for that supporting claim
to be warranted, you would have to provide sources or data from your own work that confirm those
benefits.

3. Check Against Your Outline: Begin the revision process by comparing your first draft to your
outline, and asking the following questions:

 Does your draft match your outline?

 If not, why not? Is your revision to the outline warranted, or would your original structure
be better?

 Where are the gaps in information in your draft; where might you have to add more
information? What information is unnecessary, or tangential?

After this stage, you may choose to move sections around, add or subtract information. Essentially,
you’re re-evaluating your original outline from a different perspective (after you’ve written the
draft).

4. Identify and Evaluate Transitional Strategies: Transitions are the points at which we move
between ideas in writing. They play a particularly important role in between sections and
paragraphs, but operate within paragraphs as well. At each section break in your outline, you
should be able to identify a transition strategy. Some transitional strategies include:

 Logical: the last idea of the previous section/paragraph is the first idea of the next

Page 13 of 76
  Phrasal: using explicit wording to create a shift in writing/develop a relationship between
the ideas in the previous and next sections/paragraphs

 Structural: Using similar sentence structure to create a relationship between

 Verbal: Using key words to establish a relationship between sections/paragraphs

Checking for transitions is a way to evaluate ‘flow’ or coherence of a document. A transitional

strategy is effective when it helps create coherence in a document – when it helps clarify the
relationships between ideas in a piece of writing.

5. Checking on a Paragraph Level: With each paragraph, you should be able to:

 Easily identify a prominent and accurate topic sentence (near the beginning)

 Identify the paragraph’s role in its section and in the document as a whole

 Identify an organizational strategy or structure that the paragraph uses to accomplish its
purpose; assess whether or not that structure is an efficient one, or if there may be a better
structure

B. Editing

You can begin the process of editing after you’re satisfied with the structure, content, and
coherence of your document (as a whole and in specific parts).

Editing and proofing both focus on the sentence level. Editing is different from proofreading
because it involves questioning and analyzing sentences, whereas proofreading only involves
checking them for error. When editing:

 Read each sentence carefully and identify its function in the paragraph; ask yourself how
you might redesign the sentence to more effectively accomplish that goal

 Analyze the sentences that precede and follow the sentence you’re focusing on. Are the
connections between these sentences clear, or do you need to insert transitions between
them?

Page 14 of 76
  Evaluate the design of each individual sentence; in doing so, employ the following
principles:

1. Manage Sentence Length: Short sentences clearly communicate individual ideas, but often
leave connections between them unmade. Long sentences make connections between ideas, but
can obscure individual ideas. Vary sentence lengths according to needs of section.

2. Strengthen the Grammatical Core of the sentence (Subject-Verb-Object): The subject

(actor), the verb (action), and the object (what the actor performs the action on) constitute the
grammatical core of the sentence, but the real subject, verb and object is often buried by complex
or elaborate sentence structures. Whenever possible:

 Elevate the verb, so that the real action of the verb occupies the role of verb in the sentence
(especially in passive voice).

 Find the real subject (the thing actually performing the verb), and allow it to occupy this
role in the sentence

Evaluation of the material was performed on the basis of strength, flexibility, and cost.

In the above sentence, the ‘real action’ is evaluation, but it appears in the form of a noun here. The
real subject of the sentence – the person(s) doing the evaluating – are the researchers, but they
don’t appear in the sentence at all. A revision which fixes both problems might look like the below.

We evaluated the material of the basis of strength, flexibility, and cost.

 Position the verb closer to the beginning of the sentence, because the verb is key to reader’s
ability to process information

The influence of physiochemical properties of microbial floc, namely extracellular

polymeric substances (EPS) and hydrophobicity, on ultraviolet (UV) disinfection of
sequencing batch reactor effluent was studied.

In the above example, the verb doesn’t arrive until the end of the sentence. That means that readers
need to store three lines of information in memory until they get to this verb, which gives them the
information needed to process the long noun phrase.

Page 15 of 76
 This thesis studies the influence of physiochemical properties of microbial floc, namely
extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and hydrophobicity, on ultraviolet (UV)
disinfection of sequencing batch reactor effluent.

3. The ASAP Principle: Avoid elaborate sentence structure, unless necessary. Good technical
writing is always ‘As Short as Possible,’ while containing the necessary amount of detail. Cut
away unnecessary phrasing whenever possible.

It is evident that this thesis provides a foundation from which engineers may astutely
intervene for the betterment of the circuit board manufacturing process

Yikes! If it’s evident, then you don’t need to say it. And ‘astutely intervene for the betterment’ of?
What about:

This thesis provides a foundation for improving the circuit board manufacturing process.

C. Proofreading

When proofreading, you may want to try the following strategies.

 Read each sentence aloud as you visually inspect the spelling and sentence structure;
sometimes, reading the sentence aloud will allow you to spot mistakes that your eye can’t
always see

 Allow enough time for several close readings of the text, with some break time in between
to give you a fresh perspective on your document

 Ask friends to read over your work to check for errors as an additional strategy; sometimes,
outside readers can spot errors that the writer can miss. However, don’t rely on this as a
primary proofing strategy: your proofreader doesn’t have anything invested in your report.
You do, and are the one ultimately responsible for errors

 Don’t rely on your computer’s spell check to correct all the spelling errors for you. Why?

1. Because Canadian and British spelling standards are different from American ones
(standard on most spell checkers)

Page 16 of 76
 2. Because when you intend to sue ‘through,’ but forget the letter ‘r,’ your spell check
will not register an error. (Can you see another small mistake in the above sentence
that wouldn’t register? ‘Use,’ misspelled as ‘sue’)

3. Because the spell checker cannot ensure that the correct ending (agreement) has
been used. ‘We ends the paper by . . .’ doesn’t register a spelling error, but ‘ends’
should be ‘end.’

4. And finally, because spell checkers often do not account for many of the specialized
terms that are commonplace in engineering contexts – the spell check will identify
many technical terms as errors simply because they are not in its dictionary

 Don’t rely on your grammar checker to correct all of the grammatical errors for you. Why?

1. Because the rules implemented in the grammar checkers are rudimentary and
simple, and don’t always allow for complex sentence structures. They may identify
errors where there are none

2. They often don’t catch simple and straightforward errors, such as the ‘We ends’
example above (no error was reported by Microsoft Word)

Their suggestions will often substantially change the meaning of the sentences

The editing process takes place in several steps and involves reading the same text several times,
each time with a different focus.

 Step A: Read the text

Read it all the way through without editing. The goal is to get an idea of what the text is
about, what it involves, where it’s going and so on.
 Step B: Fine-toothed comb
Fix the typos, fix the punctuation, fix usage and grammar mistakes, make sure everything
follows style.
 Step C: Big picture
Make sure the structure of the text makes sense. Is the information in the right order?

Page 17 of 76
 Does it flow from one idea to the next easily and smoothly? Is everything clearly
explained? Are there unanswered questions? Is any information missing?
 Step D: Fact-checking
Check everything. Verify names and titles. Check dates and locations. Do the math.
Check summaries of reports, data or research against the original information. Check all
sources.
 Step E: Revise
“Revise” is a broad term that covers several tasks such as removing redundancies,
trimming wordy text, possibly trimming for length and making sure that none of the other
editing has introduced gaps in the story or errors. The revision stage might come after the
fact-checking stage; once the writer has answered any open questions and filled in any
gaps in the story, some paragraphs might need updating.
 Step F: Display type
Many editors also write display type — headlines, headers, photo captions, summaries.
It’s best to do this once the text is ready for publication, and no more significant changes
are anticipated.

EDITING Steps Simplified

Step 1: Content and Development Edit

The first step for most manuscripts is content and development editing—reviewing the meat of the
story, plot, and characters. Developmental editing tackles the following:

 Flow

 Organization

 Chapter (arrangement, length, and number)

 Character voices

 Dialogue

 Plot and subplot

 Pacing

Page 18 of 76
  Impact of POV (first, second, third, or combination)

Content and development edits can and will sometimes result in revisions to chapter order or
construction, and even additional chapters written. Do chapters alternate between the hero and
heroine, shifting from first to third person point of view? Content editors eat that up! They'll ensure
the third POV is following singular or omniscient rules, and that the audience connects with the
character.

Step 2: Line Edit

Line edits focus primarily on sentence and paragraph structure with attention to:

 Words or phrases that are repetitious

 Restructuring sentences that are not complete or inaccurate

 Run-on sentences

 Usage of words that clarify meaning

 Enhances boring wording

A line edit restructures sentences to elevate clarity and flow. Say there are two sentences describing
something uber important, but they don’t quite pull together. During this step, the line editor will
take the two sentences apart and tease them until they read effortlessly.

Step 3: Copy Edit

The mechanics happen during the copy edit, focusing on specific rules including but not limited
to:

 Grammar and punctuation

 Spelling nuances (British English versus American English)

 Capitalizing, hyphenating, italicizing

 When to use numbers instead of letters

The copy edit can and should be automated using rules. Every editor uses two to three references
to maintain consistency—specifically, a dictionary and a style manual. For fiction, The Chicago

Page 19 of 76
Manual of Style is widely used and accepted. Use of dictionaries should be selective to ensure
spelling is primarily American-English, not for preference, but to standardize and provide
consistency. Merriam-Webster dictionary is most common.

It’s also important to note, there are subtle differences between style manuals (APA, MLA, CMS),
and dictionaries. This can be frustrating when semantics come into play about an edited final
product. Using the same style manual and dictionary throughout will ensure consistency.

The copyeditor can and should provide a style sheet, pointing out rules as they pertain to the
revisions made. Familiarity with the Chicago Manual of Style is helpful, but the copyeditor should
provide the changes as they relate to the CMS for relevance as well as improving writing skills.

Step 4: Proofread

The proofread is the final, and hopefully, painless phase. A proofreader has the last shot at the
manuscript and looks for:

 Spelling errors

 Words that sound the same but spelled differently

 Correct usage of quotation and punctuation marks around

 Dialogue

 Missed words (of, and, the)

 Unwanted spaces

Proofreading falls outside the technical realm of general editing. In-depth accounting for content
and flow should occur before a proofread. A proofreader isn’t expected to critique or provide an
exhaustive review.

Page 20 of 76
PROOFREADING MARKS AND SYMBOLS

Proofreading marks (also called proofreaders' marks) are symbols and notations for correcting
typeset pages. The proofreader places these marks in the margins and in corresponding lines of
text. A slash separates marginal marks that appear on the same line.

