First of all, you can use images with headers without hurting SEO. The text is either shoved offscreen or covered with a graphic.

There are also some more complicated (to my mind) text replacement methods using Flash and other techniques.

Most current browsers support @fontface (a CSS method) but you have to upload multiple font versions for the different browsers. The font files can be big (bad for downloading) and when I’ve tested @fontface on pages, the text looked funny. There may also be a problem with font licensing; your desired font might be restricted from being stored on a server.

For body text, here’s a list of fonts you can expect computer users to have.

If you’re not building the pages yourself, just tell your Web production person what you want and let them take care of it.

David doesn’t use a business name, and the focus needs to be on his services and not him personally. In case he wants to change the site name, the header needs to be text and not a graphic. For his name I specified Fontin Sans SC (using @font-face), Lucida Grande, Verdana, sans-serif. The tagline is Georgia.

The desired header (Firefox 3.5)

Looks pretty good, doesn’t it? Sigh.

In Internet Explorer his name disappeared completely, so I adjusted the colors. It’s a little more gaudy than intended, but it will work.

Google Chrome (Win) - added 7/25

Opera 9 (Win)

Safari 4.0 (Mac)

Firefox 3.5 (Win)

Firefox 3 (Mac)

IE 8 (Win)

IE 7 (Win)

IE 6 (Win)

I was disinclined to fire up the second PC for this post, so the IE 7 and IE 8 screenshots are courtesy of IE Net Renderer. My laziness also explains why there’s no screenshot from Google Chrome.

Update August 20, 2009: I couldn’t handle the variation in headers. It was too confusing to me to have the site look different depending on which browser I had open. It was an interesting experiment, but I felt like the trade-offs required to make the header usable for all browsers exceeded any design benefits.

(Presented at the 2009 NCPA Conference)

Editing: The Invisible Art that Takes Your Book from “Self-Published” to “Professionally Published”

Good afternoon!

My name is Sandra Williams, and I’ve provided writing, editing, and design services since 1996. Before that I ran a marketing and publicity office, and before that I edited a weekly newspaper. My first love has always been books—I still have a few shelves of Nancy Drew books that back in the day cost only 60 cents—and in recent years I’ve been thrilled to work primarily with authors and publishers.

Something else about me—I like to work in t-shirts and sweats, and when the weather’s warm I rarely wear shoes. But today I dressed a little more formally. I put on some nice pants and a buttoned shirt because all of you here, no matter how open-minded you are, are going to get some kind of impression of me, are going to base your opinion of my credibility, on my appearance. Seriously, could you trust my judgment if I walked in here wearing a bathrobe and one shoe?

Similarly, your books will be judged by reviewers, distributors, and bookstore owners.

Don’t let your book dress in a mixture of straight quotes and curly quotes, misspelled words and misused words! Don’t let your book leave home dressed like a drunken clown!

On to the meat. If you have questions, I’d love to answer them. Please save them till the end, and I’ll take questions then.

What is editing?

Let me warn you now, there is NO standard definition for the terms editing and copyediting and proofreading. Different editors, different publishers, different authors have their own individual ideas of what it means to “edit.” Editing is not a regulated profession, and there is no licensing board that defines the terms. You can’t assume you and your editor are on the same page. Spell out exactly what services you want when you contract with an editor.

That said, the editing functions can be divided into three basic areas. Let’s start with substantive editing.

1. Substantive editing aka line editing aka content editing aka structural editing aka developmental editing

Substantive editing involves the most work on your editor’s part. If you consult with your editor before actually writing or in the process of writing, it’s generally considered developmental editing. For this talk, we’re going to assume the manuscript has already been written.

So—what’s involved?

Let me put on my Editor hat.

In substantive editing (aka line editing aka content editing aka structural editing), an editor looks at the overall structure of your manuscript. This is NOT the time to worry about grammar and punctuation; first you have to make sure the ideas and language are right.

