I’ve been mulling over this question for awhile. Sure, it’s come up over the years — when I’ve had authors ask questions that suggest that they think we’re a printer and not a publisher. The questions are innocent enough; I don’t blame them at all. It’s just that a publisher isn’t a printer.
Well, what is a printer? Now, the following is a dramatic oversimplification, but this is my blog. A book printer takes the files that we prepare and they print them as they are (never mind the details — this isn’t a course on book printing). They don’t edit them, they just output many thousands of pages and bind them into a book. And that’s that. Not that that’s an insignificant thing, because it’s not. But it’s not publishing.
We’re a book publisher, not a book printer. What do we do that a printer doesn’t do and what makes our business valuable?
I suppose one of the primary things that differentiates a publisher from a printer is editorial. At No Starch Press, we read the books that we publish before readers plunk down their hard earned cash for them. ，I used to read and edit just about all of our books until a few years ago. Now, I have help so I no longer have to stay awake until 3am editing when I could be playing Doom reviewing my financials. As I write this, our Associate Editor Tyler and I are splitting up books as best we can, with help from a couple of other people in-house. There’s plenty to do. And Doom is kind of an old game anyway.
What do we do when we read those books? We ask the kinds of questions that a reader might ask. Like, what should I see in that figure? What does that code mean? Which part of that code is meaningful? What do you mean by “it”? (Vague reference, “it” — our authors love me for that phrase, I’m sure of it. Hey, there’s that word again! It!)
We think about the chapter layout and the book’s overall layout. Is the chapter clear? Easy to follow? Does it flow? Is it worked to read? Do we have to struggle to make sense of a sentence? A paragraph? The entire chapter?
Is the code too long to follow? Is the code explained? (I like to use number bally things — as I call them — to point to specific parts of code, rather than number every line of code. Line numbers can be so ugly. I’d never use them as wallpaper.)
Are there too many figures? Too few? Are the figures discussed or simply taking up space? Are they clear? Do we need to rework them? And on and on, ad nauseous.
Well, funny thing, I love editing. I even consider it fun. I sometimes even consider rewriting chapters fun (I have, and plenty) when I’m not banging my head against a wall. (I assure you, banging one’s head against a wall is much more painful than editing. But you knew that already.)
Well, that’s a bit about editorial work. Next installment I’ll take a look at distribution or marketing as I continue to delve into the question that makes me swear off caffeine in the evening so that maybe, if I’m really lucky, I can actually get some sleep.