Proofreading symbols are the marks that a proofreader makes on a paper when they edit it. They
are a coded set of instructions that point out where mistakes have been made and how a piece of
writing can be improved. They are aimed at highlighting grammatical and punctuation errors as
well as layout, formatting and vocabulary issues on a hard copy document (a physical, printed-out
version). Let’s have a look at these dreaded proofreading symbols

Although a significant amount of editing and proofreading is now done using tools such
as Microsoft’s track changes feature and Adobe’s commenting tool, you may find yourself faced
with traditional proofreading marks and symbols on a printed document someday.

The following list shows some of the most common proofreading marks and symbols used
by proofreaders and editors – and explains their meaning (note that some proofreaders will use
different symbols than those shown here; if you see a symbol on a document and you’re not sure
what it means, ask your proofreader).

Insert something; the text to be inserted will likely be provided in the margin

Delete

Close up space

Delete and close up

Page 21 of 76
Add space

Transpose

Spell out

Make uppercase

Make lowercase

Let stand

Make equal space

Insert a comma

Insert period

Insert semicolon

Insert colon

Page 22 of 76
 Insert hyphen

Insert en dash

Insert em dash

Insert apostrophe

Insert question mark

Insert exclamation mark

Insert parentheses

Insert brackets

Insert quotation marks

Set as bold

Page 23 of 76
 Set as italics

Wrong font

Move left

Move right

Move up

Move down

Center

Begin paragraph

Page 24 of 76
TYPES OF EDITORS

Developmental Editors

Developmental editors help writers with the overall structure of their content, including content
creation, organization, tone of voice, and character development (when applicable).
Developmental editors are concerned with the material as a whole rather than specific grammatical
issues.

Developmental editors act as coaches for writers to get a story ready for publication. When you
need guidance on moving your story forward, developmental editors should be able to help. They
may also spend some of their time ghostwriting.

Developmental editors tend to think small and big at the same time, commenting on all areas of
your manuscript, from voice at the sentence level to the overall arcs of your character and plot.
They ask bigger questions about your story, thinking about character change, theme, your use of
imagery, and more. They also think about a picture even bigger than that, asking questions about
how you’re developing as a writer, and where your manuscript fits in the publishing landscape.

Some developmental editors—especially those with publishing industry experience—will even

comment on your book’s market potential, how to strengthen the project with an eye toward getting
a literary agent, and how to pitch the work. Developmental editors are truly the full-service
manuscript gurus, but their services come at a higher price than other types of editors.

Acquiring Editors/ Commissioning Editor

These are the editors who decide what books should be published. Their job is to read through
agent submissions, author manuscripts, and proposals to find the books that deserve to be
published—just like what we ask all of you wonderful readers to help us with here on the site.
Acquiring Editors might also come up with ideas for books themselves and then work with agents
and authors to bring these books into being. Once they have a book they want to publish, they have
to “acquire” it. This usually involves sharing the manuscript or idea with their co-workers in sales,
marketing, etc., to make sure the company is on board with the book, and then negotiating with

Page 25 of 76
agents and authors until they reach a deal. Commissioning Editor Also known as an acquisition
editor, a commissioning editor is the one who looks for books or articles for publication. This is
the person to talk to if you’re looking to get a book published or if you’re a freelance writer and
want to pitch an article or blog to a particular site or company

Critique Partner

A critique partner tends to be a writer or published author who looks over a story and helps another
writer or aspiring author to raise the quality of his or her work. A CP may act more as a coach than
an editor. You want a critique partner when you need guidance on developing a story for
publication.

L i n e E d i t or

A line editor works with grammar and mechanics, sure, but they are now entering more creative
territory. Their questions are bigger issues of voice, writing style, readability, characterization,
plotting, and storytelling. Issues of the writing craft enter the conversation here. If you want
feedback on your writing basics, but are also looking for comments on what you’ve written and
how to improve it, you will want to hire a line editor at minimum, rather than a proofreader or
copy editor.

Content Editors

These are probably who you think of when you think of the word “editor.” The Content Editor is
the one who writes edit letters and works directly with the author on polishing the book and making
the book the best version of the author’s vision possible. These edits can be major ones involving
plot, characters, pacing, etc., on a macro chapter-by-chapter, scene-by-scene level or minor line
edits on a paragraph and sentence level.

Content editors look at everything the writing encompasses. With books, they look over the story
and make changes as necessary to the plot, characters, setting and so forth. In journalism or online
publications, a content editor ensures the article scope is accurate for its audience and subject
matter.

Page 26 of 76
In many cases (especially in trade publishing) the Acquiring Editor and the Content Editor will be
the same person, and is just referred to as “the Editor.” But there are definitely situations where
one editor might acquire the book (usually someone in a more senior position) and then another
editor will take it over and work with the author during the editorial process.

At most of the major trade publishers, people working as editors start out as Editorial Assistants,
then are promoted to Assistant Editor, then Associate Editor, Editor, and Senior Editor.

Managing Editors

Once the content editor and the author get the manuscript to a place where they are confident it is
the best it can be, they hand the book over to the Managing Editor. Managing Editors (also known
as Production Editors) are responsible for setting up schedules to get books published on time.
Once given a finished manuscript, they hire copyeditors and proofreaders and keep track of the
book as it moves between departments. It gets designed and approved, reviewed and approved,
and reviewed and approved again, until there are no more changes and they can hand the book off
to the Production Manager.

Copy Editors

Copy editors identify grammar issues, punctuation errors, and other problems such as awkward
phrasing and inconsistent language. Copy editors sometimes provide minor rephrasing or light
rewriting.

Copyeditors are a fresh set of eyes looking at a manuscript. They do look at grammar and sentence
structure, but often more importantly they also are reading for clarity and consistency. Does
everything make sense? Is this sentence confusing to new readers? Do the characters have the same
hair and eye color all the way through? They also look at timelines, and other details like the
spelling of characters' names.

A copy editor looks at the overall grammar and mechanics of your manuscript, while checking the
project at the sentence level for spelling, style, punctuation, etc. These changes often happen at the

Page 27 of 76
sentence and paragraph level. Comments on the overall quality of the writing and writing voice
are usually included, but not always. Copy editing is one step up from proofreading in terms of
comprehensiveness and creative feedback.

Proofreaders

Proofreaders are also fresh sets of eyes to look at manuscripts. They usually follow after the
copyeditor and are more focused on grammar and sentence structure. They are also looking at
designed pages, so will make sure that all of the author’s and editor’s corrections have been made
from the last pass, and that no new errors were added in the process. If they do notice a consistency
error or get confused, they will query it, but their focus is more on grammar, spelling and
punctuation. Proofreaders look over content after it has gone through other stages of editing.
Proofreaders often only look for glaring mistakes in grammar and punctuation, and they may give
little feedback as to quality or content development. You want to hire a proofreader if you are
concerned about spelling, punctuation or grammar mistakes, such as in articles or resumes.

Proofreading is a term that’s often confused with copy editing and line editing. But a proofreader
is simply an editor who does one final comb through a manuscript before it goes to print. They are
looking for typos, grammatical mistakes, formatting issues, and other minutiae. Writers looking to
self-publish will often hire a manuscript proofreader to give their project a final once-over, but
don’t expect creative feedback with this type of service.

Manuscript formatters and fact checkers also fall into this “light touch” category. They exist to
format your manuscript correctly to publishing standards, and to check the factual accuracy of
your project, respectively. Editors who provide ebook formatting and layout services are here as
well. They are just some of the people you can hire if you want to assemble your editorial team
piecemeal, but their creative contributions to the content are nonexistent, because they are serving
a different role for your project.

Page 28 of 76
Production Managers

Not technically editors, but I’m including them because working with them is a vital part of the
Managing Editor's job. The Production Managers are the people who are responsible for taking
the manuscript and art files and turning them into actual physical books and purchasable e-books.
They work with our compositors, printers, and paper suppliers and play a key role in setting
deadlines and schedules.

Associate Editor

Associate editors often work for newspapers or magazines. Another term for this position is
“section editor.” An associate editor often has the same responsibilities as an acquisition editor; he
or she is in charge of seeking out stories or content for publication.

Contributing Editor

Contributing editors tend to contribute their services to a magazine or newspaper and may also be
referred to as a roving editor. In the journalism industry, a contributing editor is sometimes called
an editor-at-large.

Chief Editor

Also known as an executive editor, the chief editor is the person overall in charge of an article,
story or other content. The chief editor is the one who looks over the final product to ensure it
meets company standards and approves it for release.

Editor-in-Chief

The editor-in-chief is generally the person who oversees the editing department and manages all
of the other editors for the company. The EIC is also responsible for maintaining the voice of the
company and upholding its philosophy and mission. Publishing companies sometimes refer to
editors-in-chief as editors-at-large, which essentially means they can work on whatever project
they choose to.

Page 29 of 76
THE WRITING PROCESS

Writing is a complex combination of skills which is best taught by breaking down the process. The
writing process involves a series of steps to follow in producing a finished piece of writing.
Educators have found that by focusing on the process of writing, almost everyone learns to write
successfully. By breaking down writing step-by-step, the mystery is removed and writer’s block
is reduced. Most importantly, students discover the benefits of constructive feedback on their
writing, and they progressively master, and even enjoy, writing.

Although they will often overlap, and sometimes students will move back and forth between them,
the writing process can generally be broken down stages. When a student learns to internalize the
5 steps of the writing process, he or she will likely produce a logical and well-written composition

Stages of the Writing Process

1. Prewriting: This is the planning phase of the writing process, when students brainstorm,
research, gather and outline ideas, often using diagrams for mapping out their thoughts.
Audience and purpose should be considered at this point, and for the older students, a
working thesis statement needs to be started.
2. Drafting: Students create their initial composition by writing down all their ideas in an
organized way to convey a particular idea or present an argument. Audience and purpose
need to be finalized.
3. Revising: Students review, modify, and reorganize their work by rearranging, adding, or
deleting content, and by making the tone, style, and content appropriate for the intended
audience. The goal of this phase of the writing process is to improve the draft.
4. Editing: At this point in the writing process, writers proofread and correct errors in
grammar and mechanics, and edit to improve style and clarity. Having another writer’s
feedback in this stage is helpful.
5. Publishing: In this last step of the writing process, the final writing is shared with the
group. Sharing can be accomplished in a variety of ways, and with the help of computers,
it can even be printed or published online.