For nonfiction, is the premise valid and logically presented? Is the manuscript well organized? Does it make sense? Are sections repeated? Are parts of the argument missing?

Is the author’s tone and language suitable to the audience? A manuscript about molecular genetics that’s aimed at scientists can be loaded with jargon that would baffle a general readership. The same manuscript written for the lay person might insult—or worse, bore—a molecular geneticist who doesn’t need to have terms explained.

For fiction, are the characters developed? Are transitions seamless? Does the middle sag? Is there too much telling? Do some parts need to be expanded and some parts cut? Does the author achieve the desired emotional effect? Does the author overuse certain words or phrases?

For both fiction and nonfiction, the editor may suggest changes in wording, but it’s up to the author to take (or not take) the editor’s suggestions. The author may very well find a better solution than the editor’s. All the editor wants is to help the author make the book the best it can be.

Now to change hats. This is my Copyediting hat.

2. Copyediting aka line editing aka manuscript editing aka mechanical editing aka “light editing” aka “proofreading”

Wait a minute, didn’t I mention line editing when I was wearing the Editor hat? Why, yes I did. I have seen “line editing” defined as both structural editing and copyediting. You better nail down the meaning with whoever you’re talking to if you’re going to use the term “line editing”!

Copyediting can be divided into heavy, medium, and light copyediting. Of course, none of THOSE terms have a standard definition either. So let’s talk about the different tasks that may be included.

At this point, the plot and structure should be firm. The copyeditor will be looking primarily at spelling, grammar, punctuation, and style. Style is whether a comma is used before the last item in a series, how headings should be capitalized (sentence style or headline style), which numbers to spell out, how words with variant spellings will be spelled, and the many other details that give a publishing house consistency and its own look.

Spelling, grammar, punctuation, style—those are the basics of copy-editing. Also basic is marking the manuscript for the typesetter. Every design element, such as chapter numbers, chapter titles, epigraphs, or verse, needs to be coded in some way, as determined by the publisher. For manuscripts that are edited on a computer, the easiest way is to assign styles. As long as each element is given a named style, the typesetter can easily convert those styles to the actual book style.

So: spelling, grammar, punctuation, style, type marking.

Now add all the details that were missed in the big-picture editing. Characters whose names or eye color change halfway through the story. Tables whose captions need to be rewritten to be parallel. Phrases that can be misread as a cultural slur. Famous streets in famous cities that actually run east-west but as written run north-south. Author’s pet phrases that occur again and again. And so on.

The copyeditor also prepares a style sheet listing the styles and preferred spellings for that manuscript. The style sheet may be used by the . . .

Time to switch hats.

3. Proofreading

Now, a lot of people say “proofreading” when they really mean “copyediting.” In publishing, “proofreading” is exactly that: reading proofs. It’s the last stage before going to print.

Can I have a volunteer? Thank you.

This is a page proof. It’s a page from the book that’s been laid out and made pretty.

This is the actual manuscript with the edits. The author approved the edits, and the changes were accepted and the file sent to the typesetter.

Let’s make sure no errors crept in somewhere. I’m going to read the edited manuscript out loud while my volunteer here reads along on the page proof and checks that the book page matches what I read aloud. Ready?

[read a paragraph or so, noting all capital letters and pronouncing all punctuation marks]

Thank you. Did you find any errors? Okay.

That was the old-fashioned way to read proofs. No one wants to pay two people to proof anything anymore. Well, maybe lawyers can afford it.

Two ways to proof: The first is comparison proofreading, like we just did. It can also be done by one person who reads a line of the manuscript, then a line of the page proof, and compares the two. Any corrections are marked on the proof.

Second way to proof: Cold proofreading aka blind proofreading. The proofreader gets only the page proofs and reads for typos, misused words, anything that’s obviously wrong.

In both cold and comparison proofreading, the proofreader also checks that pages which are supposed to be numbered are (and with the right number), that chapters are numbered in sequence, that the layout is consistent and correct, that the correct styles were applied to verse, headings, tables, and so on. The proofreader is your last chance to wipe off the clown makeup.

