Handout version, January 2017
AP/WRIT3004 3.0 (N) Books and Bookmaking in the 21st Century (Winter 2017)
Thursdays 2:30 – 5:30
Room: CB 115
Instructor: Geoffrey Huck, Ph.D.
Instructor’s website: and Workshop Manual
Contents: p.
1. General description1
2. Learning objectives1
3. Texts2
4. Course requirements2
5. Tip for getting a good grade2
6. Readings2
7. Brief description of workshops3
8. Presentations4
9. Quizzes4
10 Rubrics4
11. Computers & phones in class5
12. Attendance5
13. Teamwork6
14. Re-evaluations6
15. Extensions7
16. E-mail etiquette7
17. Important course info7
18. Resources for editing & design8
19. Schedule9
20. Scenario: Lion Cub Books10
21. Preparing a memo11
22. Role of the Editorial Director12
23. Role of the Production Director13
24. Role of the Marketing Director14
25. Role of the Business Director15
26. Book economics18
27. Notes on editorial worksheet19
28. Notes on production worksheet20
29. Notes on marketing worksheet21
30. Notes on business worksheet22
31. Sample memos & templates24
Sample editorial memo25
Sample production memo27
Editorial worksheet28
Production worksheet29
Marketing worksheet30
Business worksheet32
1. General description: This course surveys the process of publishing a book from the evaluation of manuscript through the printing, marketing, and distribution of the final product. The structure and function of the organizational units of a typical publishing company – including acquisitions, editorial, production, art & design, rights & contracts, marketing, sales, customer service, fulfillment, and the business office – are examined. The focus is on both printed and electronic books, and attention is paid to technological developments that are changing not only how books are produced but also what constitutes a book, how it is written by writers, and how it is purchased, accessed, and read by consumers. Students participate in workshops in which they assume the roles of key personnel in a publishing company, Lion Cub Books, and learn how publishing decisions are made. Classes include lectures, discussion, and simulations.
This course is a prerequisite for AP/WRIT 4721 6.0 (Y) Book Publishing Practicum. Together, these courses constitute a sequence that culminates in the publication of a real book through Leaping Lion Books in the second year of the sequence (see Students in AP/WRIT 3004 prepare for the publishing roles they will assume in AP/WRIT 4721.
2. Learning objectives:
- Understand the organization of the book publishing industry
- Understand the organization of the typical book publishing company and the roles played by key personnel.
- Understand the forces that continue to shape the industry and are likely to drive demand in the market now and in the near future.
- Understand the technological context in which changes in the book industry are occurring
- Understand the substantive editorial contributions that publishers make to the content of the books they publish
- Understand the significant design, production, and marketing decisions that publishers make that affect the way books are received, perceived, and sought out by readers
- Understand why publishers make the decisions they make concerning the content, design, format, price, and distribution of the books they publish
3. Texts:
Required:
- John B. Thompson, Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the 21st Century, 2nd Edition (2012, Polity Press)
- Two manuscripts available on Moodle (containing Workshop Texts 1 & 2)
Recommended:
- The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition (2010, University of Chicago Press). (Note that all York students should have access to the electronic version of the Chicago Manual of Style through their library account, so it’s not necessary to buy this book for this course.)
4. Course requirements: Grades are based on two quizzes (20% each, total 40%), two workshop memos (25% each, total 50%), class participation (9%), and a presentation (1%).
5. Tip for getting a good grade in this class: This should be an enjoyable course if you come to class, participate regularly and avidly, and do all the assignments on time and as directed. Read this syllabus carefully and often – most of what you need to know about how the course operates is here.
Please note that because an important purpose of this course is to prepare students for AP/WRIT 4721 6.0 Book Publishing Practicum, and because that preparation depends on learning through workshops about some of the complex decisions that publishing a quality book requires, itmust be rigidly organized. Following the instructions in this syllabus closely should allow you to develop the knowledge you will need in order to successfully publish the manuscripts assigned in the Practicum in the allotted time during the 2017-18 academic year.
6. Readings: The Thompson book is designed to give you an introduction to the publishing world and the background knowledge you’ll need to make intelligent decisions in the workshops as well to prepare you for the Practicum. The two workshop texts are required reading for the workshops. Obviously, intimate knowledge of the workshop texts is necessary if you are to contribute meaningfully to a satisfactory publishing plan for them.All team members should have read at least the first third of the manuscript for the first workshop, the second third for the second workshop, and the final third for the third workshop. However, it would be beneficial for the editorial and marketing directors to have read and digested as much of the complete manuscript as possible for the first workshop.
