Simone Preuss's Blog
Posted by Simone Preuss
Regardless if you are trying to publish your manuscript, break into publishing as a fresher, move from another profession or try to connect with publishing professionals, one resource you need to compile for yourself is a list of publisher profiles.
With a bit of research, you can find out
- which publisher is most likely to accept your manuscript and how to go about it,
- which publisher you would like to work for and who is hiring,
- who heads which publishing house and
- how publishers are connected through mergers and acquisitions.
Make use of libraries near you to access specialized publications about publishing and for contact information. The Internet, of course, is another valuable resource. Publishers' websites are an obvious first stop but there are many other valuable publishing resources online.
The more information you gather beforehand, the easier your way into publishing will be. The following publisher profiles will give you an idea of how to get started and what information is relevant. Keep checking back as this is a growing list.
The four biggest English-language publishers worldwide:
- Random House Publishing Group, owned by Bertelsmann
- The Penguin Group, a subsidiary of Pearson PLC
- Simon & Schuster, owned by the CBS Corporation
- HarperCollins, a subsidiary of the News Corporation
The biggest children's book publisher:
Posted by Simone Preuss
Publishing is multifaceted and to someone new to the field, it can be quite confusing. For starters, there's the terminology. Like any specialized field does publishing use key terms to simplify everyday operations.
Then, there are the book publishing processes or different steps from manuscript to finished book that anyone in the field should be aware of - authors, publishing professionals, printers, artists, freelancers and those wishing to enter the field. For authors, the acquisitions department is of particular interest.
Self-publishing, pirated books and book identifications are other concerns of the publishing industry. Luckily, many good resources are available online that professionals and novices alike can tap into - knowing where to find them is all.
Below is a - growing - list of articles around book publishing sorted by topic.
Book Acquisition
- Writer's Best Friend: The Acquisitions Editor - What does an acquisitions editor do and how can authors improve their communication with these publishing professionals?
Book Production
- The Book Production Process - production explained from proofreading to typesetting
- Publishing 101: Key Publishing Terms Explained - galleys, binding and co.
Book Publishing General
- What Is Book Publishing? - definition, publishing stages and more
- What Publishers Do - publishing services from book concept to finished book and reader feedback
- Avoiding Self-Publishing Scams - which self-publishing offers to watch out for
- Five Reasons Why Not to Buy Pirated Books - Why you should never ever buy a pirated book
- Free Publishing Resources - must-bookmark online resources about book publishing
Book Identification
- What Is An ISBN? - ISBNs and their components explained
- How to Uniquely Identify Information - Apart from ISBNs, what other unique identifiers are there?
For listings to articles about the following related topics, kindly follow the links below:
International Book Fairs
Posted by Simone Preuss
Though book awards are not quite the Oscar’s, there are a few international book prizes like the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Man Booker and others that draw worldwide attention to books, if only for a short time.
What book prizes do, long-term though, is work miracles for a book’s sales. Take Japanese writer Kenzaburo Oe for example – though an established writer in his home country, hardly any international critic had heard his name. When he was announced as the Nobel Prize winner in 1994, journalists had to scramble for information on this great writer (If you don’t believe me, check the announcements of the time – they are fairly short compared to previous ones.). Soon though, more information was unearthed and Oe’s books soared in popularity. He didn’t have to spell his name again. Ever. Such can be the power of a literary prize.
The list of literary book prizes below will focus on the international ones but also well-known or simply unusual national ones. As more prizes are established every year, this list will be growing so make sure to check back often. Feedback, as always, is appreciated.
The Nobel Prize in Literature - world's most prestigious literary award
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction - the most coveted literary award
The PEN Faulkner Award for Fiction – best American fiction
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award – world’s biggest children’s literature prize
The Strange Book Titles Award – odd book titles from around the world
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Posted by Simone Preuss
As much fun as learning a new language is, it is also hard work. But why not scout for easy exercises and sessions that combine learning German with your areas of interest?
Below are links to my articles focusing on the German language and interesting tidbits, sorted by topic. Enjoy and do share your feedback!
The German Alphabet:
- Special Letters in German: ß – the history and spelling of the “sharp s” and ß versus ss
- Usage and History of German Umlauts – all about ä, ö and ü and their pronunciation
- Keyboard shortcuts speed up typing umlauts and ß – Typing Special German Letters Fast
Pronunciation
- Learn How to Pronounce German Vowels and find out if a is equal to a in apple, or ee to i.
- And what about the dreaded ch, ck and sch? Learn How to Pronounce German Consonants
- Beate, Michael and Andrea are all popular names but How to Pronounce German First Names?
- How to Pronounce German Last Names like Mueller, Meyer and Schulze?