And let’s get rid of this silly hat.

Can anyone edit, copyedit, and proofread?

No.

A good editor can help you find the pieces you didn’t know were missing. When the editor makes wording suggestions, they should reflect the author’s style. Experience helps, but some people just don’t have the aptitude to hear the author’s rhythm and sync with it.

A good copyeditor knows what she doesn’t know and looks it up, and what she thinks she knows, she checks. She recognizes when to use the author’s preference, and when it might be better to suggest a different word or phrase. She is generally curious and knows a little about a lot. Again, experience helps, and so can training, but there should already be a love for words.

A good proofreader needs to be able to spot that one straight quote or that comma that’s supposed to be a period. Lots of people just don’t have that eye for patterns and detail.

What skills and tools are needed?

Editors need tact, skill with words, and the ability to see the big picture. Copyeditors need tact, skill with words, and a broad general knowledge of history, science, and the world around them. Proofreaders need to be able to recognize patterns and be able to hold them in their head for comparison.

A formal education in editing isn’t a requirement; many editors found their way into the field from biology, history, or in my case, English. Let me emphasize this: an English degree isn’t a prerequisite or even necessarily a good indicator for editorial skill.

There are certificate programs; CSU Chico, UC Berkeley Extension, and the USDA Graduate School, among other institutions, offer certificate programs. A certificate means the student passed the class. That’s an excellent start. And sometimes experienced copyeditors obtain certificates to brush up on their skills and get professional feedback on their work.

There’s only one certification program in the U.S. that I know of, the one by the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences. Editors must pass an examination to be board-certified. Note that obtaining a certificate and becoming certified are two different processes.

Tools . . .

The Chicago Manual of Style, now in its 15th edition, is THE bible for American publishing. Chicago’s recommended dictionaries are Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and Webster’s Third New International Dictionary. One or both of these dictionaries, The Chicago Manual of Style, and word processing software are the copyeditor’s main tools.

Some big publishers still have manuscripts copyedited on paper, but in my opinion that process allows too much opportunity for error. Microsoft Word gives you the option to track all changes made to a manuscript; you can see every edit made and reject any you don’t like.

Sometimes The Chicago Manual of Style doesn’t address all the issues posed by a manuscript in a particular field—say, cooking or law—so other style guides may be needed. I’ve compiled a list of the ones I hear about most often and added that list to the handout.

How do you know which kind of editing your manuscript needs?

Probably the easiest way is to finish the manuscript and request a quote from a few different editors. You need to finish the manuscript so you can provide a total word count and a sample chapter. The editor should be able to tell you the level of editing required and what it will cost, assuming your sample chapter is representative of the rest of the manuscript.

You might not like what the editor says. But if you were able to see all the errors, you would fix them yourself, and a fresh-printed manuscript looks deceptively neat. If two editors say your manuscript just needs light copyediting, and a third says your manuscript isn’t ready to be published—well, you might consider asking the third editor if she offers manuscript critique services.

Sometimes a manuscript just isn’t ready for publication without extensive high-level editing, but there’s also no guarantee anyone (either publisher or reader) will buy it after editing. That’s an expensive gamble. For fiction manuscripts, I recommend the author attend workshops and critique groups. The writing and plot has to be good enough to provide pleasure to readers.

Nonfiction is a different matter. If the manuscript provides useful information, it’s usually worth fixing. Nonfiction readers are more likely to look past undistinguished writing: Just the facts, ma’am, works for nonfiction.

How do you find the right editor for your manuscript?

In the handouts there’s a list of online resources where you can find listings of editors, copyeditors, proofreaders, and indexers.

Editors may or may not specialize in a particular subject matter. If your material is technical and aimed at readers in that field, you probably should look for an editor who specializes in that field. If your audience is the general reader, it may be good to hire a general subject editor.

