Adventures in publishing

Back in June of last year, I was asked by one of the professors in the iSchool to help her out as an assistant, both for the summer and the following semester. As part of the job, I was told that if I was interested, I could help out with a book project she had begun the year before she took over as president of the American Library Association. Since she’d gotten busy but still wanted to get the book out soon, I agreed and am so glad I did.

Over the course of July, August, and early September, we spent upwards of 10 to 15 hours a week reading submissions out loud to one another, making editorial changes as necessary while trying to retain the authenticity of the submitting author’s voice and ideas. I’m a stickler for grammar and precision, given my background in journalism, but I learned in this process how important it was to let the authors’ voices and quirks stay if possible. I also learned how excruciating citations are and how few people a) can do them, b) know how to use them and c) stay consistent across their pieces. I think it’s a matter of too many writing styles and too little attention given to the value of consistency in education. But, of course, unlike issues emerging from people without writing experience, at least there are citations and due credit given to those with original ideas. I spent easily 100 hours on citations alone (and perhaps this explains my current stint with free lance editing for an academic journal now, too).

Through the course of the editing, I learned how the publishing process works. Even after editing multiple times, upon submission, there were questions to be answered, citations to be rechecked, and of course, editing the work of the editors. It amazes me how such a process of revision and review makes mistakes appear or emerge where they either were not before or were missed before. That’s the beauty of multiple reads.

So when I put the final manuscript in the mail in the middle of January, I was ready to be done wit the project. It’s not that it wasn’t a labor of love but rather, it was a great deal of work and time. I knew these articles and their quirks intimately, and I was ready to have it off my hands. I loved the process but was eager to move on to the next project.

When I got a knock at my door today from my favorite UPS delivery woman, I was unsure who sent me a package. When I looked at the label, I knew instantly. My book was here! And not only was my book here, the publishers kindly sent me 10 copies to keep.

Seeing it in print is amazing. Knowing the process from the back end now makes me appreciate just how much work goes into publishing a book. I’m ready to give this one another read and this time, I plan on reading it from the perspective of a reader rather than an editor. I think it’ll make the content more exciting and interesting and perhaps reveal something I may have missed before.

While I know the book will have moderately limited interest and will reside primarily within institutions of library education, it was fun to work on as a student who was — and still is — engaged heavily in service. It’s nice to see this issue exposed further from faculty and scholars across the country who also see the value in engagement. I think in a field like library/information studies, it is essential to get involved in the community or else you never can truly say you understand your community. Even if you only are engaged in a segment, you know a segment. That’s more than knowing nothing.

Beside that, in working on this project I really learned that publishing is something I want to continue being involved with during my professional career. I feel confident in my editing abilities and have continued on past this project in working with the JVWR. I hope as a practitioner I get the opportunity to publish so I can experience this from the other end. I’ve been fortunate to get a bit of attention as a writer in a number of capacities, but for me, the real value is in having someone benefit from my work in a manner that I am sure someone who picks up this title will. I cannot express how grateful I am to my boss for inviting me to do this and then entrusting me with the bulk of work and responsibilities. Sometimes when it gets easy to get down about the job hunt or feeling like you are fighting an uphill battle, it can be turned around just as easily thinking about all of the wonderful experiences others have afforded to you.

That said, if you are at all interested in service learning and its value, by all means, check out the book. It’s available here via the ALA bookstore. Of course, if you don’t have that kind of money, it is always available via ILL through your local library.