Page 30 of 76
To write clearly it is essential to understand the basic system of a language. In English this includes
knowledge of grammar, punctuation and sentence structure. Vocabulary is also necessary, as is
correct spelling and formatting.

A writer may write for personal enjoyment or use, or for an audience of one person or more. The
audience may be known (targeted) or unknown. Taking notes for study purposes is an example of
writing for one's self. Blogging publicly is an example of writing for an unknown audience. A
letter to a friend is an example of writing for a targeted audience. As with speaking, it is important
to consider your audience when writing. There are many different styles of writing, from informal
to formal.

Benefits of writing

Writing is essential.

• express one’s personality;

• foster communication;

• develop thinking skills;

• make logical and persuasive arguments;

• give a person a chance to later reflect on his/her ideas and re-evaluate them;

• provide and receive feedback; and • prepare for school and employment

The Importance of Writing

Written communication is an essential element of expression; the ability to articulate oneself

through the written word provides one with the opportunity to share their knowledge in a
meaningful and effective way.

From an educational perspective: Developing written skills will enable students to learn how to
compose ideas, organize their thoughts and arguments, support key points and share information.

Page 31 of 76
Acquiring these skills will also prepare students for their future academic and professional
endeavors.
Learning to write is a key aspect of everyday life. Writing facilitates reflection, expression and
enables individuals to compose their thoughts, therefore providing us with the framework for one
of the most prominent methods of daily communication. In an electronic world where verbal
communication has become less frequently used, learning to write in a cohesive, structured manner
allows individuals to convey their thoughts effectively.
Writing provides us with catharsis and a sense of accomplishment. Completing and feeling
good about a piece of writing that a student has worked on promotes confidence and this is an
essential element to personal productivity in all facets of education. When a student sees a piece
of work that they have successfully completed, this leads to positive emotions. We work best when
we are happy and feel positive about our achievements. This leads us to continue on a path of
success.
The ability to compose critical thought through written articulation allows those who best
process information in a visual manner to conceptualize information. There are many different
types of learners in our world, for example, tactile, auditory and visual, the latter of which requires
students and individuals to succeed when processing information visually. Therefore, it is essential
to accommodate the myriad of learners in the classroom, and learning to write not only
accommodates visual learners but also allows students who struggle in this area to develop their
ability to conceive information in a visual manner.
The transition from high school to post-secondary education and beyond. Possessing
proficient written skills is an essential aspect of education, as students must prepare for the
transition from high school to post-secondary education, as well as beyond this, for example,
through employment, where possessing written skills is critical.

Page 32 of 76
FIVE QUALITIES OF GOOD WRITING

An essay should have a single clear central idea. Each paragraph should have a clear
FOCUS
main point or topic sentence.

Each paragraph should support or expand the central idea of the paper. The idea of
DEVELOPMENT each paragraph should be explained and illustrated through examples, details, and
descriptions.

Every paragraph in an essay should be related to the main idea. Each paragraph
UNITY
should stick to its main point.

An essay or paper should be organized logically, flow smoothly, and "stick"

COHERENCE
together. In other words, everything in the writing should make sense to a reader.

A paper should be written in generally correct standard English, with complete

CORRECTNESS
sentences, and be relatively error-free.

It's hard to know if you're a good writer--especially if no one has ever torn apart a piece you've
written or "ooohed" and "ahhhed" over your work. But one of the easiest ways to spot a great
writer is through the qualities he/she exhibits on a daily basis.

Page 33 of 76
QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE WRITER.

1. Attention to Detail

Great writers are observers, always taking mental notes and noting subtle changes around them.
This attention to detail not only makes them fantastic editors who can spot the smallest
grammatical error during a read-through, but it adds a special touch to their writing, too. No
descriptive detail gets left behind.

2. Discipline

Writers who excel are familiar with frustration because re-writes, edits, and improvements all
come by maintaining a disciplined approach to writing. Great writers are devoted to constantly re-
evaluating their work, no matter how small the task may be. They focus on their craft and are
constantly working to get better through intense discipline.

3. Clarity

An effective writer is able to distill complex thoughts and ideas into simple, clear language that's
quickly and easily understood by others. This valuable quality helps them tackle even the densest
subject matter by breaking it down into uncomplicated pieces.

4. Strong Vocabulary

No one likes to read the same words over and over again, so a strong, robust vocabulary is an asset
to any good writer. Incorporating interesting and unusual words into their writing, this skill helps
them maintain a reader's interest and allows them to communicate more effectively by accessing
the perfect word for any situation.

5. Open to Changes

Being open to external edits and suggestions is key for exceptional writers because it enables them
to improve their writing, even though it might damage their ego in the meantime. Open-
mindedness allows them to see their work through the eyes of others and improve weak points.

Page 34 of 76
6. Passion for Re ading

Voracious readers often make great writers, because being immersed in a world of words helps
one better understand the nuts and bolts of writing (like syntax, tone, framing, etc.) The more one
reads, the more learned he/she becomes on all of the different writing tools and stylistic angles that
exist.

WR I T I N G S T YL E S

Writing styles are basically another way of saying the form or type of written work you are
creating. Think of it as a classification for being able to identify what kind of writing you are
creating.

For example, if you are writing a cookbook, that is a completely different style of writing than if
you were writing a steamy romance novel!

Each writing style has a different purpose – and therefore, different characteristics are present
when you are writing each type of different work.

Now that we understand what a writing style is – let’s talk about the 4 main writing styles which
are commonly talked about amongst writers and literary educators

EXPOSITORY WRITING

The definition of expository is this: “intended to explain or describe something.”

Most types of written work that fall into this category explain something in more detail, or
provide insight and instruction in regards to a particular topic.

Page 35 of 76
What types of writing fall into this cate gory of expository writing style?

While there are many different types of written work which can be categorized as exposit or y
style of writing, you can often identify this type of writing by noticing the purpose of the
work.

 Does the work intend to explain something in more detail?

 Does the written piece inform?
 Does the written piece answer questions such as “what, how and why?”

A business newspaper is an example of expository style writing, in which it contains

information, facts, and insight about a particular subject.

Here are some examples of the different types of writing pieces which can fall into the
category of expository writing:

 Newspaper and Magazine Articles {not including editorials}

 Non-Fiction Books
 How-To Books
 Self Help Books
 Writing about Hobbies & Interests
 Recipes & Cookbooks
 Instructional Guides
 Scientific Research
 Manuals
 Textbooks & Educational Resources
 Business Articles & Books
 Medical Research, Journals and Articles

When you write expository style pieces, your main goal as a writer is to inform your readers
with insight and facts that pertain to the subject of your piece.

Page 36 of 76
For example, if you are writing about the history of ice cream, you would be including a lot
of research and fun facts into your piece.

Note that this type of writing style is not intended to persuade or influence your audience. In
writing your piece on the history of ice cream, you would NOT be trying to persuade your
readers.

D E S C R I P T I VE WR I T I N G

Descriptive writing goes deeper than expository writing. While expository writing might
have some descriptive details and factual information, descriptive writing will make use of
many writing elements and literary devices such as metaphors and similes.

The purpose and goal of descriptive writing is to bring your reader into the written work as
if the reader were to be experiencing it first-hand.

Most fictional pieces fall under the category of descriptive writing, and even some non -
fiction pieces such as memoirs and creative non-fiction can fall under the category of a
descriptive writing style.

If you are writing fiction, the more descriptive you can be with your words, the more relatable
your story will be to the reader.

For example, we recommend that writers ask their characters questions as one way to really
intimately understand the details about a character. Details about the setting, events, and
people present in a story will help your readers be able to imagine and understand the piece.

This style also includes poetry. If you browse through some of our poetry writing prompts ,
you will see there is a lot of attention put on using details to create a scene or feeling in
writing a poem!

Page 37 of 76
Here are some examples of types of descriptive writing pieces:

 Poetry & Prose

 Travel Diaries
 Personal Journals
 Lyrics in Music and Songwriting

Most pieces using only a descriptive writing style are not very long. It is uncommon for a
fictional novel to be 100% fully descriptive without getting into our next writing style, which
is narrative writing.

N A R R A T I VE WR I T I N G

Narrative writing is far more complex that simple descriptive writing.

While a poem for example may describe a scene or even events or people – generally you do
not get into the deep inner thoughts of the characters or even get a full story with a clear
middle, beginning, and end complete with conflict and dialogue.

Nearly all fiction novels fall into the case of narrative writing, as well as longer epic poems
and sagas.

In narrative writing, there is a story to be told – a clear plot complete with setting, characters,
dialogue, conflict and resolution. A narrative piece often has a timeline or sequence of events
which further build to the point of conflict and resolution.

Here are some examples of the works which would be considered to have a narrative
writing style:

 Fiction Novels
 Memoirs & Biographies

Page 38 of 76
 Screenplays
 Epic Poems
 Sagas
 Myths, Legends, and Fables
 Historical accounts
 Essays which talk about a lesson learned or valuable insight from an experience

Narrative writing pieces are generally easy to identify, although sometimes it can be confused
with descriptive writing styles. The key difference in determining which one a written work
might be is whether or not there is a developed storyline or plot.

If there is a well-developed plot and storyline, you are most likely reading narrative writing

P E R S U A S I VE WR I T I N G

Persuasive writing is a type of writing style where the purpose is to influence someone into
believing or doing something. As the word “persuasive” suggests – your goal is to persuade
someone’s actions or thoughts to align with your own goals as the writer.

The persuasive writing essay is a popular homework assignment for many kids. For example ,
a student might be assigned to write an essay to convince their parents of something. “Why
We Should Get a Pet Rabbit” and “5 Reasons You Should Not Make Me Clean My Room”.

Persuasive writing is intended to convince someone of something, and so it usually needs to

have a good bit of research and logical analysis – but also should attempt to make an
emotional connection to the desired audience as well.

A classic piece of writing which serves as an example of persuasive writing is Thomas

Paine’s book Common Sense , which was written in the Colonial times of the American
Revolutionary War, urging citizens that separating from England was of utmost importa nce.

Page 39 of 76
Here are some examples of types of writing which are persuasive writing:

 Editorial & Opinion pieces in Newspapers and Magazines

 Essays on a specific belief or “hot button” topic
 Letters written to request an action or file a complaint
 Advertisements {Convincing you to buy something}
 Copywriting {Note, copywriting is different from copyright!}
 Company Brochures
 Business Proposals
 Political speeches

When the intention of the work is to convince the audience of something – this falls into
persuasive writing.

