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LESSON 1: THE PROOFREADERS ROLEGLOSSARY OF TERMS
acquisitions: The process by which manuscripts are selected for
publication.
acquisitions editor: An individual within a publishing house
responsible forselecting manuscripts for publication and, often,
developmentally editingthem if needed before the production process
begins.
camera ready: Final page proofs that are sent in hard copy to a
printer,where they are literally photographed. The negatives from
these photosare used to burn metal plates, which are then used on
press when thebook is printed.
Chicago: Editing slang for the Chicago Manual of Style, the
seminal stylebook for editing books and journals in the humanities.
Styles used in other
disciplines include APA (based on the Publication Manual of the
AmericanPsychological Association, for the social sciences), AP
(based on theAssociated Press Stylebook, for newspapers and
magazines), and MLA(based on guidelines set forth by the Modern
Language Association, forstudent papers and essays).
comparison proofreading: Checking the page proofs against
themanuscript, word for word, to ensure that the typesetter input
themanuscript exactly as provided. Common errors found when
comparisonproofreading include dropped lines of text, misspellings,
and omittedwords.
copyeditor: An individual responsible for editing a manuscript
just before it istypeset. The copyeditors job includes revising
awkward sentences,checking documentation, and catching as many
spelling and grammarerrors as possible.
developmental editor: The individual responsible for deep
revisions to amanuscript before it goes into production.
Developmental editing includesglobal organization, overall style
and flow, and fact checking. Copyeditingtypically follows
developmental editing.
editor: There are many meanings for the word editor. An
acquisitions editorseeks out manuscripts that have the potential to
bring sales to apublishing house, and her role sometimes includes
developmental editing.A production editor takes an acquired
manuscript through the process ofcopyediting (done by yet another
type of editor, the copyeditor),proofreading (also editing, but a
very specific kind), and the printingprocess. A magazine or
newspaper editor compiles articles for inclusion inan issue.
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hard copy: On paper, as opposed to electronic copy.
manuscript: The original document an author creates. The
manuscript goesthrough several stages of editing (developmental
editing and copyediting)to try to exorcise as many structural
errors and typos as possible before it
proceeds to typesetting.
page proofs: The formatted pages a typesetter designs using the
text of themanuscript. Page proofs show what each page of the book
will look likewhen complete, including page numbers, running heads,
placement oftables or other art, font style, margins, etc.
production: The process of turning a manuscript into a finished,
printed book.Production begins when a manuscript is handed down
from theacquisitions department.
production editor: An individual responsible for shepherding the
manuscriptthrough the processes of copyediting, typesetting,
proofreading, andprinting. The production editor is in direct
contact with the author andtypesetter and works as a liaison to
resolve queries from the copyeditorand proofreader.
proofreader: An individual responsible for finding and marking
editorial andformatting errors in page proofs.
proofreading symbols: A standard set of marks that proofreaders
use tomark up page proofs. Proofreading symbols are universal, a
kind of signlanguage used to communicate with typesetters.
proofs: Several sets of proofs emerge over the course of the
productionprocess. First proofs (or page proofs) are result of the
typesetterstranslation of the manuscript into something resembling
a book. Firstproofs are reviewed by the proofreader. Revised proofs
(or second proofs,often called seconds) are created when the
typesetter makes theproofreaders changes to the first proofs and
outputs a revised set ofpages. Revised proofs are typically checked
by the production editor.Final proofs are the clean, perfect set of
pages sent electronically and/orin hard copy to the printer.
Because printers must image the final proofs(which are typically
created in QuarkXPress or another design program) inthe step just
before printing, they output another proof, the printers proof(or
blueline), a representation of exactly what the finished book pages
willlook like. The production editor checks the printers proofs to
make surethat the pages are in order, that the margins are even,
and that any art willreproduce clearly on press.
