English 212: Seminar: Editing and Publishing

This seminar is an investigation of all phases of the book publishing process, including but not limited to: acquisitions, editing, book production (printing, binding, book design, typesetting, etc.), publicity, advertising, small press operations, accounting, contracts, subsidiary rights, as well as new methods of information technology and transfer as they affect traditional book publishing.

Student presentations, arranged in consultation with and under the direction of the instructor, have also covered such diverse topics as: web publishing; electronic job searches in publishing; both traditional and electronic catalog publishing; CD-ROM production and distribution; educational software; on-line book retailing; the latest advances in desktop publishing programs; publishing photography books; copyright laws and much more. Presentations will be offered by professionals in the publishing field.

Requirements include: A written version of an oral report to be delivered to members of the seminar, a mid-term and a final exam.

Required Texts: Publishers Weekly (16 issues throughout the semester); The Huenefeld Guide to Book Publishing, Revised Fifth edition, John Huenefeld.

Recommended background: writing courses (interest in publishing as a career).

Prerequisites: 6 hours at the 100 level and the INSTRUCTOR'S PERMISSION REQUIRED BEFORE REGISTERING. Please see Professor Rosa, #304 Old Mill (656-4139), immediately if you are interested. This seminar fills very quickly.

Related Links:

• MLA Style for Documenting Electronic Sources (1998)
• Radcliffe Publishing Course
• Steve Cavrak's webpage
• Copyright and Fair Use
• Subject Catalog --The Subject Catalog of this library lists links to dozens of subject areas; the subject areas then offer independently managed lists of resources from that field, sometimes of varying levels and quality. An excellent place to start research, though you'll want to range farther with better updated secondary links from listed sites.
• The Library of Congress Home Page --This site includes a wealth of information, from the full list of current bills under consideration in the House and Senate, to the huge catalogs and databases maintained by the Library of Congress. It also offers links to many other library catalogs. You'll need to work with it for a while to learn all the things it can do. Some severe hang times at peak hours, as you'd expect.
• Citation Formats --The most complete list of links concerning the persistent question of how to cite electronic sources in academic writing. An impressive site.
• Roget's Thesaurus --A useful online version of the desk reference. The thesaurus attached to your word processor is probably faster, but this is the most complete.
• OneLook Dictionaries --For looking up specialized words and technical terms, this one's hard to beat. Entries include almost 500,000 words from 76 dictionaries, from scientific and medical dictionaries to technological and business dictionaries.
• Hypertext Webster Interface --This page offers access to words included in various Webster's dictionary services on the Internet. The definitions that are returned contain hyperlinks to other related words. Links to other dictionary sites are included as well.