The first thing to do is think about what you are planning to write and what the intention is.
What is your goal and what type of message are you trying to communicate to your readers?

Page 40 of 76
PUBLISHING

To publish means to make information and literature available for the public to view. Publishing
involves the process of producing and distributing literature so that the public can have access to
it. Sometimes, certain authors publish their own work and in that case they become their own
publishers.

The traditional meaning of the word "publishing" means to print newspapers and books on paper
and distribute them. But now with improved technology we have the Internet and other digital
information systems. So, now publishing is done not only through printing but also electronically.
Of late a large number of periodicals and books have been published online and electronically
through CDs and DVDs.

The authors of traditional printed materials sell exclusive territorial intellectual property rights
that match the list of countries in which distribution is proposed (i.e. the rights match the legal
systems under which copyright protections can be enforced). In the case of books, the publisher
and writer must also agree on the intended formats of publication mass-market paperback,
"trade" paperback and hardback are the most common options.

The situation is slightly more complex if electronic formatting is to be used. Where distribution
is to be by CD-ROM or other physical media, there is no reason to treat this form differently
from a paper format, and a national copyright is an acceptable approach.

If you want to publish a book, there are several steps involved in the process. The steps involved
in publishing are development, acquisition, editing, designing of cover etc, production (which
involves printing on paper or electronically), marketing and distribution.

The first step involved if you want to publish a book is submission. The author or the literary
agent has to submit a proposal or query letter. The next step in the publishing process is
negotiation. Once the proposal has been accepted, the commissioning editors start to negotiate
the purchasing of intellectual property rights and finally agree on a certain rate. One of the main
steps in publishing is the editorial stage. In this stage of publishing, the work to be published is

Page 41 of 76
reviewed and proofread and if any changes are to be made the author is asked to rewrite or make
some small changes. This is done usually to match the grammatical requirements and style of
each market. Requesting for additional information and structural changes are part of this stage
of publishing.

Next stage in publishing is the prepress stage. Once the text is finalized, the design has to be
decided. Artwork, photographs and layout need to be finalized. Typesetting is done for
placement of artwork and setting the layout. Proofreading is done in this stage of publishing also.
Paper quality, composition of dust jacket and binding method has to be decided. Once
typesetting is done, the files are saved normally in the PDF format.

The publisher is the one who usually controls marketing tasks such as advertising. If it is a small
company, tasks such as proofreading, editing and layout may be outsourced to freelancers.

This is only a simple overview of what it takes to publish a book. If you successfully publish one
book, you can start thinking about a reprint or about publishing a new book!

THE PUBLISHING PROCESS

To someone who has never worked in publishing, seeing a manuscript transformed into a book
can seem almost magical.

In reality the process is fairly straightforward, but there is real magic in the way that different
departments work together to give each book the best possible chance of success. Bill Swainson,
former Senior Commissioning Editor at Bloomsbury and now editor-at large for non-fiction at
Oneworld explains the process.

Let’s imagine a medium-sized publishing house that’s big enough to have a fairly clear division
of roles, and I’ll talk you through the different stages of a book’s journey as it metamorphoses
from a typescript or digital file into a brand-new book on a bookshop’s shelves and or an e-book.

Page 42 of 76
 Acquiring a book

Every publishing company acquires its books from similar sources, such as literary agents,
publishers in other countries, direct commissions from editors to authors and, very occasionally,
from unsolicited proposals taken from what is known unceremoniously as the ‘slush pile’.

The in-house selection process goes something like this:

 The commissioning editor finds a book from among his or her regular weekly reading and makes
a case for taking on a book at an ‘acquisitions meeting’, which is attended by all the other
departments directly involved in publishing the book, including sales, marketing, publicity and
rights.
 Lively discussions follow and final decisions are determined from a mixture of commercial
good sense (estimated sales figures, likely production costs and author’s track record) and taste
– and every company’s and every editor’s preferences are different.

Getting the word out

Shortly after a book has been acquired, the commissioning editor will draft an ‘advance
information’ sheet. This is the earliest attempt to harness the excitement that led to the book being
signed, and it contains all the basic information needed by the rest of the company, including the
title, ISBN, format, extent (number of pages), price, rights holder, sales points, quotes about
previous books, short blurb and biographical note. It is the first of many pieces of ‘copy’ that will
be written about the book, and will be used as the template for all the others, such as a catalogue
entry, jacket blurb or press release.

A structural edit

As soon as the text arrives in the editorial department, it receives a ‘structural edit’. In the case of
a novel, this involves the commissioning editor looking at everything from the book’s structure
and narrative pacing to characterisation and general style; in the case of non-fiction, it also means
considering whether illustrations, appendices, bibliography, notes and an index may be needed.

Page 43 of 76
 Copy-editing

Next comes the copy editing. This is designed to catch all the errors and inconsistencies in the text,
from spelling and punctuation to facts, figures and tics of style. In some publishing houses this
work is increasingly done on-screen, but a significant proportion of editors prefer to work direct
on the typescript because they and their authors find it is easier to spot changes on paper, and see
where decisions have been made along the way.

Once the copy-edit is finished, the author will be asked to answer any queries that may have arisen.
When the commissioning editor, copy-editor and author are happy that the marked-up typescript
is in the best possible shape, it is sent to the production department for design and typesetting.

Design & Typesetting

Long before they receive the typescript, designers will have got to work on the book’s cover or
jacket. It’s crucial to get this right, if only because most (if not all) buying decisions are made
before the book is printed. Up until that time, the cover is the book – it influences the trade buyers
and, ultimately, it’s one of the most important factors in encouraging customers to pick up the
book and pay for it at the till.

When the production department is sent the final typescript, it will draft a brief known as a ‘type
specification’ or ‘spec’. The spec may be created specifically for an individual book or a series
spec will be used to give the latest volume the same look and feel as its predecessors.

The typescript is then usually dispatched to an out-of-house typesetter to be turned into page
proofs. Meanwhile, the production manager (working with the commissioning editor and the
designer) will choose the binding materials and any embellishments, such as headband, coloured
or printed endpapers, or marker ribbon. He or she will also decide the print run (based on advance
sales and track record) and place an order with the printer.

Ironing out the glitches

When the book has been typeset, the proofs normally shuttle back and forth in three stages.

 First proofs are read by the author and a proofreader. This is the last chance an author gets to
make amendments.

Page 44 of 76
 Second proofs, or ‘revises’, are checked against the collated first proofs and any last-minute
queries are attended to. If an index is needed, it is compiled at this stage.
 The changes to the ‘revises’ result in third proofs which, in a perfect world, are checked against
the second proofs and passed for press. Once in a while this actually happens!
 eBooks benefit from all these processes, but then need their own special ones because electronic
text that can be reflowed in different fonts and sizes according to the reader’s preference and
the capability of their eReader, mean that slightly different rules apply. The process is known
in-house as ‘qa’ (quality assurance) and it involves checking the electronic file against the print
version for any errors that may have crept in during the conversion process.
Going to press

Most publishing companies use only a few printers; with whom they are used to negotiating. A
key role of the production department is to buy print at a rate that allows each tightly-budgeted
book to make money and – just as importantly – to manage the supply of reprints so that the
publisher’s warehouse is never short of stock. In the case of the eBook, distribution to various
eTailers is the equivalent.

Sales

‘Selling in’ in the home market (Britain and Ireland) is increasingly done by key account managers
working with the chain buyers, as well as by a team of sales representatives. The reps visit
bookshops in their designated area and try to achieve the sales targets set for each book. The
number of copies sold pre-publication is known as the subscription sale, or ‘sub’.

Selling books effectively to bookshops, supermarkets, other retailers and Internet stores takes time
and careful planning. The British and Irish book trade has developed in such a way that the sales
cycle has extended to cover the best part of a year.

Many sales are also made in-house by phone, email and fax and the World Wide Web. Most
publishers have their own websites and provide customers with the opportunity to buy their books
either directly, or from another bookselling website.

Export sales are achieved using teams of international agents and reps run from in-house by the
export sales department. Here format, discount, royalty rates, shipping, and exchange rates are the

Page 45 of 76
key components. The margins are much tighter and it requires a lot of skill and chutzpah to
generate significant sales and then to maintain a successful international presence.

Just like print sales, eBook sales come through a mixture of marketing, publicity, word of mouth
and on-line promotion.

Marketing

The marketing department is arguably the engine room of the sales department. It’s responsible
for originating all the sales material, which is normally produced by in-house designers. This
includes catalogues, order forms, ‘blads’ (literally ‘book layout and design’ – illustrated sales
material), ‘samplers’ (booklets containing tantalising extracts), posters, book proofs (bound
reading proofs) and advertisements. Much of this work is now done through websites and social
media, and takes the form of blogs, viral publicity and tweets, whether a book is being published
in print or electronically or both.

The marketing team works alongside the sales department when dealing directly with the big
bookshops on special promotions and selections that are now a common feature of the larger chains
(‘Book of the Month’, ‘Buy one get one half price’, etc) and with eBook promotions via Amazon,
Applestore, Kobo and others.

The department also prepares the advertising for the trade, such as the post-publication press
advertising that, along with reviews and other publicity, entices customers into the shops to buy a
particular book. It also organises the company sales conferences at which the new season’s
publishing is presented for the first time to the sales reps and overseas agents. The run-up to the
sales conference and the event itself is an exciting time and stimulates many of the best ideas on
how to sell the new books.

Publicity

The publicity department works with the author and the media on ‘free’ publicity with the
emphasis on the ‘sell through’. This covers reviews, features, author interviews, bookshop
readings and signings, festival appearances, book tours and radio and television interviews and so
on.

Page 46 of 76
For each author and their book, the publicity department devises a campaign that will play to the
book’s or the author’s strengths. For instance, best use will be made of written features or radio
interviews for authors who are shy in public, just as full advantage will be made of public
appearances for those authors who thrive on the thrill of showmanship.

In short, the publicist’s careful work (which like much of publishing is a mixture of inspiration,
enthusiasm, efficient planning and flexibility) is designed to get the best results for each individua l
author and title.

The Rights Department

It is the aim of this department to make the best use of all the rights that were acquired when the
contract was first negotiated between publisher and author or the author’s agent.