7. Brief description of workshop assignments: For each of the two assigned workshop texts, the class will be divided into teams representing the operating directors of a hypothetical publisher, Lion Cub Books. Although there will be a number of teams, for the purposes of the exercise each team is to assume that its members make up the entirety of Lion Cub Books and that there are no other teams or members of Lion Cub Books outside that team. The object for each team will be to come up with an integrated and persuasive publishing plan for the designated manuscript. This means that the team will have to submit plans for allocating the budget and for editing, producing, and marketing the book, with each operating director responsible for his or her area of operation. Indeed, each student will submit a business memorandum along with a worksheet and possibly other materials as explained below for each of the two workshop exercises.
For the first publishing simulation, all students will work on Text 1 in their assigned teams. As indicated above, there will be three class workshops devoted to that text. For the second simulation, new teams will be arranged to work on Text 2, and again there will be three workshops. Each student should have the opportunity to fill the role of two different director positions (i.e., a different one for each text) by the end of the course.
For each text, each team will have an assigned budget that may be augmented by special fund-raising activities. When a team reaches agreement on a comprehensive book plan, each member is to prepare a written memorandum to the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of Lion CubBooks (in this case, the course director), arguing for the portion of the proposed book plan in his or her area of responsibility. That is, the Editorial Director will be proposing an editorial plan, the Production Director will be proposing a production plan, and so on.
An important part of each workshop exercise is determining how to allocate scarce resources so they have the maximum impact on the success of the book. Each director will estimate the costs of her/his particular plan on a preliminary worksheet that is to be distributed to his/her other team members and a final worksheet, when agreement is reached among all members on the final publishing plan, to the course director along with the memorandum.
For the assignments concerning Workshop Text 2, each director will have added responsibilities, as explained in the instruction section below
It should be emphasized that, for the purposes of the two memos and worksheets, each director must work together with the other team members to produce a persuasive, integrated total bookplan. Each director’s memo must be consistent with her or his teammates’ memos and all of the team’s memos must together make for a coordinated and comprehensive plan. You must complete your work in your team on time as prescribed in a schedule determined by the Business Director. If one or more of the team members is late in circulating her or his worksheet to the other members of the team, then that hurts the whole team, and the offending member’s grade will be appropriately lowered. Moreover, if the directors can’t work together, that reflects poorly on each of them individually, and notice will be taken of that in grading. Each team, of course, is also competing directly with the other teams. The teams will be ranked according to the persuasiveness of their plans and that will figure into each student’s final grade.
8. Presentations: During class on March 30, the members of each team will be scheduled to provide the class with an oral presentation of their bookplan for Text 2. Each team will be given about 15 minutes to explain and boast about the great plan that they have come up with for that text. Thus, each team member will have only a brief few minutes to discuss the plan for the text in his or her area of responsibility.
9. Quizzes: Quizzes will test students’ knowledge of the assigned readings and the content of lectures, presentations, and class discussions. The first quiz will cover the assignments, presentations, and lectures through February 2, the second quiz from February 9 through March 23.
10. Rubrics:
2Memos(max. 25 points each), graded as follows:
I Consistency
4- fully consistent with other team members’ plans
2- somewhat inconsistent with other team members’ plans
0- importantly inconsistent with other team members’ plans
II Style
4- no stylistic errors
2 - one or two stylistic errors
0- three or more stylistic errors
III Content
4- contains all necessary elements
2- missing 1 or 2 minor elements
0- missing a major element
IV Argumentation
4 – very persuasive plan
2- generally persuasive, but with minor problems
0- not very persuasive
V Depth/breadth/originality of coverage
4 - better than average
2 - average
0- importantly defective in some respect
VI Team participation
4- missed no deadlines
2 - missed one deadline with minor consequences
0- missed deadline(s) with major consequences and/or removed from team
VII Team rank (based on total team scores for I-IV above)
1- top half
.5- top ¾ (i.e., between bottom quarter and top half)
0- bottom quarter
Total = 25 possible points on each memo
2 memos X 25 each = 50 points
2 Quizzes (max. 20 points each), graded as follows:
Each quiz will be worth 20 points and will consist of either all multiple-choice questions or a combination of multiple-choice questions and short-answer/essay questions. Thus, 2 quizzes X 20points each = 40 points
Class Participation (max. 9 points), graded as follows:
9 – contributed regularly and productively to class discussions (independently of team participation, which is calculated separately under Memos above)
6 - attended regularly, but contributed only occasionally to class discussions
3 - attendance spotty with occasional participation in class discussions
0- have you dropped the course?
Presentation (max. 1 point), graded as follows
1 - good / excellent
0.5 - fair orabsent without documentation & someone else read your presentation for you
0- poor or absent without documentation & someone else had to extemporize in your place
11. Computers and phones in class: For the two workshops, each team will require the use of a computer with WiFi (wireless) capability for access to the York web and Internet in the classroom. Students who have laptops should therefore bring them to class if at all possible. Any team in one of the workshops none of whose members has a laptop with WiFi will need to coordinate with the course director at least one week before the workshop.
