Jan 21 2009
Back to That ‘Dirty’ Word, “Organization”
In my last post called ‘The Source. It’s Really Quite Simple…’ I stressed the importance of recording all source information immediately, even if all you did was jot the facts on the back of the photocopy you just made. (Yes, I said photocopy. You need at least two photocopies: one for your files and one for your publisher. This is a legitimate reason for making photocopies.)
But now that you’ve written down your source information, you really need to organize the material. The old method of writing down notes on an index card is still inexpensive, and it works. You could draw cartoons and write the information in a balloon over the character’s head. However, most folks today prefer keeping information like this on the computer. The method you use doesn’t matter as long as you devise a consistent method and use your method faithfully.
If you’re really not up to doing this chore yourself, delegate. I used to pay my young nieces to update my data on the computer. If you are an instructor, pay a student to maintain your records. Hire a senior citizen to do the work. Just do it. And keep it accessible for a long time.
The sad reality of the publishing world is that paperwork gets lost. Publishing houses get bought and sold, staff members come and go, files get misplaced.
A real life example: a college professor was writing the second edition of her textbook. The firm that published the first edition was sold to another publishing house. During the transition, all but a few of the paper files were lost. The lost files included all the contracts and permissions for the 143 articles in her book. All the permissions editor had to work with was a handwritten list from the first publishing house saying that permissions were granted for either “this edition only” or for “all future editions.” But there was no longer a paper trail to verify this information. To compound the problem even further, all the source information was also gone. It was impossible to track down copyright holders so the permissions process could start over.
Normally, the permissions editor would go back to the author and ask for the sources. This time, the author was currently a guest lecturer at a European university and would not be returning to the States for several months. The decision was made by the new publishing house to proceed as best as possible for the second edition and to start over from scratch for the future third edition. New articles in the second edition that had source information could be easily processed for permissions. Intensive research had to be done to track down copyright holders for first edition articles marked “this edition only.” Nothing was done for the articles notated as being for “all future editions.” The book went to press two months late.
The situation hadn’t improved much by the time permissions work started on the third edition three years later. The author was back in the States but had neither the time nor the inclination to go to her storage facility and find the missing information. Obtaining all the necessary permissions for the third edition took over a year and cost close to $6K in editorial services. If the author had kept easy access to her sourcing information, the fee for editorial services would have been under $2K.
The message is clear: keep a copy of all your sourcing information and keep the information easily accessible. Get organized now.
© 2009 Anne Wallingford. All Rights Reserved.