While literary agents are understandably keen to handle foreign and serial rights, many publishing
houses have well-developed rights departments with good contacts and are also well placed to sell
the rights of a book. Selling rights is very varied and includes anything from dealing with requests
for film or television rights, the sale of translation rights to other countries, or serial rights to a
newspaper, to smaller permission requests to reprint a poem or an extract. All are opportunities to
promote the book and earn additional income for author and publisher, and at the time of first
publication the rights, sales, marketing and publicity departments all work closely together.

Book fairs are key venues for the sale of foreign rights. At the Frankfurt Book Fair in October and
at the London Book Fair in April, publishers and agents from all participating countries meet to
form a rights ‘bazaar’. Here, editors have the opportunity to hear about and buy new books from
publishing houses all over the world.

Paperbacks

Paperbacks are published approximately a year after the original publication. Paperback publishing
is a key part of publishing today, and efforts are made to identify and broaden the likely market
(readership) for a book, making sure that the cover and presentation will appeal to a wide audience.
It’s important to be creative and position an author’s books in the marketplace where they can be
best seen, bought and read.

Page 47 of 76
Accounts

Every successful business needs a good finance department. Most publishing houses split the work
into two areas – purchase ledger and royalties. Purchase ledger deals with all incoming invoices
associated with the company’s business. The royalties’ department deals exclusively with author
advances (payable on acquisition, and on delivery or publication of a book) and with keeping
account of the different royalty percentages payable on book sales, serial deals, film rights,
permissions, etc. This is done so that both author and agent can see that an accurate record has
been kept against the day when the book earns back its advance (the point at which the royalties
earned equal the advance paid) and the author starts earning additional income.

A special business

Publishing is a business, and commercial considerations will be apparent in every department; but
it is a very special kind of business that frequently breaks many of the accepted rules and often
seems to make no sense at all – just think of the hundreds of different lines, formats, price points
and discounts! At times it shouldn’t work – but somehow, miraculously, it does.

It might sound like an unfair stereotype, but it’s true: Those of us who have worked in publishing
can attest to the obvious fact that few first-time writers have the slightest idea of what goes on
behind the scenes at their publishers. And it’s not because it’s top-secret information that agents
and editors don’t want you to know. In fact, the opposite is true: Developing a basic understanding
of the process with a realization of how you can impact the sale of your book is crucial to your
success. If you dream of a career as a writer, the more knowledge you have about the marketplace
and the publishing process, the better your chance of making your dreams come true.

There are two crucial parts to every writing career: The first is the writing and completion of your
manuscript and preparing it for acquisition and publication, and the second is everything that goes
along with the production, marketing, sale and distribution of your book. Knowing how all this
comes together doesn’t just increase your odds of crafting a submission that will get you a deal—
it also gives you a better chance of impacting the decisions that can make or break your book’s
success.

Page 48 of 76
Here’s how it works, why you need to know and how you can enter into a publishing agreement
as an author with influence.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Before getting into the specifics of how publishing works, you need to start with the basics. And
that means that even while you’re in the stages of completing or revising your manuscript, you
need to make a habit of visiting your local bookstore regularly. Your goal: marketplace research.
Browse the aisles, make observations and read similar books in the same broad genre as your own.

Pay special attention to the books in your section written by authors you don’t recognize. Notice
how they’re packaged and priced. Take note of the cover design, jacket copy and sources of the
endorsement blurbs—anything that went into the process of publishing what you see in front of
you.

Bookstores are laboratories for marketing and selling books. Writing is a craft, but publishing is a
business. To become a successful author, you must develop a knowledge of that laboratory. Being
able to intelligently discuss books and authors with professionals who make their living in
publishing builds your credibility as a market-savvy author—especially if you can demonstrate an
understanding of where your own book will fit in. Once you know exactly where your work
belongs on the shelf, be sure that knowledge is reflected in the query or cover letter accompanying
your submissions to agents or editors. It will increase your chances of getting one.

ACQUISITIONS

Publishing is an extremely competitive business. Houses compete to sign the best manuscripts
possible. The major houses, as a rule, do not accept unsolicited submissions. They rely on agents
to supply them with a steady stream of publishable possibilities. Once an editor agrees to read a
manuscript, it has passed a critical test. If the editor likes what she reads and thinks it’s a good fit
for her list, she will then move forward with a proposal to acquire the book. But this doesn’t mean
it’s a done deal.

Page 49 of 76
Every publisher has an acquisition committee of editors, publishers and sales and marketing
representatives dedicated to finding manuscripts that can, to put it bluntly, make the company
money. There are three broad criteria publishers use to make these selections. The first is whether
or not they feel the manuscript is well written and informative or entertaining. The second is
whether or not they think it can secure a wide enough distribution to booksellers—and then attract
enough consumers to generate sufficient revenue. The third is whether or not the author has a
platform and is promotable. Each manuscript must meet all three criteria, almost without
exception, to be seriously considered. Timing (and, let’s be honest, luck) also plays an important
role: If your book is salable but the company recently acquired two similar titles, yours may get
the bump. Publishers go to great lengths to produce a well-rounded list of titles. Each imprint has
a certain editorial expertise by genre, and the company is focused on producing a group of quality
books that fill every category.

If your submission meets the committee’s approval after all of this has been considered, you’ll be
offered a contract.

THE MEETING

Consider for a moment that even once you’ve made it past the gatekeepers, your book is just one
of hundreds—or even thousands—your publisher releases each year. The more you can separate
yourself from all the other authors up front, the better chance you have of making an impact on
the publication of your book. So once you sign the contract (after negotiations and the expert
consult of your agent or another legal professional, of course), plan a trip to your publisher, set up
a meeting with your editor and ask him to invite the appropriate parties of all the departments
involved with the book. Whether or not this request is honored—and if so, who exactly attends—
will speak volumes about where you are in the pecking order of other authors. For example, if it
turns out to be just your editor, or a group of bright young “assistants,” you’re probably near the
bottom of the list (along with almost all the other first-time authors). If that happens, don’t take it
as a bad sign. Just understand where you rank in the grand scheme of things so you can set realistic
expectations.

Page 50 of 76
The moment that contract was signed, you lost rights and control over how your manuscript will
be published. But if you develop solid relationships up front with the key people involved in
making your manuscript a marketable book, you have a better chance of at least having your ideas
heard. This meeting is your first and, arguably, most important chance to do that. (It may even be
the only one you get.) So don’t skip this step. The secret to being effective: Base your comments
on the realities of the marketplace, and acknowledge the time constraints these players have in
balancing their work on your book among all the others. This is where all those visits to the
bookstore begin to pay off.

EDITORIAL

Today’s book industry is so competitive that most acquired manuscripts don’t require significant
editorial overhauls. Those needing lots of attention—whether they’re riddled with technical errors
or in need of heavy restructuring—rarely make it past the agent.

Today’s editors more often request minor rewrites or

reworks and otherwise polish the manuscripts they acquire. The secret to starting off right:
Recognize that when an editor asks for editorial changes, you are under contract to rewrite and
deliver on time. You are the author and always maintain your copyright, but ownership of your
writing has transferred to your publisher, which is paying you for those rights and control.
Similarly, when it comes to your book’s title, know that it could very well be changed, and it’s
your publisher’s prerogative to do so.

Beyond the obvious editor/author relationship, every smart writer knows his editor is also his main
contact (and advocate) for all things relating to the publication of his manuscript. Conduct yourself
accordingly. Don’t come off as “needy,” but don’t neglect this relationship, either.

SCHEDULING

Once a title is scheduled for publication and a release month has been set, the work begins in
earnest. The time from a book’s acquisition to the day it hits shelves is typically anywhere from
one to two years. It depends on how timely your topic is, how many titles are under contract in

Page 51 of 76
your category and when your publisher thinks your book will have the greatest chance of success
in the market.

Publishers meet often to discuss the seasonal schedule and position their titles to maximize sales
potential. The biggest consideration is competition, both in-house and from other companies.
Publishing competitive titles concurrently dilutes the sales potential of the entire list. This is
another reason it’s essential to meet all your deadlines for rewrites, revisions and reviews: Failing
to do so can endanger the carefully choreographed timing designed to maximize your book’s
sales prospects.

NUMBERS

Publishers work from a set of numbers that is developed during that initial acquisition meeting.
Upon agreeing to publish your manuscript, your publisher already knows the number of copies
your book needs to sell to be profitable—for the house and for you. Profitability is the cornerstone
of everything the company does with regard to publication, and it’s often referred to as the “budget
number” for each book. This number is the basis of how much attention to detail your title receives.
With limited time and resources to produce thousands of titles, the budget number is one way for
publishers to prioritize.

Authors are rarely aware of their budget numbers, and questions directly relating to those numbers
seldom receive a response. Again, that initial meeting with your editor or publishing team is the
best indicator of where your book stands.

PRODUCTION

Possibly the most overlooked and underappreciated part of the publication process is the work of
the production department, which develops and designs the cover and interior of each book, along
with coordinating the printing and binding of the finished products. Readers do in fact judge a
book by its cover, and getting it right is something the largest publishers do extremely well.

Awareness of the production schedule for your book is important; knowing when each part of the
design and layout process is coming helps you determine when it’s appropriate to ask any questions

Page 52 of 76
you might have—and to gently offer your own ideas while there’s still time for them to be taken
into consideration. As long as you acknowledge your publisher’s control, you’re likely to find the
house will be receptive to your input if it’s based on your keen sense of the market. Always make
suggestions a few weeks in advance of the date the production schedule indicates each decision is
being made. Don’t be overbearing and don’t be a pest. Make intelligent suggestions based on your
knowledge of the need your book is filling in the marketplace, and you will be seen as an asset,
not just another author looking to promote her own interests. Speak up too late, and there’s no
turning back. Your publisher’s team is making all the decisions, remember; they bought the rights
to your writing and can do what they want.

MARKETING

There are three major components to book marketing: advertising, promotion and publicity.
Advertising includes paid placements of a book in print or other media. Promotion is the creation
of anything that draws attention to a book, from corrugated floor and shelf displays in bookstores
to bookmark and T-shirt giveaways. Publicity is the art of generating print and media pieces about
an author and her book. The key to selling copies at a high sell-through (meaning people actually
buy the books off the shelves) in today’s marketplace is to generate lots of publicity. The key to
effective publicity is to focus on the area that will generate the most sales for your book.

