Last week I was surprised and a bit amused by how the new prices for the catalog were determined. This week, I was again surprised by the process for determining the prices of these ebooks FIT is trying to go to more and more. They are trying to determine the correct balance between printed material and electronic material. The printed material costs more to produce so represents a large cost for FIT. The electronic material costs, really, nothing, at least not after its production, so is purely revenue. So the discussions about ebook prices were basically to determine the correct markdown. The discussed markdown right now is about 50%, but nothing is definite.
Besides the hold up by discussions of prices for ebooks and the like, the catalog is about done. Once the designer puts a draft together, it will come back and be proofed, then will be printed and sent out. I am still copyediting and proofing, though now it is mostly scholarly articles for FIT's International Journal of Sport Exercise Physiology (IJSEP). Each article is, generally, written by a different author with his or her own style and background. Some use MLA, others APA, others sort of make up rules as they go. FIT and the IJSEP use APA, something with which I am not, or was not before this internship, well acquainted. Most things are consistent, but its the little stuff, the minutia, that is different and must especially be watched for. An example is the use of square brackets and parentheses. Chicago, and PEMDAS, says that square brackets are to be the outside parentheses and (ordinary) parentheses are to be the inner brackets. APA, I think MLA, and teachers since I was about 12, say that that should be opposite ( [ ] ). I learned that today, so must go back through about six articles I just copyedited to change it from [ ( ) ] to [ ( ) ].
Journal articles
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Week 5
Week 5 saw deadlines come and pass. When I showed up to work on the catalog, I learned that new prices were being settled on and that FIT is trying to incorporate ebooks into their catalog this year. The new prices are being selected in an interesting way. I'm sure it is the usual way these things are decided, but it is fascinating and sort of fun. I asked my boss what the new price for a certain book would be, he looked at me, and picked up another company's new catalog, flipped to a page, and said $52. I must have looked sort of perplexed, so he turned the catalog around and I saw the other catalog had a similar book listed at $55. Other prices were shifted in similar ways, just by a few bucks, usually, and always with an eye to the competition.
The ebooks, for those of you who haven't heard of them, are books online. There are even little computers designed just for these ebooks. Matt and I spent probably fifteen minutes looking at ebooks and the portable screens to read them with. They hold a ridiculous amount, thousands of books. But, there aren't many books in this format yet. FIT wants to be ahead of the curve, so is going ahead and putting some of their textbooks into the correct format. We talked about the problems of theft (students printing one copy and then copying it over and over again) and price determination. Only incredibly cheap students, like myself, woulk likely print one and copy the rest, so theft shouldn't be that big of a problem, especially since the real benefit of an ebook is that it can be read from a laptop or other device.
I am still doing some copyediting and proofing, and Professor Wible's suggestion to use style sheets for this type of work has worked out well. The sheet provides me, and more importantly, those above me and the authors, with the reasoning behind and description of the decisions I made. I recommend them highly for anyone doing this type of work, where the same types of problems need to be dealt with again and again in the same work.
The ebooks, for those of you who haven't heard of them, are books online. There are even little computers designed just for these ebooks. Matt and I spent probably fifteen minutes looking at ebooks and the portable screens to read them with. They hold a ridiculous amount, thousands of books. But, there aren't many books in this format yet. FIT wants to be ahead of the curve, so is going ahead and putting some of their textbooks into the correct format. We talked about the problems of theft (students printing one copy and then copying it over and over again) and price determination. Only incredibly cheap students, like myself, woulk likely print one and copy the rest, so theft shouldn't be that big of a problem, especially since the real benefit of an ebook is that it can be read from a laptop or other device.
I am still doing some copyediting and proofing, and Professor Wible's suggestion to use style sheets for this type of work has worked out well. The sheet provides me, and more importantly, those above me and the authors, with the reasoning behind and description of the decisions I made. I recommend them highly for anyone doing this type of work, where the same types of problems need to be dealt with again and again in the same work.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Week 4
Continuing:
Today, Tuesday, February 10th, I will turn in a manuscript with the author's revisions incorporated, an academic journal consisting of eleven different articles, and I will send the first pieces of text to the designer so she can start putting the catalog together by the end of this week. I have the eight promo pieces written, but still need some information on two of the books (ISBN, price, and whether the person mentioned is the author or editor so I know whether to write [Ed.] or [Eds.] after the name[s] or not). Val, one of my bosses at FIT will have written some background information for, I believe, seven more books/manuals/directories which are new to the catalog.
