Session 7 - Editing

Textbook Success Program May 2020 Cohort
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@may20-cohort tomorrow at 3:30pm ET on Zoom we’ll wrap up our session on content creation by looking at authoring considerations. We’ll also complete our session on editing: discussing the different types of editing, when they can take place, and things to keep in mind.

We’ll look back at the last slide for our authoring wrap:

  1. Slides: Content Creation and Working with Authors

And for our editing session, we’ll refer to:

  1. Handout: Editing
  2. Slides: Editing

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow. As usual, password details will be sent over direct message as a reminder.

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Hi everyone, I’m pleased that we were able to get through our sessions on authoring and editing yesterday. Thank you for attending and for your input!

Questions and Discussion

  1. @jenny.piazza asked us to think about personal perspectives on the role of children’s literature in our lives, and how literature has created or withheld opportunities for growth.
  2. @wernerwestermannj encouraged we keep in mind accessibility of simple/plain language versus jargon when authoring texts.
  3. @poritzj & @RobinArmstrong asked about what students can offer the text — whether as proofreaders, classroom reviewers, or just as a more palatable source of critical feedback on the OER.

Chat Transcript and Resources

Questions on accessibility, fair use, and more in the chat transcript. Here’s a round-up of the resources:

Lesson Recap

Writing and Authoring Considerations

Keep in mind some considerations as you go, and remember that you will continue to refine drafts during editing and review. Writing can take place over a long period, so do what you can to continuously engage and motivate all the authors on your team.

Editing

Editing is an umbrella term for a whole lot of different processes but is mainly about connecting different portions of the book, refining and polishing the drafts at hand, applying consistency to each section, and helping to ensure the formation of a cohesive resource that meets learning objectives. It provides structure, appeal, nuance, and brings sections together as a whole, cohesive textbook. Overall, it makes content easier to read. Editing can also be a useful source of critique feedback, suggestions — in this way, it can function as a form of review…

There are different types of editing ranging from the extremely granular to having a bird’s eye view of the entire resource. Your project might not need every single type of editing, so look at the different editorial roles below to see which ones will provide most value to your project.

  • A project manager is an editor who works with the leadership & editorial team, and thinks about the resource as a whole. They help develop style guides, templates, guides and make revisions to these documents over time.
  • Content or subject-matter editors make decisions about what should be included or excluded in the book. They are responsible for moulding and shaping the book and focus on ‘what should be said.’ They are, unsurprisingly, subject-matter experts.
  • Developmental or structural editors focus on the structure of the textbook and ‘how things should be said.’ They make sure the textbook is set up to meet learning objectives and can actually be more helpful if slightly distanced from the subject-matter.
  • Substantive editors’ work mainly involves resolving questions, problems, improvements identified during the developmental edit. Ideally, they are subject-matter experts.
  • Copy editors conduct a very close reading of the text, making corrections along the way. They are less focused on the bigger picture and need not be subject-matter experts.
  • Proofreaders make fine adjustments at the scale of spelling, punctuation, formatting issues, non-content specific aspects. They person the final inspection of the book and need not be subject-matter experts.

Each of these roles and processes take place at different points throughout the publishing workflow. Take a look at our suggestions in the slides for when to edit. As you’re editing, keep in mind other editing considerations that let you complete work effectively, meaningfully, and in a way that makes future tasks simpler. Remind editors that communications with authors can also be positive: that they can recognize and credit when something has been well-executed or well-explained instead of only focusing on areas needing improvement.

In a similar vein, keep in mind that editors are humans, so spend time sharing these principles with them, and revisiting your workflows to make sure that their workload is reasonable and manageable. Editing is one of many steps to refine the content in your OER, and improvements always be made to the book as you continue on the journey to release (and even after!).