The
highly skilled editorial and design staff at Providence
Publishing Corporation is recognized for its professionalism
and careful
attention to detail, traits that have helped us consistently
exceed authors’ expectations in the seven-hundred-plus
quality titles that we have produced over the years. We
take great pride in the appearance and content of the books
that
bear our imprint. The book production process typically
takes six to eight months from the time the publishing
agreement is signed until the completed books are delivered.
Pre-Production
Planning
Before we begin editing your manuscript, we will discuss your vision for the
book including purpose of writing, intended audience, sales and marketing plans,
and overall goals. We may discuss our editorial plan to determine the depth of
editing we feel your manuscript requires. A thorough understanding of your vision
for the work and a detailed plan to capture your vision will help us produce
a book that pleases both you and your readers.
Copy Editing
Your book will be edited for basic grammar, punctuation, and
overall content using the Chicago Manual of Style. Often
relatively minor
changes in a book’s
format, organization, and other aspects of presentation can substantially
improve its editorial quality and subsequent acceptance in the marketplace.
It is important
to note that authors are responsible for checking the specific facts and
references relative to the unique subject of a manuscript prior to
submission.
Page Design and Layout
Our staff develops an attractive page design that considers
your book’s
specific audience and sales objectives. Careful attention is paid to the
appearance and positioning of chapter titles, photographs and/or
illustrations, special
content, appendices, etc. PHP's titles are often very complex making extensive use of illustrations and photographs, making the need for careful layout essential.
Cover Design
We will work with you to form a concept for the cover, write
the cover copy, contact prominent individuals for comments,
and present
an appealing cover design
that is carefully integrated with the page design. For hardcover books, we will also
select the binding materials.
Cover and Page Proofs
Page proofs allow you to see how your book is developing and
add any changes or corrections that you feel are necessary.
We address
any
editorial questions
(author queries or “AQs”) from our copy editor on this
set of proofs. We will ask you to write your changes directly on
the page proofs
and return them to us in about one week. It is helpful for
many authors to keep a copy of the changes they have requested
in case we need to discuss them after the pages are returned to
PPC. We also submit a color proof of the cover or dustjacket for
your approval around this time. We will work with you to ensure
that all of your changes are made as you intended.
Proofreading
We will check your book again for any stylistic errors, including
grammatical errors, misspellings, etc. This critical step will
be performed by an editor who has never before read your manuscript,
because often a “fresh” set of eyes on your book will
be able to find previously undetected errors.
Final
Pages
After we have completed production of the book, we will send it to the manufacturer.
At this time we also send you a set of final pages. These pages reflect the
changes you requested on your page proofs as well as the corrections made by
our proofreader (and indexer, if applicable). This set of pages serves as the
last checkpoint prior to the book’s printing. We will ask you to review
these pages and submit your corrections within one to two weeks. Final page
corrections should be limited to spelling, typographical, or formatting errors
only, since any corrections must be made by the manufacturer and can be very
expensive.
Preparing
for Book Delivery
Some time during the book’s manufacturing, we will contact you to discuss
how you will receive your first shipment of books. We will establish a shipping
plan that includes the number of books you expect to receive as well as the
specific address and contact information. PPC pays the shipping charges for
this initial shipment, so it is to your advantage to receive as many books
as possible at this point. On later shipments, freight bills will be charged
to the author or sponsoring organization