Expanding Your German Vocabulary
- Learn Spoken German with Cartoons - learn about popular German comic books
- Building German Vocabulary - get to know a good vocabulary builder
- Discover 30 Most Popular German Sayings
Animals
- Pronunciation Guide to German Animals - farm animals, pets and Old MacDonald in German
- German Animal Vocabulary - all about wild animals and forest animals
The Basics - Survival Phrases, Days, Numbers, Colors and Shapes
- Learn and use German Survival Phrases correctly
- Start a conversation with German Language Phrases for Beginners
- Learn about Days, Months and Seasons
- Colors and Shapes are essentials
- Eins, zwei, drei - German numbers from 1-100 - How to Count in German
- Counting and spelling German numbers from 20 to 200 - How to Spell German Numbers
Food and Drink
- Famous for its bread, learn about distinguishing and Buying Bread at a German Bakery
- Pronunciation Guide to German Sausages – learn how to distinguish and order your favorite German sausages
- Ordering Beer in German – German beer types from dark to light with pronunciation help
- Knowing your Erbsen from your Bohnen means Learning Vegetables
- Learning Fruits is fun and useful
Football
- Essential German Soccer Terms – learn about Abseits, Tor and Elfmeter
Holidays
- Christmas – Learn Key German Christmas Vocabulary
- At the German Christmas Market and find out about traditional Christmas items while you learn
- Christmas Baking Terms – learn how to bake German Christmas cookies while expanding your vocabulary
- Key German Easter Vocabulary - Easter traditions and terms
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Posted by Simone Preuss
The international book fair year usually starts with the Leipzig Book Fair, Germany's second largest book fair after Frankfurt. This blog will follow the major international book fairs throughout the year, so make sure to check back frequently.
While a book fair's main aim is to increase publicity for books, each book fair follows a special goal - Leipzig, for example, focuses on reading and education. Overall, book fairs are buzzing affairs with many events around books and reading that are informative and inspiring. They are also good places to network so especially for anyone just starting out and building relationships, attending a book fair (regional, national or international) is as much a must as for seasoned publishing professionals who maintain their relationships here.
Here's a (growing) list of upcoming international book fairs that will be featured in the book publishing section - so make sure to check either here or the book publishing homepage! Also, if you have comments or feedback on a book fair you attended, leave a note.
Mark your calendars:
Leipzig Book Fair, Germany - 12.-15. March
London Book Fair, UK - 20.-22. April
Book Expo America, New York, NY - 28.-31.May
World Book Fair, Singapore - 30. May - 8. June
Book World Prague, Czech Republic - 14.-17. May
Book Expo Canada - cancelled
World eBook Fair, virtual - 4. July - 4. August
Tokyo International Book Fair, Japan - 9.-12. July
American Library Association, Chicago, IL - 9.-15. July
Hong Kong Book Fair, China - 22.-28. July
Edinburgh International Book Festival, Scotland - 15.-31. August
Moscow International Book Fair, Russia - 2.-7. September
Beijing International Book Fair, China - 3.-7. September
Frankfurt Book Fair, Germany - 14. - 18. October
Guadalajara International Book Fair, Mexico - 28. November - 6. December
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Posted by Simone Preuss
Followers of the Book Publishing topic will have noticed that many recently published articles revolve around desktop publishing. This is because desktop publishing is such an integral part of publishing, and book publishing in particular. In fact, it has revolutionized the way books are published today.
With that, I don’t mean that anyone who has a DTP software package can go ahead and start publishing books. It still takes more to publishing books than just putting words into print (more about that in a future blog entry). No, I am referring to the processes required to publish a book. Those got broken down and therefore have made the lives of many professionals simpler.
Take a manuscript, for example. Let’s say author X got his non-fiction book on bead work ready. He’s got his text neatly in one file and all illustrations demonstrating different beading techniques in one folder; photos of finished beaded objects are in another folder. All the materials are stored on one or more CDs. Excellent. Now, throughout the writing process, author X has also employed the services of a book doctor, someone who told him how to write in an appealing way, how to put the chapters together so that the order makes sense and how to format and arrange the material for submission.
As author X also had strong ideas about layout, he and the book doctor played around with potential book designs that make it easy for the reader to follow techniques throughout the book. Sample pages of the best page layout designs go into the proposal package, which also includes a to-the-point summary of the book, an excerpt, an author bio and some photographs.
So, with the help of a desktop publishing program and some expertise with it, the author put together an attractive proposal package that can go places. Think a few decades back when manuscript proposals were untidy piles of handwritten or typed pages of text that agents or publishers had to go through.
This is not where the advantages of desktop publishing for book publishing ends though. The better the manuscript preparation, the faster it can get processed in production, namely get copyedited, proofread and typeset. An author who knows the terminology will also be of more assistance and can get his or her point across much better than one who is vague.
In the production department itself, production editors today can take care of (or pass on to freelancers) tasks that had to be done at the printing or typesetting stage. Here, again, the more the production editor understands of related processes like binding, typesetting and printing, the easier and faster it will be to move that manuscript through production. A crucial step here is file conversion and understanding which file formats work for Web purposes and which ones for print.
Last but not least, a professional proposal, an informed author and a book that moves through production fast will also help sales and marketing to gather the material needed to promote the book and get it into libraries, bookstores and other sales outlets fast.
For those who want to read up on desktop publishing, here’s an overview of the (growing list of) desktop publishing articles:
- An introduction: What is Desktop Publishing?
- What desktop publishers do exactly: Working as a Desktop Publisher
- Desktop Publishing Software – a comparison of the most popular professional and consumer programs
- Understanding DTP lingo: Desktop Publishing Terms and Definitions
- And related, working with graphics editors: Image Editing Terminology
- Producing promotional material requires knowledge of DTP Paper Terms and Folding Styles
- Desktop publishers also work closely with printers, therefore knowing Essential Printing Terminology is helpful.
- Knowledge of Typesetting Terminology is a must.
- Finally, ten common Desktop Publishing Myths.
Related articles:
- The Book Production Process – What steps does a book undergo from manuscript to finished book?
- What Publishers Do from Concept to Feedback – How publishers interact at every stage of the process from the author’s idea to readers’ feedback about the published book.
- Publishing 101 – essential publishing terms and definitions
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