Instant messaging or texting or e-mailing or accessing social media during regular class time seriously degrades the learning experience not only for you but also for your fellow classmates because it can be a serious distraction. If you want to engage in any of those activities, please have the courtesy to do so during an announced break or leave the classroom. Class participation points will definitely be deducted up to the maximum (9 points) for the electronically discourteous.
12. Attendance: Any information conveyed by the course director in class (including the first class on January 5) will be assumed to have been received and understood by all class members. Material from lectures and class discussions may well inspire questions for quizzes, and instructions may be given concerning workshop exercises and events. If you miss a class, you should plan to get notes from one of your classmates. (You obviously won’t be able to get a full recapitulation of a missed class from the course director.)
If you are ill – especially if you are ill with a fever or any illness that feels serious to you – you should definitely stay home or visit a doctor rather than come to class. Even repeated absences from class discussions won’t result in a penalty if you have a note from a doctor or the York CDS (Counselling and Disability Services). Similarly, if you have a family emergency that keeps you from participating in several class discussions, you should try to get a note from a doctor or CDS.
It is absolutely essential for the success of this course that each student participate fullywith each of his or her team members in the workshops and the presentations. If you need to be absent during any of these, you must coordinate with your teammates in advance so that their work will not be adversely affected. If a team’s progress in formulating its publishing plan is in any wayhindered by the absence, unavailability, or silence of a team member during a class workshop, that member’s team participation score will be marked down accordingly, unless it is due to illness or family emergency supported by a note from a doctor or York CDS.NB:Any team member who is absent from a class workshop without consulting in advance with his or her team members may be immediately dropped from the teamat the discretion of the course director if the latter believes the team’s effectiveness is being compromised. In such cases, that team member will be replaced by the course director, who will, for the remainder of that workshop exercise, fill in for the dropped member. Any team member whose work is inhibited by the lack of participation of another member of the team is strongly encouraged to let the course director know so as not to lose points as a result.
If during the workshop exercises a student is repeatedly absent, or repeatedly arrives at class late and leaves early, that will reduce the effectiveness and achievements of the other team members. Responsibility for that lack of effectiveness and achievement will be charged primarily against the grade of the late or absent person. If you are late or absent, you not only are obligated to inform your teammates, you also would be wise to ensure that your team’s performance as a whole isnot adversely affected.
If a team member is delinquent in submitting a worksheet to the other members, they may elect to give that member a 24-hour warning, after which time the task of filling out the worksheet may be referred to the course director. Of course, this applies only to worksheets – each team member remains responsible for the preparation of his or her own memo, even if, because of delinquency, the worksheet has been prepared by someone else. But it is advisable for the memos to be circulated to all members of the team in plenty of time to ensure that there is consistency.
13. Teamwork:The best publishing plans result from effective teamwork. Teams that spend the most time working together almost always get the best grades on their worksheets and memos. In-depth discussion by the team can unearth good ideas and reveal the flaws in bad ones. Furthermore, an important reason for circulating worksheets and memos to your teammates before handing them in is that it will allow team members to check each other’s work. A math error by the Editorial or Production Director in computing the length or production cost of the book to be printed will be counted as an error of the team as a whole (although of course the director responsible for the error will receive the largest deduction).
14. Re-evaluations: A student may request a re-evaluation of a grade on a memo or quiz only by submitting a hard-copy letter indicating the reasons for the request to the course director in person during class or office hours. Please note that subjectively determined marks (e.g., the distinction between “somewhat inconsistent” and “importantly inconsistent” or between “very persuasive” and “generally persuasive”) will usually not be re-evaluated. Note also that the style and quality of the student’s letter requesting re-evaluation will be taken into account in determining the final grade for the memo or quiz. Thus, the student’s grade could decline, improve, or remain the same.
15. Extensions: Writing assignments (memos and worksheets) are due at the beginning of class on the date indicated. A nonmedical extension may be granted if the course director receives a student’s request at least ten days before the assignment’s due date.A medical extension will be given only in case of illness or family emergency supported by a doctor’s note or a letter from CDS. Workshop assignments turned in late without an extension will be marked down as follows: from anytime after class up to 2 days after the material is due, 5 points out of the total of 25; 3-4 days, 10 points out of 25; 5-6 days, 15 grade points out of 25; 7 or more days, 20 points out of 25. A paper not turned in by the last date to submit term work (April 5 for the Winter Term), will receive a grade of 0 (zero) on that assignment. Note that if you wish to turn in an assignment late, you may only do so by handing it in person to the course director or as an attachment to an e-mail message sent to him. Do not leave an assignment in the PRWR office or under the instructor’s office door.