While editors are evaluating your manuscript in order to give you a quote, you should be evaluating them: how they treat you and how well the editing sample they give you matches up with your expectations. Do they treat you with respect? Do the in-manuscript comments make sense? Are comments and suggestions offered in a helpful and neutral tone?

If you have never been edited before, it may be painful to have someone say your work isn’t perfect, no matter how politely it’s said. In that case, try waiting a week or two and then rereading the comments. With a little distance, the sting usually goes away, and you may find the comments are valid.

You don’t have to hire the first editor you contact. You need to be able to work closely and productively with your editor. To really get a feel for how you’ll work together, you can hire someone to edit just your first chapter.

What is your role as author or publisher in the editing process?

Allow enough time in your production schedule. A good estimate is one week per 100 pages (the standard manuscript page is 250 words) or 25,000 words per week.

Expect to pay a professional fee for professional work. The handouts include a couple of tables showing typical fee ranges.

If you have any strong style preferences, tell your copyeditor! If there are reasons why your style is a bad idea, your copyeditor will tell you. Tactfully, I hope. You have the option to disagree. If you want to spell purple P-E-R-P-U-L, that’s your choice. The Chicago Manual of Style clearly states: “An author’s own style should be respected, whether flamboyant or pedestrian.”

Copyeditors are used to deferring to the author’s or publisher’s wishes. Thus, the Copyeditor’s Mantra: “It’s not my book, it’s not my book . . .”

Does anyone have any questions?

The Handouts

Handouts for “Editing: The Invisible Art” (PDF; 521 KB)

Editing: The Invisible Art that Takes Your Book from “Self-Published” to “Professionally Published”

When asked recently how they felt about self-published books, nearly one in five of the news media who responded specifically mentioned the poor quality of editing. General readers are no more forgiving, as demonstrated by reviews at Amazon.com.

What is editing? Can anyone do it? What skills and tools are needed? You will learn:

• The different kinds of editing
• How to know which kind of editing your manuscript needs
• How to find the right editor for your manuscript
• Your role as author or publisher in the editing process

More information about the conference, including details about other speakers (John Kremer, Marion Gropen, Nora Profit, Robert Brekke) and how to register, are at the NCPA Web site.

2) Next to the “Upload/Insert” label is a row of buttons. When you mouse over each button, a title tooltip should become visible. The buttons are, in order from left to right, Add an Image, Add Video, Add Audio, Add Media.

3) Insert the cursor at the point in your post where you want the file link to go.

4) I want to upload a PDF, so I click the Add Media button (the one on the far right that looks like an asterisk or sunburst).

5) A dialog box will appear. Navigate to the file on your computer that you want to upload and click “Open.” The file will be uploaded to your blog.

6) A dialog box displays. Here you can give the file a title, caption, and description, if you want. I suggest adding at least a user-friendly title. The title will be the link text.

7) Still in the dialog box, click “File URL” (below Link URL).  Then click “Insert into Post.”

8) That’s it! Success!

By the time we see your manuscript, you’ve spent months and often years on it. Our job is to help ensure your words are clear to the reader and to make you look as good as possible. It’s a collaborative relationship that works best when there is mutual respect. In all cases, the book belongs to the author, and the author has final say.

Of course there will be infelicities, unless you are one of those rare* people who is perfect. A typical manuscript comprises 100,000 words. That’s 100,000 opportunities for error at minimum, compounded by words’ pesky habit of working in tandem and our brains’ tendency to spit out commonly heard terms while our eyes overlook them.

Copyeditor’s note: “Our brain’s tendency” or “our brains’ tendency”? A judgment** call. Although there’s only one brain per person, using the singular brings up the image of a collective mind. These constant judgment calls make copyediting the hardest job I do, except for writing.

* Thank goodness!

** Although “judgement” is an acceptable variant spelling, according to Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary, the dictionary recommended by The Chicago Manual of Style, “judgment” is the preferred spelling. Major and minor publishers use Chicago for their house style.

