Author review (AR) is your opportunity to see edits done by the Development Editor, Technical Editor, and/or Copy Editor. You will also be asked to respond to suggestions or queries in each chapter from your editors. Three key things to keep in mind as you execute author review are:
- Always respond to every query. Either execute the requested change,
approve the already-made change with a simple "ok," or explain why you do not
approve or are unwilling/unable to make the requested change.
- Always leave revision marks on as you do this. If it gets too hard
to see, feel free to select the option that does not show revisions on screen.
Do this by de-selecting the "highlight changes on screen" checkbox, but DO
NOT de-select the "track changes while editing" option.
- Always turn your AR in as quickly as possible, and on schedule.
This process takes place late enough in the chronological series of events
that lateness at AR can seriously jeopardize a book schedule.
Please note that it is important to check for queries using the Comment feature in Word and using the query style in revision marks. The following instructions will help you work more efficiently during your review.
Using Revision MarksWhen you see a query, please be certain to answer it with Word's Track Changes (revision marks) feature turned on. To do this, execute the following steps:
- Choose Tools
Track Changes.
- Select Highlight Changes from the flyout menu. The Highlight Changes dialog box appears.
- Make sure that all three check boxes in the dialog box are selected; then click OK.
With Track Changes enabled, you can see every addition and deletion made in the chapter.
ScheduleYour editor will provide you with a deadline for completing AR when files are sent to you. Your book has been scheduled into a fairly rigid production process. So that your book doesn't miss its planned publication date, it's important for you to adhere to the AR schedule established by your editor. When a book is released later than its planned publication date, sales and promotions can be seriously affected.
In most cases, your editor will batch chapters to you a few at a time. The expected turnaround time is usually around 48 hours per chapter, but check with your editor for details about your AR schedule. Be sure to send chapters back to your editor as you complete each one so that the final clean-up pass can be started.
What You SeeThe AR files you receive have been through various editing passes. Each editor (TE, DE, and possibly CE) worked with the Track Changes feature turned on, and Word should have applied a different color scheme to each editor's changes.
Some editors insert queries into a chapter by using Word's Comments feature.
The text or item being referenced with a comment will be highlighted on-screen
in yellow, followed by a box containing the editor's initials and a sequential
number. Hold your cursor over the highlighted text, and a small box appears with
the comment. To see all comments in the document, choose
View Comments. All comments are shown in a separate
pane at the bottom of your screen.
Some editors prefer to insert queries directly into the document. Instead of seeing the yellow comments in a pop-up window, you will see them entered as a separate paragraph, in revision marks, and styled with the query style.
Artwork at ARDuring AR, you might notice that the figures in your book have been inserted into the chapter files. These have been embedded so you can carefully check the accuracy of rendered art and the cropping of and callouts (if any) on screenshots.
If you have any art corrections, make sure you submit the revised figures with the author reviewed chapter, and in a separate email to the editor as well.
Your ChangesWhen you make changes to the manuscript during AR, you need to follow a few simple guidelines:
- Always work with Word's Track Revisions feature turned on. Word should
automatically assign a different color (from those used by the editors) to
your changes. If it does not, choose Tools Options
and select the Track Changes tab. The first item on the tab is Inserted Text,
with a Color option. Select By Author from the drop-down menu.
- If you object to a given change, do not "undo" or "reverse" it; instead,
insert a comment to the editors.
- Answer queries directly in the Comments window by right-clicking the yellow
highlighted text, selecting Edit Comment from the pop-up menu, and then typing
in the pane that opens. Use some sort of spacing between the end of the existing
query and the beginning of your response to it.
Note: Even if you have no response to a particular query, initial the query or type OK as is so that we know you have seen it.
CodeReview displayed code carefully to ensure that it is presented properly, particularly with regard to line wraps and alignment of tabular-type material. When conducting this review, make sure that you do not have Word's Wrap to Window option (available in the Options dialog box) turned on. You can get a more accurate representation of the page by switching to Page Layout view or, of course, by printing the document. Be sure to eliminate any tabs or indents in code and replace them with spaces. Our production process simply does not permit tabs or indents as a spacing tool. Feel free to review Writing Code for a refresher on the details of including code within text.
