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Re: Serious Question (believe it or not)...

From: Rachel Carmichael <carmichr_at_hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2001 10:22:21 -0700
Message-ID: <F001.003208EC.20010607095614@fatcity.com>

The process at Oracle Press for DBA 101 went like this:

1). one of us would write the chapter (we broke the book out by "you write this one, I'll write that one" -- if we did it correctly, you can't tell which chapter is Marlene's and which is mine)

2). the other would read and make suggestions for changes (we did our own developmental editing <G>)

3). corrections would be made and the chapter was sent to OP and the technical editor

4). tech editor would return the chapter with comments/changes

5). author of the chapter would incorporate the changes requested by the tech editor

6). chapter would be sent to OP for copy-editing (this is the grammatical clean up)

7). chapter would come back from the copy editor and changes would be accepted or rejected by the chapter author

8). "final" version of the chapter was sent back to OP

9). chapter would (eventually) come back as page proofs (hardcopy pictures of what the actual printed page would look like)

10). Page proofs were reviewed (this is blinding work as you are NOT reading but scanning each line of each page for things as small as lowercase when it should be caps, missing commas, missing spaces, code listings not lining up, and so on)

11). marked up page proofs were sent to OP

12). Because our editor at OP knew that I am totally anal about not sending out work with errors, I'd get ANOTHER set of page proofs to review (this is not a normal process, just mine). Believe it or not, I would sometimes still find errors.

13). The book is published, by which time I am thoroughly sick of looking at it. Except of course, that the first time you see a book you have written as a REAL BOOK, all the pain is forgotten.

Now, understand that this is not a single thread process. We might be writing one chapter, reviewing a different one for each other, checking what the tech editor or copy editor was doing etc.

And while all that was going on, I was holding down a full-time DBA job (which means >40 hours a week), presenting at conferences and trying to find time to sleep.

>From: Peter Barnett <pnbarne_at_bcbso.com>
>Reply-To: ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com
>To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L <ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com>
>Subject: Re: Serious Question (believe it or not)...
>Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2001 08:47:06 -0800
>
>In a different life, I wrote several articles for academic journals. It
>was a pretty brutal experience but I learned how to write a tight
>sentence.
>
>First, the editors returned the manuscripts for grammatical corrections.
>Once they were satisfied with the grammar and syntax, the article went to
>a peer review committee.
>
>Generally, the peer reviewers were other academics specializing in the
>topic of the manuscript. They too, were just as rigorous as the
>grammar police.
>
>My boss at the time wrote two books which were published by one of the
>major academic book publishers. They followed essentially the same
>process.
>
>
>Pete Barnett
>Oracle Database Administrator
>Regence BlueCross BlueShield
>pnbarne_at_regence.com
>
>
>On Thu, 7 Jun 2001, Greg Moore wrote:
>
> > Jim, Check the O'Reilly web site. There is an area where they describe
>how
> > they work with authors.
> >
> > - Greg
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > To: "Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L" <ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com>
> > Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2001 1:29 PM
> >
> >
> > > All,
> > >
> > > I am very interested in collaborating with others in the writing of an
> > > Oracle technical book (DBA subject matter). I am interested in how
>those
> > of
> > > you who have done this (ala Rachel), got started or made the right
> > > connections. I do have a somewhat literary background, so I know I
>can do
> > > this.
> > >
> > > Jim
> > >
> > > Jim Hawkins
> > > Lead SAPR/3 Oracle Database Administrator
> > > MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
> > > 600 Pearl Drive
> > > St. Louis, MO 633376
> > > 9636) 474-7832
> > > jhawkins_at_memc.com (work)
> > > jhawkins_at_primary.net (home)
> > >
> > > --
> > > Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
> > > --
> > > Author: Jim Hawkins
> > > INET: jhawkins_at_primary.net
> > >
> > > Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051
> > > San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists
> > > --------------------------------------------------------------------
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> >
> > --
> > Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
> > --
> > Author: Greg Moore
> > INET: sqlgreg_at_pacbell.net
> >
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>--
>Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
>--
>Author: Peter Barnett
> INET: pnbarne_at_bcbso.com
>
>Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051
>San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists
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-- 
Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
-- 
Author: Rachel Carmichael
  INET: carmichr_at_hotmail.com

Fat City Network Services    -- (858) 538-5051  FAX: (858) 538-5051
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Received on Thu Jun 07 2001 - 12:22:21 CDT

Original text of this message

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