If you don’t like to write, if you don’t know what you would write about, if your days are already so full you can barely find time to catch your breath, blogging might not be for you. Then again, you might love the opportunity to write whatever pleases you and to engage with others.

The major differences between a blog and a Web site are that a blog is updated more frequently and your readers can comment on what you’ve written. Blog entries are usually displayed on the main blog page with the latest entries first. A blog can be incorporated into your Web site, or it can take the place of your Web site.

Getting started blogging is easy: go to one of the free blog hosting services and sign up. You’ll need a user name (WordPress, LiveJournal, Vox) or a name for your blog (Blogger), a working e-mail address, and a password. That’s it. Fill out the registration form, click the submit button, and you have a blog.

After you’ve registered, you’ll need to log in to configure your blog. Grab a cup of tea or whatever, because it will take a while to select a template and set your preferences. Public or private? Comments or no comments? How many blog entries per page? Who should I add to my blogroll (list of other blogs)? Should I even have a blogroll? And so on.

If you still have questions, these sites have some answers:

• What is a blog?
• How to Start a Free Blog at Blogger.com
• How to Start a Free Blog at WordPress.com

Free blog hosting services

• WordPress.com
• Blogger
• LiveJournal
• Vox

Free blog software you can install on your Web site

• WordPress
• Movable Type

Books about blogging*

• Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging
• ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income

*Which I have NOT read. Blogging Tips sounds like a very useful book for the new blogger, but if you’re the type of person who can wring more than $99,000 a year from your blog, I strongly suspect you’re already blogging.

• Page tags
• Site logs
• How to access your site logs through your Web host
• Example site log entry

There are two ways to track your site visiters: site logs and page tags (counters and trackers). Both provide information about

• the number of visitors,
• the countries of your visitors,
• the links on other sites that led to yours,
• the words that brought up your site in online searches,
• which search engine was used,
• the Web browsers and operating systems used by your visitors, and
• other data.

Page tags

Page tags are bits of code that you put on each page that you want tracked. (For a blog, you put the code in your template.) The code connects to a third-party Web site where your statistics are stored. To check your statistics, go to that Web site and log in.

One popular and perhaps the most complete service for collecting site stats is Google Analytics. Google requires that you have a Google account. The Google account has to be confirmed, which means they send an e-mail with a link that has to be clicked. You also have to upload a file to your server (put a file on your Web site) so that Google knows that the site you want to track is really yours. Then they give you the code that needs to be put on each page you want tracked.

Some free services for tracking visitors with page tags:

• Google Analytics
• Site Meter
• StatCounter
• GoStats

See a more complete list of free counters and trackers at DMOZ.

Note: A hit counter that shows the number of visitors (actually the number of times that page has been loaded in a browser) to every person who visits your site is not recommended. It won’t provide meaningful statistics, and a low number can negatively influence visitors.

Site logs

Most, if not all, servers (a server is the computer where files are stored) keep a record (log) of every resource (pages, images, scripts) that is accessed. These logs record the date and time, the file name, whether the access was successful, the requesting agent (browser), and where the request came from (IP address).

If you have a Web site, you should already have access to your site logs. You can see the data from the site logs in a couple of different ways:

• Install a log analyzer program and download the logs to your computer
• Use the log analyzer program provided by your Web host

You can download free log analyzers from SourceForge.

How to access your site logs through your Web host

A log analyzer may be included with your hosting.

If so, you can log in to your control panel to check your stats. The control panel is the page where you change your site configuration. If you’re not sure how to log in, go to your Web host’s main site and look for the customer log-in. If there’s a control panel option after logging in, select it.

Different Web hosts offer different control panels. Below are instructions for three of the most common ones, cPanel, Plesk, and vDeck.

cPanel

Before any statistics can be collected, you need to select the statistics program you want to use. In the Logs section, click the Choose Log Programs icon. [screenshot] You can select all programs that are available, if you want. Until a program is selected, there will be no data to view, and it will take up to 24 hours for anything to be reported. Check your stats in the Logs section by clicking the icon of the stats program you want to use. [same screenshot]

Instructions for viewing statistics with cPanel.

