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Section 0101
Heavilon 227
T-Th, 10:30 -11:45 a.m.
Dr. David Blakesley
Office: Heavilon 302c
Hours: T-Th, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. and by appt.
Ph: 765.494.3772
Fax: 765.494.3780
blakesle@purdue.edu

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Project Overview

For Project 4, you'll work in editorial and production teams to prepare a book for print or electronic publication. All of the book's contents already exist, so the focus will be on the production process, beginning with copyright searches and planning, contractual negotiations, and scanning/OCR, then continuing through editing, production, and design. The goal is to have for each of the two teams to prepare a book for possible later submission to Parlor Press for publication consideration. Due Date: Thursday, December 11. (Collaborative; 30% of course grade.)

Prompt

Discussion: The emphasis in this project is on learning all there is to know about what happens during the book publishing process by actually producing a book for publication. (What better way to learn?) Teams have been assigned. I will serve as the coordinator for each production team. Individuals will volunteer for or be assigned specific roles in the project (production, copyediting, design, marketing, etc.). By the due date, each team will need to submit the book in electronic form and team members will receive individual grades for this project. (Collaborative Evaluation Forms will also be required.) Finally, there are important readings from The Columbia Guide to Digital Publishing that everyone needs to complete, as well as some supplementary handouts on the publishing and editing process.

After the semester is over and teams have received feedback and grades for the project and the course, the team may decide to complete any remaining work needed and submit the book to Parlor Press. Those who do will received production credit on the book's copyright page. Proceeds from sales of these books will be donated by Parlor Press to the Professional Writing Club.

Book 1: The Instinct of Workmanship and the State of the Industrial Arts by Thorstein Veblen. A scanned, unedited version of this book is on the Web. We will need to work with the printed version of the book. This is a landmark study of what Veblen calls "trained incapacity," a phrase that is enormously useful for thinking about how craft and art shape creativity and production, as well as how language shapes or constructs what can be known. A PDF capture in a password protected file is available here.

Book 2: TBA (soon!). I have a good candidate for this book but need to wait to hear from the author. Details soon.

Project Goals

• Learn strategies for planning, writing, and revising the content and design of a book.

• Improve your management of the digital tools that are often used in writing and designing for the book publishing industry.

• Learn the principles of effective design and how to use them in creative and liberating ways.

• Learn workflow and production process for book publishing.

Deliverables

1. Book Contents

The book's contents (called a "bookblock") will need to be submitted in two formats: as "Packaged InDesign Files" and as a PDF file. You'll be provided with some InDesign templates to help set up the book and directions for managing file conversions and other issues. There will be considerable work involved in acquiring and editing the content of the book. Layout/typesetting will be easier.

Technologies: Acrobat, Word, InDesign
Resources: "Repurposing Print:
How to Create Searchable PDF Archives and Digital Versions of Printed Texts through OCR" (PDF Document; 659 Kb)

• Format: InDesign Package and PDF files.

• Important Date: These files are due on Thursday, December 11.

2. Book Cover

The production team also needs to prepare a cover for the book using InDesign, Acrobat, Photoshop, and Word. They will need to get some research information from marketing for use as content on the book cover. Cover images used from another source will need to be royalty free or have copyrights transferable

• Technologies: InDesign, Acrobat, Photoshop

• Format: InDesign Package and PDF Files

• Important Date: These files are due on Thursday, December 11.

3. Marketing Materials

The production team needs to prepare a specific marketing plan, cover images, and other information for use in promotional material.  Your goal is to prepare one postcard that can be used to advertise the book

• Technologies: InDesign, Acrobat, Photoshop

• Format: PDF Files (Press-Ready)

• Important Date: These files are due on Thursday, December 11.

4. Collaboration Evaluation

All team members should submit a Collaborative Project Evaluation Form at the end of the project, individually, in your turn-in folder. Due Date: Thursday, December 11.  Students who do not complete an evaluation form will receive a grade of "F" for the project. (In other words, don't neglect this important deliverable!)

In addition to applying the design and publication criteria discussed in class and in Looking Good in Print and The Columbia Guide to Digital Publishing, you should focus on doing whatever possible to help the team meet its goals. Effective collaboration is absolutely essential because, in the end, a book simply can't be published (and the team effort fails) if all the pieces of the puzzle are not in good order. Respond promptly to all email correspondence. Copy all team members on team-related work (no matter how far afield). Good communication is essential.

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Course Texts