One quick caveat: The stronger your author platform already is, the better equipped you will be to
assist in these efforts. Marketing is not something that starts or stops at any given time. Ideally,
it’s an integral part of your writing career that begins long before you land a book deal and
continues for as long as you call yourself a writer. (Editor’s Note: For more on this,
visit writersdigest.com and see the May/June 2009 issue of Writer’s Digest, which focuses on
author platforms and marketing.)

Successful marketing is all about creating the proper mixture of advertising, promotion and
publicity within the assigned marketing budget to generate interest that results in sales. Don’t ask
for things that are clearly outside the limits of your publisher’s budget. If something is missing
from the plan and you offer to help, make sure you get your publisher’s approval, and be willing
to work with each department to make it happen. Be prepared to invest your own money in these

Page 53 of 76
efforts eventually, but don’t offer to do it up front until you know exactly what your publisher
plans to do. Then, partner with your publisher to promote your book, keeping them informed of
your own efforts and listening carefully to their expertise so that together you can present a unified
marketing plan. Publishers dislike authors going off on their own without consulting them or
soliciting input. They also dislike authors who are singularly focused on the writing and want
nothing to do with promotion. These are the two quickest ways to lose support, and you never,
ever want your publisher to turn its back on your efforts.

CONFERENCE

Most major publishers separate their list of titles into seasons. The seasonal designation is
significant to the bookseller and marketing staff because each season’s list is presented at one
conference to the sales group. Members of this sales group then go and make seasonal
presentations to book buyers at major chain and independent bookstore groups around the country.

Any changes that need to be made to your book should be completed prior to this conference.
Afterward, you won’t have another opportunity to speak up about your cover, interior design,
jacket copy, marketing plans or anything else. As soon as it’s over, your book is already on its way
to being presented, sold and distributed to booksellers around the country.

The conference is a well-guarded place and publishers seldom allow authors to attend. If you’re
invited, it’s a very big deal; make the most of it. If not, it can’t hurt to ask about attending a portion
of the conference. On the off-chance your publisher says yes, it’s a great opportunity to meet
people who have a tremendous impact on the success of your book. Observe, network and learn.

SALES

Once the sales representatives leave the conference, they immediately begin making appointments
and presenting titles to the buyers for the big chain bookstores (like Barnes & Noble and Borders),
and for suppliers of independent ones (like Ingram and Baker & Taylor). Seasonal lists of titles
are typically sold months in advance of publication, so most titles being presented are months from
the actual publication and release date. This gives the publisher plenty of time to assess all orders,

Page 54 of 76
make adjustments as necessary and print the right number of copies for distribution to the
marketplace.

Obviously, the books at the top of the list get the most orders. If your book is positioned low on
the list, there’s a good chance the big chains will pass or give you a small order, which means you
won’t find copies on all store shelves. Don’t get upset! A targeted distribution with a high sell-
through trumps having your book placed inside every single store in the country. What makes
distribution such a delicate dance is that books are always returnable to the publisher’s warehouse
if bookstores can’t sell them. So while you want your book to be readily available to your audience,
there’s also a danger in printing and distributing too many copies. Selling large quantities to
booksellers without proper marketing support is tantamount to a low sell-through and a high rate
of return, which can spell doom to a promising career. (Translation: If your first book isn’t
profitable, your chances of publishing a second one are slim.) Be happy with what you get and
work with your publisher to promote your book so you can sell those copies. Then the stores will
have to order more!

DISTRIBUTION

The most misunderstood and misconstrued term in the wide scope of publishing is distribution.
For the largest trade publishers, selling and distribution go hand-in-hand. Proper distribution is not
a simple listing of a title in the database of a large book outlet or mailing postcards to bookstores
around the country.

Actual distribution begins with the process of sales presentations we’ve already discussed, coupled
with skillfully matching booksellers with books that sell copies at a very low rate of return.
Different genres—as well as the publishing formats of hardcover, trade and mass-market
paperbacks—resonate with consumers who shop in specific locations. Distribution in the truest
sense is matching the category, format and price to the right outlet in quantities that make sense
for both the publisher and bookseller.

Page 55 of 76
 ON SALE

The cycle is now complete: Books have been produced and distributed, copies are for sale online
and on store shelves, and marketing plans are, with hope, bringing enough attention to particular
titles that consumers are buying books. It may seem daunting, but it’s actually both repetitive and
consistent. As an author, understanding how your book works its way through the process gives
you a head start.

Never forget the fact that publishing is a business, your manuscript is a product and you, as the
author, are a commodity. When you sign that contract, your manuscript is packaged, priced and
sold to make money. Your publisher has acquired your work to profit from the sale of your writing.
It’s not so much about great writing as it is about a good book that can generate revenue, and how
much value you as an author and your writing bring to the company. As long as your writing is
profitable and you continue to produce entertaining, informative manuscripts on schedule, you
have a very good chance of maintaining a career as a writer.

The Publishing Process simplified

Publishing a book is an exciting and monumental achievement. On this page you can find links to
useful forms, templates and answers to frequently asked questions about the publishing process.

An overview of the publishing process:

1. Submission: Once you’ve submitted your book proposal, sample material, and CV to a Palgrave
editor, your editor will contact you to discuss it.

2. Peer Review: Your editor will send your proposal and accompanying material to qualified scholars
in your field of research for peer review.

3. Author Response: When the review is complete, your editor will send it to you and invite a formal
response from you.

4. Board Approval: With the original proposal, sample material, review, and response in hand, your
editor will present the book to our Editorial Board for approval to publish.

Page 56 of 76
5. Contract: You will receive an offer letter followed by a contract with an agreed upon delivery
date of your final manuscript. After signing the contract, your editorial contact will send you more
information about preparing your work for publication.

6. Production: Deliver your final manuscript along with supplementary rights and permissions forms
and your book will be handed over to the production department for cover design, copyediting,
proofreading, and binding.

7. Publication: Your book is brought to the world in print and eBook format!

VANITY vs SELF-PUBLISHING

Vanity publishing', 'subsidy publishing' and 'vanity press' are old-fashioned terms that refer to a
certain type of publisher that invites authors to send in their manuscripts and then charges them a
fee or co-payment to assess and/or publish their books.

The terms went out of fashion when vanity publishers began to gain a bad reputation for charging
authors considerable fees and asking them to sign contracts that were not in the writers' interests.

In some cases, aspiring authors spent tens of thousands of dollars on only a handful of copies of
their book. In other cases, writers unknowingly gave away many of their rights, including the right
to re-publish their book somewhere else. And because vanity presses published anyone who could
pay for their services, regardless of quality, their publications haven't always offered the same sort
of recognition or prestige as traditional, commercial publishing houses.

Vanity publishers usually have little or no selection criteria. They tend to respond to submissions
almost immediately, usually with a positive offer to publish your book. Be careful - this can be an
early sign that they're trying to sell you something.

Vanity presses tend to charge higher fees than similar self-publishing or printing services, and
their contracts can be restrictive. Because they are paid a fee to produce your book and don't make
any more money if the book is successful, they don't have a vested interest in marketing it on your
behalf.

Page 57 of 76
Authors owe it to themselves to be very clear on one point - traditional publishers never ask the
author for 'a contribution'. Traditional publishers only take on work they believe is worth investing
their own money in, confident it'll make a return when the book hits the shelves. Indeed, this is
precisely the reason (or one of) it's so difficult for new authors to get published. The publisher has
to be sure that the book will sell.
Vanity publishers are cunning. They know many authors will be worn down by rejection. They
know the elation authors will feel to finally receive a glowing report about their manuscript.
However, once you've signed your name on the dotted line, the vanity publisher will take your
manuscript, take your money and print several (usually poor quality) copies of your book. They
won't consult you and they won't offer any help marketing or distributing the book. The vanity
publisher isn't interested in selling copies of the book; it doesn't need to - they've already made
their profit from the hefty 'contribution' fee they charged the author.

Consequently, vanity publishers have no relationships with bookshops, in fact some bookshops
plain refuse to stock the books they produce. So, more often than not, the author ends up several
thousand pounds down with a pile of books they cannot sell. Of course these companies don't
advertise themselves as vanity publishers, most refer to themselves as 'self-publishers’. But there
is a vast difference between the way they operate and the way a reputable self-publisher operates.

Proper self-publishing companies offer the author a whole range of services from editing to jacket
design to distribution. The author has complete control over every stage of production - how the
book will look, how many copies are printed and how it'll be promoted. Many self-publishers now
offer a professional finished product and as their sophistication grows so does their influence to
sell their books to the bookshops.

All this costs money, but reputable self-publishers make it clear how much each individual service
costs and exactly where the money is being spent. And what will be clear, is that the costs involved
are nothing like the amounts vanity publishers charge for their lousy products.

Self-publishing has been around for years (Virginia Woolf did it, as did Mark Twain and James
Joyce. William Blake did nothing else) and is considered to be a perfectly respectable way to get
your book into the marketplace. In fact, because getting published by mainstream publishers is so
tricky, many authors are choosing to self-publish in the first instance by way of a stepping stone.
A high-quality self-published book shows the author is ambitious, organised and serious.

Page 58 of 76
Even better, if the book has decent enough sales figures to prove a market exists, traditional
publishers are quite likely to sit up and take notice. So the bottom line is, if you receive a glowing
report from a publisher who can't wait to publish your book, don't get carried away in the drama.
Not until you know what they want from you in return. If it's your hard earned cash - don't do it.

vanity publishers,” which are companies that help authors SELF-PUBLISH their books. They
charge for editing, formatting, cover design, and often marketing and promotions to help your book
get exposure.

They are typically far more expensive than simply self-publishing your own book. They also
typically require an upfront payment and do NOT take royalties from book sales.

Traditional publishers do NOT charge the authors any money and take care of editing, formatting,
cover, publishing, distribution, and promotions and DO share royalties with the author for all book
sales.

If you are a big enough author, they may offer an advance payment on future royalties, however,
most trade publishers these days do not pay first-time authors an advance and instead start paying
royalties from the first book sale.

Why Do People Use Vanity Publishers?

There are a few reasons why someone would use these online vanity publishers.

1. They don’t know how to or are intimidated by self-publishing. (Or do not know how to find
professional editors, designers, and formatters and want help.)

2. They don’t know how to market or promote their self-published book.

3. They do not know the difference between vanity and traditional publishing.

Page 59 of 76
 PLAGIARISM

This is the act of taking another person's writing, conversation, song, or even idea and passing it
off as your own. Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, with or
without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement. All
published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered
under this definition. Plagiarism may be intentional or reckless, or unintentional. Under the
regulations for examinations, intentional or reckless plagiarism is a disciplinary offence.