Plesk

Click the Home link on the lefthand menu. A set of icons separated into sections will appear. [screenshot 1] Click the Report icon inside the Domain section. A Web site report will appear. Scroll down to view the report or click any of the Tools icons to change your options. [screenshot 2]

View Plesk tutorials (scroll down to End User Tutorials).

vDeck

Click the Reports icon. [screenshot 1] You’ll have three choices for viewing your Web site traffic. [screenshot 2]

A vDeck tutorial.

Example site log entry

Here’s an entry from the site log for Williams Writing, Editing & Design. This is a raw entry; it has not yet been processed. What you see in your stats program will look completely different.

86.3.238.188 - - [19/Mar/2008:08:46:57 -0400] "GET /design/book.shtml HTTP/1.1" 200 12950 "http://www.google.co.uk/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=designing+book+layout&meta=" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)"

What this entry means:

86.3.238.188

This is the IP (Internet Protocol) address assigned to the computer that requested the file. You have an IP address when you connect to the Internet. Your IP address is usually temporary, may be shared with other customers, and is assigned to you by your Internet service provider (ISP), the company that sells you dial-up, cable, or DSL service.

[19/Mar/2008:08:46:57 -0400]

This is the date and time, Greenwich Mean Time, with a 4-hour adjustment.

"GET /design/book.shtml HTTP/1.1"

The GET command says to show the page at http://www.williamswriting.com/design/book.shtml using the HTTP/1.1 protocol.

200

The status of the GET command is okay; the request was received. The most infamous status code is 404: Not Found.

12950

The size of the requested file, in bytes.

"http://www.google.co.uk/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=designing+book+layout&meta="

The page that linked to my page (a Google UK search) and the search term: designing book layout. A log analyzer program would search for the location of the URL www.google.co.uk and report the visitor’s country.

"Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)"

The browser and operating system my visitor used, which is MS Internet Explorer on Windows XP.

The current version of the Event Calendar plug-in (3.1.1rc3) doesn’t work with WordPress 2.5. A solution was posted to the Event Calendar e-mail list.

I’ve uploaded my patched files here: http://www.williamswriting.com/pdf/ec311rc3patch.zip

To use the patch, first download and unzip the Event Calendar 3.1.1rc3 plug-in.

Then download the file from my site. Copy the unzipped files into the Event Calendar plug-in folder. DON’T FORGET TO SCAN FOR VIRUSES BEFORE UNZIPPING.

There should be two replacement files: eventcalendar3.php and ec3.js. Backup files for both (eventcalendar-BU.php and ec3-BU.js) are included, just in case the patches don’t work for you. The Past Events plug-in (not a patch but very useful) contributed by one of the list members is also included.

Added: Sergio asked, “Is there any solution to the 404 error with the tags in the WP 2.5 when you use the ‘Keep Events Separate’ option?”

This patch should fix that problem. I use “Keep Events Separate” on my test blog. There has to be an event for the month that’s clicked, however. I haven’t tried this patch on WordPress 2.5.1 yet.

Ten years ago Lulu.com didn’t exist. Files were delivered on a floppy, CD-ROM, or one of those newfangled Zip disks. I purchased the cover stock, delivered it to the company that did the foiling, picked up the foiled covers and delivered them and the interior files to the company that printed up the book block, and assembled the punched books. (That was my decision; I purposely used binder rings instead of coil binding so the books could be expandable. I still like the sturdy homemade feel of the original books best, but I’ve moved on to other projects.)

The original Sacramento Portuguese Heritage Recipe Book, 1997.

For this edition of the recipe book I uploaded the files to Lulu.com for printing. I changed the book’s orientation and took advantage of the full-cover cover. The files have been uploaded and proofed, and now I’m done. The organization can order as many copies as they need when they need them without my further involvement.

The revised Sacramento Portuguese Heritage Recipe Book, 2008, for sale now at Lulu.com.