| Publishing is a fascinating business and the process | | | | negotiations with the writer or his agent begin on |
| that goes into the making of books and | | | | how much to pay the writer for "intellectual |
| newspapers is an interesting one. These days, | | | | property" rights and "royalty rate." |
| with the world of digital information and the | | | | Once commercial and legal issues are settled, the |
| internet upon us, the scope of publishing now also | | | | next step is the editorial stage where writers are |
| includes websites, blogs and the like. | | | | asked to rewrite or improve their manuscripts |
| From the business perspective, publishing isn't just | | | | before they get to publishing editors who do |
| printing literature or information but also the | | | | further editing on the work. |
| development, marketing, distribution and even | | | | The next stage is called prepress and that's |
| promotion of the printed works. It is not as | | | | where design and artwork (including photos) are |
| simple as it may seem. | | | | decided. Other processes are typesetting, dust |
| The publishing process begins with the written | | | | jacket composition, deciding on paper quality, |
| work or the copy. Many aspiring and unpublished | | | | binding method, casing as well as proofreading. |
| writers often submit manuscripts to publishing | | | | Once done, the work can now proceed to printing. |
| houses in the hopes of seeing the light of print. | | | | It is interesting to note that most major |
| These end up in a slush pile which editors sift | | | | magazine and newspaper publishers have their |
| through, and the great majority of these | | | | own printing presses, but book publishers seldom |
| contributions are often rejected. Usually, book and | | | | do. |
| magazine publishers commission copy from known | | | | The publisher's work doesn't end with the |
| and established writers, and unsolicited works | | | | publication of the book. This is followed by |
| have a slim chance of getting published. The | | | | advertising and other marketing tasks, including |
| prudent thing for a writer to do to get published is | | | | distribution. There are times when the publishing |
| to first submit a query or a proposal. It also helps | | | | process up to the printing stage is handled by a |
| if you have a literary agent who has access to | | | | separate company or individual before selling the |
| major publishers. | | | | same to the publishing house. This is known as |
| Once a publisher accepts a work, then | | | | book packaging. |