Four important rules to remember in order to avoid plagiarizing something:

1. Your instructor is your best resource if you have any questions regarding whether or not your
information is documented accurately.
2. Put a footnote or an in-text citation at the end of any idea or fact which you found in a book or
article, whether or not you change the words.
3. Exact quotations should either be put in quotation marks or indented and a footnote or in-text
citation should be used to indicate the source.
4. When in doubt, go ahead and document the source.

*Important note: Documenting sources helps your reader find more information as well as
helping you avoid plagiarism.

These are some examples of plagiarism.

 Misrepresenting someone else's work as your own:

 Copying another student's paper or an article from a journal or website

 Buying an essay from a term-paper mill

 Copying sentences or paragraphs without properly citing their source:

 Quoting material without proper use of quotation marks (even if otherwise cited appropriately)

 Using specific facts without proper attribution (other than information that qualifies as 'common
knowledge')

 Using a specific argument or logic without crediting the source

Page 60 of 76
 Using art, graphs, illustrations, maps, statistics, photographs, etc. without complete and proper
citation

 Translating a work from one language to another without complete and proper citation

 Paraphrasing

 Paraphrasing or summarizing information from a source without proper acknowledgement

 Re-writing a section but not making it sufficiently different from the original (even if cited
appropriately)

It is your responsibility, as a student and a member of the academic community, to ensure that you
have appropriately acknowledged and correctly cited all the resources you have consulted and used
in preparing your research paper.

Why is plagiarism considered to be such a serious offence?

In academic culture new ideas 'belong' to their creator. Proper and complete citations assist
individual creators to retain ownership rights to their work. When sources are not properly
acknowledged, a creator's right of ownership is threatened. Secondly, citing sources enables
readers of your paper to review the research that you read when initially preparing your paper, and
therefore trace the path of your argument more effectively.

At the university level plagiarism can undermine the credibility of research done at academic
institutions, and therefore universities have little tolerance for this type of behaviour.

What are the consequences of plagiarism?

Depending on the case, penalties for academic dishonesty are like reprimand, to failure in a course,
to suspension, banning, expulsion, losing credibility and integrity, withdrawal of certificates and
degrees

How can I avoid plagiarism?

 Make sure you understand the material you are using

 Avoid relying too heavily on the ideas of others

 Make sure you know how to cite correctly

Page 61 of 76
 Talk to a librarian and attend library instruction workshops

 Stay away from Internet 'paper mills'

You must always acknowledge the original sources that you used. Use proper citations whenever
you:

 Borrow textual material, ideas, arguments, charts, graphs, maps, illustrations, etc.

 Quote passages directly. If you quote a source, you must quote word for word

 Paraphrase or summarize ideas or arguments

 Present facts that are not 'common knowledge'.

Quoting

 Use quotation marks whenever quoting an exact phrase, sentence or short paragraph

 Longer quotations should not be included in quotation marks, but indented, as indicated by the
citation style in use

 Select and use quotations carefully. Use them only when they directly contribute to your
argument

 Avoid quotations that only provide detail, common knowledge, or information that can be more
effectively paraphrased

Paraphrasing and summarizing

 Paraphrase when you need to represent another person's ideas, and a quote is not significant or
suitable

 To correctly paraphrase, you must change both language and sentence structure

 Summarize if you want to provide the main points of another person's argument in a condensed
format, more brief than a paraphrase

 Avoid taking notes verbatim or using the cut & paste tool in your software

Citing

 Make sure you acknowledged and cited all sources of borrowed ideas and materials

Page 62 of 76
 Make sure you have a properly prepared bibliography

Terminology

Bibliography

Also called reference list and list of sources cited. A list of citations to books, journal or newspaper
articles, or other items used in research. Bibliographies usually appear at the end of a journal
article, book, or encyclopedia article.

Citation

Also called a reference. The information which identifies a book, article or any type of writing. It
usually includes the author, title, place of publication, publisher and date of publication (a book
citation), or the author, title of the article, title of the journal (source), volume, issue number, date
and pages (an article citation).

WHAT IS CITATION?

A "citation" is the way you tell your readers that certain material in your work came from another
source. It also gives your readers the information necessary to find that source again, including:

 information about the author

 the title of the work
 the name and location of the company that published your copy of the source
 the date your copy was published
 the page numbers of the material you are borrowing

WHY SHOULD I CITE SOURCES?

Giving credit to the original author by citing sources is the only way to use other people's work
without plagiarizing. But there are a number of other reasons to cite sources:

 citations are extremely helpful to anyone who wants to find out more about your ideas and
where they came from

Page 63 of 76
  not all sources are good or right -- your own ideas may often be more accurate or interesting
than those of your sources. Proper citation will keep you from taking the rap for someone
else's bad ideas
 citing sources shows the amount of research you've done
 citing sources strengthens your work by lending outside support to your ideas

DOESN'T CITING SOURCES MAKE MY WORK SEEM LESS ORIGINAL?

Not at all. On the contrary, citing sources actually helps your reader distinguish your ideas from
those of your sources. This will actually emphasize the originality of your own work.

WHEN DO I NEED TO CITE?

Whenever you borrow words or ideas, you need to acknowledge their source. The following
situations almost always require citation:

 whenever you use quotes

 whenever you paraphrase
 whenever you use an idea that someone else has already expressed
 whenever you make specific reference to the work of another
 whenever someone else's work has been critical in developing your own ideas.

WHAT'S A BIBLIOGRAPHY?

A bibliography is a list of all of the sources you have used (whether referenced or not) in the
process of researching your work. In general, a bibliography should include:

 the authors' names

 the titles of the works
 the names and locations of the companies that published your copies of the sources
 the dates your copies were published
 the page numbers of your sources (if they are part of multi-source volumes)

Page 64 of 76
OK, SO WHAT'S AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?

An annotated bibliography is the same as a bibliography with one important difference: in an

annotated bibliography, the bibliographic information is followed by a brief description of the
content, quality, and usefulness of the source.

OK, SO HOW IS A BIBLIOGRAPHY DIFFERENT FROM A "WORKS CITED" OR

"REFERENCES" LIST?

The Works Cited or References list only consisted of references to those items actually cited in
the paper.

WHAT ARE FOOTNOTES?

Footnotes are notes placed at the bottom of the page. They cite references or comment on a
designated part of the text above it. For example, say you want to add an interesting comment to a
sentence you have written, but the comment is not directly related to the argument of your
paragraph. In this case, you could add the symbol for a footnote. Then, at the bottom of the page
you could reprint the symbol and insert your comment. Here is an example:

This is an illustration of a footnote.1 The number “1” at the end of the previous sentence
corresponds with the note below. See how it fits in the body of the text?

1 At the bottom of the page you can insert your comments about the sentence preceding the
footnote.

When your reader comes across the footnote in the main text of your paper, he or she could look
down at your comments right away, or else continue reading the paragraph and read your
comments at the end. Because this makes it convenient for your reader, most citation styles require
that you use either footnotes or endnotes in your paper. Some, however, allow you to make
parenthetical references (author, date) in the body of your work. See our section on citation
styles for more information.

Page 65 of 76
Footnotes are not just for interesting comments, however. Sometimes they simply refer to relevant
sources -- they let your reader know where certain material came from, or where they can look for
other sources on the subject. To decide whether you should cite your sources in footnotes or in the
body of your paper, you should ask your instructor or see our section on citation styles.

HOW DO I CITE SOURCES?

This depends on what type of work you are writing, how you are using the borrowed material, and
the expectations of your instructor.

First, you have to think about how you want to identify your sources. If your sources are very
important to your ideas, you should mention the author and work in a sentence that introduces your
citation. If, however, you are only citing the source to make a minor point, you may consider using
parenthetical references, footnotes, or endnotes.

There are also different forms of citation for different disciplines. For example, when you cite
sources in a psychology paper you would probably use a different form of citation than you might
in a paper for an English class.

Finally, you should always consult your instructor to determine the form of citation appropriate
for your paper. You can save a lot of time and energy simply by asking "How should I cite my
sources," or "What style of citation should I use?" before you begin writing.

In the following sections, we will take you step-by-step through some general guidelines for citing
sources.

IDENTIFYING SOURCES IN THE BODY OF YOUR PAPER

The first time you cite a source, it is almost always a good idea to mention its author(s), title, and
genre (book, article, or web page, etc.). If the source is central to your work, you may want to
introduce it in a separate sentence or two, summarizing its importance and main ideas. But often

Page 66 of 76
you can just tag this information onto the beginning or end of a sentence. For example, the
following sentence puts information about the author and work before the quotation:

Milan Kundera, in his book The Art of the Novel, suggests that “if the novel should really
disappear, it will do so not because it has exhausted its powers but because it exists in a world
grown alien to it.”

You may also want to describe the author(s) if they are not famous, or if you have reason to believe
your reader does not know them. You should say whether they are economic analysts, artists,
physicists, etc. If you do not know anything about the author, and cannot find any information, it
is best to say where you found the source and why you believe it is credible and worth citing. For
example,

In an essay presented at an Asian Studies conference held at Duke University, Sheldon Geron
analyzes the relation of state, labor-unions, and small businesses in Japan between 1950s and
1980s.

If you have already introduced the author and work from which you are citing, and you are
obviously referring to the same work, you probably don't need to mention them again. However,
if you have cited other sources and then go back to the one you had cited earlier, it is a good idea
to mention at least the author's name again (and the work if you have referred to more than one by
this author) to avoid confusion.

QUOTING MATERIAL

WHAT IS QUOTING?

Taking the exact words from an original source is called quoting. You should quote material when
you believe the way the original author expresses an idea is the most effective means of
communicating the point you want to make. If you want to borrow an idea from an author, but do
not need his or her exact words, you should try paraphrasing instead of quoting.

Page 67 of 76
HOW OFTEN SHOULD I QUOTE?

Most of the time, paraphrasing and summarizing your sources is sufficient (but remember that you
still have to cite them!). If you think it’s important to quote something, an excellent rule of thumb
is that for every line you quote, you should have at least two lines analyzing it.

HOW DO I INCORPORATE QUOTATIONS IN MY PAPER?

Most of the time, you can just identify a source and quote from it, as in the first example above.
Sometimes, however, you will need to modify the words or format of the quotation in order to fit
in your paper. Whenever you change the original words of your source, you must indicate that you
have done so. Otherwise, you would be claiming the original author used words that he or she did
not use. But be careful not to change too many words! You could accidentally change the meaning
of the quotation and falsely claim the author said something they did not.