The rest of the week should be finishing up the catalog on my end: I have to cut down some of the older title descriptions, and reorganize the titles based on whatever precedence Matt (my primary boss) decides. This week should be less time-consuming, but a lot of tangible material will be produced. The most important skill one can have in this work, or should develop in doing this work, is time management, especially if doing the work as I am, sort of making the hours up as I go. Sometimes I work from about 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., other times from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. I enjoy doing the work this way, chunking it whenever I have time I can devote to it, but when there is a lot to do, days get full pretty quickly.
Today, Tuesday, February 10th, I will turn in a manuscript with the author's revisions incorporated, an academic journal consisting of eleven different articles, and I will send the first pieces of text to the designer so she can start putting the catalog together by the end of this week. I have the eight promo pieces written, but still need some information on two of the books (ISBN, price, and whether the person mentioned is the author or editor so I know whether to write [Ed.] or [Eds.] after the name[s] or not). Val, one of my bosses at FIT will have written some background information for, I believe, seven more books/manuals/directories which are new to the catalog.
The rest of the week should be finishing up the catalog on my end: I have to cut down some of the older title descriptions, and reorganize the titles based on whatever precedence Matt (my primary boss) decides. This week should be less time-consuming, but a lot of tangible material will be produced. The most important skill one can have in this work, or should develop in doing this work, is time management, especially if doing the work as I am, sort of making the hours up as I go. Sometimes I work from about 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., other times from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. I enjoy doing the work this way, chunking it whenever I have time I can devote to it, but when there is a lot to do, days get full pretty quickly.
Week 3
Posting for last week:
Last week was quite busy. I almost turned in a manuscript that was proofed, but was handed a document five pages long with the author's revisions. I was also handed a copy of one of FIT's quarterly journals to proofread, mainly looking for dates and copyrights that needed updating, but also for the usual things, misspellings, commas missing or incorrect punctuation, and consistency throughout the text. And I was charged with coordinating the '09 FIT catalog. This includes updating text, inserting new text and pictures, getting rid of old information, updating the overall look of the 16 page catalog, prioritizing space for the best sellers or hopeful best sellers, and doing all this with the designer in Cumberland.
That seemed like a lot. And it was. But as long as I budgeted my time, I could get things done by the time FIT needs them. The journal will be turned in Tuesday, February 10, as will the other manuscript incorporating the author's own revisions. (By the way, SS in SS America is not italicized. Who knew?) The catalog is coming along in stages and the first of the actual text inserts will be sent to the designer on Tuesday as well, after being run by the people at FIT to make sure I have included all the necessary and relevant information and put it in an appropriate format.
Last week was quite busy. I almost turned in a manuscript that was proofed, but was handed a document five pages long with the author's revisions. I was also handed a copy of one of FIT's quarterly journals to proofread, mainly looking for dates and copyrights that needed updating, but also for the usual things, misspellings, commas missing or incorrect punctuation, and consistency throughout the text. And I was charged with coordinating the '09 FIT catalog. This includes updating text, inserting new text and pictures, getting rid of old information, updating the overall look of the 16 page catalog, prioritizing space for the best sellers or hopeful best sellers, and doing all this with the designer in Cumberland.
That seemed like a lot. And it was. But as long as I budgeted my time, I could get things done by the time FIT needs them. The journal will be turned in Tuesday, February 10, as will the other manuscript incorporating the author's own revisions. (By the way, SS in SS America is not italicized. Who knew?) The catalog is coming along in stages and the first of the actual text inserts will be sent to the designer on Tuesday as well, after being run by the people at FIT to make sure I have included all the necessary and relevant information and put it in an appropriate format.
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