For example, let's say you want to quote from the following passage in an essay called "United
Shareholders of America," by Jacob Weisberg:

The citizen-investor serves his fellow citizens badly by his inclination to withdraw from the
community. He tends to serve himself badly as well. He does so by focusing his pursuit of
happiness on something that very seldom makes people happy in the way they expect it to.

When you quote, you generally want to be as concise as possible. Keep only the material that is
strictly relevant to your own ideas. So here you would not want to quote the middle sentence, since
it is repeated again in the more informative last sentence. However, just skipping it would not work
-- the final sentence would not make sense without it. So, you have to change the wording a little
bit. In order to do so, you will need to use some editing symbols. Your quotation might end up
looking like this:

In his essay, “United Shareholders of America,” Jacob Weisberg insists that “The citizen-investor
serves his fellow citizens badly by his inclination to withdraw from the community. He tends to
serve himself badly... by focusing his pursuit of happiness on something that very seldom makes
people happy in the way they expect it to.”
Page 68 of 76
“He tends to serve himself badly...by focusing his pursuit of happiness on [money].”

The brackets around the word [money] indicate that you have substituted that word for other words
the author used. To make a substitution this important, however, you had better be sure that
[money] is what the final phrase meant -- if the author intentionally left it ambiguous, you would
be significantly altering his meaning. That would make you guilty of fraudulent attribution. In this
case, however, the paragraph following the one quoted explains that the author is referring to
money, so it is okay.

As a general rule, it is okay to make minor grammatical and stylistic changes to make the quoted
material fit in your paper, but it is not okay to significantly alter the structure of the material or its
content.

QUOTING WITHIN QUOTES

When you have "embedded quotes," or quotations within quotations, you should switch from the
normal quotation marks ("") to single quotation marks ('') to show the difference. For example, if
an original passage by John Archer reads:

The Mountain Coyote has been described as a “wily” and “single-minded” predator by zoologist
Lma Warner.

your quotation might look like this:

As John Archer explains, “The Mountain Coyote has been described as a 'wily' and 'single-minded'
predator by zoologist Lma Warner.”

HOW DO I INCLUDE LONG QUOTES IN MY PAPER?

The exact formatting requirements for long quotations differ depending on the citation style. In
general, however, if you are quoting more than 3 lines of material, you should do the following:

 change the font to one noticeably smaller (in a document that is mostly 12-point font, you
should use a 10-point font, for example)
Page 69 of 76
 double indent the quotation -- that means adjusting the left and right margins so that they are
about one inch smaller than the main body of your paper
 if you have this option in your word-processor, "left-justify" the text. That means makes it so
that each line begins in the same place, creating a straight line on the left side of the quotation,
while the right side is jagged
 do NOT use quotation marks for the entire quotation -- the graphic changes you have made
already (changing the font, double indenting, etc.) are enough to indicate that the material is
quoted. For quotations within that quotation, use normal quotation marks, not single ones
 you might want to skip 1.5 times the line-spacing you are using in the document before you
begin the quotation and after it. This is optional and depends on the style preferred by your
instructor

General Differences between MLA (Modern Language Association) and APA (American
Psychological Association)

Many students ask for a list of the main differences between MLA and APA. Please see below.
This list was obtained from Bellevue University’s Writing Center.
The main differences between MLA and APA are as follows:

Type MLA Format APA Format

Date: The date follows the The date follows the author and is in
publisher in the citation parentheses.
and is not in parentheses.

Author’s The author’s full name The author’s last name is spelled out and
Name: (first and last) is spelled the first name is reduced to initials.
out.

Page 70 of 76
 Capitalization: All major words in the Only the first word of the title, the first
title are capitalized and word of a subtitle, and any proper nouns
the title is underlined. (like names) are capitalized. Everything
else is lowercase. Also, the title is written
in italics.

Source Page: The source page is called The source page is called “References”.
a “Works Cited”.

In-Text MLA uses the last name APA uses the last name of the author and
Citations: of the author and the page the date.
number.

MLA does not use APA does use commas and, if a page is
commas to separate the mentioned, uses p. and pp
material, or p. pp. before
the page numbers.

examples: MLA

Mitchell states “...” (189) Or (Mitchell189)

Book Referencing Example:

Mitchell, James A. A Guide to Citation. 2nd ed, My London Publisher, 2017.
Note: Author name. Title. Version, Publisher, Year of Publication.

Page 71 of 76
APA

Mitchell (2017) states… Or … (Mitchell, 2017).

Mitchell, J.A., Thomson, M., & Coyne, R.P. (2017). A guide to citation. London, England: My
Publisher

Jones, A.F & Wang, L. (2011). Spectacular creatures: The Amazon rainforest (2nd ed.). San
Jose, Costa Rica: My Publisher

Williams, S.T. (Ed.). (2015). Referencing: A guide to citation rules (3rd ed.). New York, NY:
My Publisher

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPR)

Definition

Intellectual property is the product of the human intellect including creativity concepts, inventions,
industrial models, trademarks, songs, literature, symbols, names, brands, etc. Intellectual Property
Rights do not differ from other property rights. They allow their owner to completely benefit from
his/her product which was initially an idea that developed and crystallized. They also entitle
him/her to prevent others from using, dealing or tampering with his/her product without prior
permission from him/her. He/she can in fact legally sue them and force them to stop and
compensate for any damages.

History of IPR

IPR is not a new concept. It is believed that IPR initially started in North Italy during the
Renaissance era. In 1474, Venice issued a law regulating patents protection that granted an
exclusive right for the owner. The copyright dates back to 1440 A.D. when Johannes Gutenberg
invented the printing press with replaceable/moveable wooden or metal letters. Late in the 19th
century, a number of countries felt the necessity of laying down laws regulating IPR. Globally,
Page 72 of 76
 two conventions constituting the basis for IPR system worldwide had been signed; Paris
Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883) Berne Convention for the Protection
of Literary and Artistic Works (1886).

Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

Protection of IPR allows the innovator, brand owner, patent holder and copyright holder to benefit
from his/her work, labor and investment, which does not mean monopoly of the intellect. Such
rights are set out in the International Declaration of Human Rights, which provides for the right to
benefit from the protection of the moral and physical interests resulting from the right holder’s
work; literal or artistic product.

What is the Difference Between Forgery and Counterfeiting?

1. Forgery of a trademark means a complete transfer being identical from the unique brand or
transferring the main parts thereof making the forged brand greatly identical to the original one.
2. Counterfeiting a trademark means making a brand similar in total to the original one in a manner
that might mislead the public in connection with the source of goods that are marked by the
brand in question.

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works,
symbols, names, pictures, models and industrial designs.

Intellectual property is divided into two categories:

 Industrial Property, which includes: inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs

and models and geographic indications of source.
 Copyright, which includes: literary and artistic works, namely novels, poems, plays, films,
musicals, cartoons, paintings, photographs, statues and architectural designs.

Related Rights is a term in copyright law, used to include the rights of performers in their
performances, the rights of producers of phonograms in their recordings and the rights of
broadcasting organizations in the radio and television programs they air.

Page 73 of 76
What is a Trademark?

A trademark is a sign that individualizes the goods or services of a given enterprise and
distinguishes them from those of competitors. To fall under law protection, a trademark must be
distinctive, and not deceptive, illegal or immoral.

What is a Geographical Indication?

A geographical indication is basically a notice stating that a given product originates in a given
geographical area.

What is an Industrial Design or Model?

It is the aesthetics and ergonomics of a product. It consists of three-dimensional elements, such as

the creation of the product’s shape, or two- dimensional ones, such as graphics, patterns and colors.

What is a Patent?

Patent is an exclusive right granted by law to an inventor or assignee to prevent others from
commercially benefiting from his/her patented invention without permission, for a limited period
of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of patented invention.

What is a Trade Name?

A trade name or business name is a name that uniquely distinguishes a business from others.

What is a Trade Secret?

A trade secret is any information of commercial value concerning production or sales operations
which is not generally known. The owner of a trade secret must take reasonable measures to
maintain its confidentiality.

What is an Integrated Circuit?

A product, in its final form or intermediate form, in which the elements, or at least one of which
is an active element, and whereby the interconnections are integrally formed in and/or on a piece
of material, which is intended to perform an electronic function.

Page 74 of 76
 What is a Copyright?

Copyright is a form of IPR concerned with protecting works of human intellect. The domain of
copyright is literary and artistic works, might that be writings, musicals and works of fine arts,
such as paintings and sculptures, as well as technology-based works such as computer programs
and electronic databases.

What is a Related Right?

Related Rights or Neighboring Rights are rights that in certain respects resemble copyright. The
purpose of related rights is to protect the legal interests of certain individuals, namely performers,
producers and broadcasters, and to help them deliver their message to the public.

What is Unfair Competition?

Unfair competition is any act of competition contrary to honest practices in industrial or

commercial matters.

Why Countries Care for IPR and Seek to Promote and Protect it?

1. New innovations in all IPR domains lead to Human progress and advancement.
2. Legal protection of new innovations encourages safe spending on other innovations.
3. Caring for and protecting IPR contribute to achieving economic and social development.

Forgery and Counterfeiting Techniques

Techniques of counterfeiting and fraudulence are variant depending on the nature and type of the
product, perpetrator’s techniques and tools and facilities in place. Techniques of counterfeiting and
fraudulence are diverse aiming at seemingly copying an original product.

Technology has a big role in making counterfeit products greatly similar to original ones, making
it harder to distinguish between them according to the following:

1. Using the external structure of authentic equipment and replacing certain internal parts with
counterfeit pieces (computer systems – electrical appliances).
2. Affixing adhesive tape onto external parts of the equipment to prevent anyone from opening it
and detecting the counterfeit parts therein.

Page 75 of 76
3. Affixing adhesive tape especially designed for original products onto counterfeit products to
mislead and deceit the consumer.
4. Copying containers or packaging of original products and placing counterfeit products inside.
5. Counterfeiting the original company’s brand and trade name, affixing them onto the counterfeit
product and forging the trade data.
6. Collecting and regenerating empty original containers as to have them filled with counterfeit
products and repackage them using modern machines.
7. Reusing used spare parts by improving, packaging and selling them as new original parts.
8. Removing the expiration date from the expired products and rewriting a new date extending the
product expiry.

END.

Page 76 of 76