Product Development

Once the compositors get the page proofs to an acceptable level, they pass them on to the project manager to review. We review the pages looking at art placement and style guidelines to be sure everything is positioned in the most appropriate places and the look matches the style we were looking for. We also check to be sure the running heads or feet and folios are correct (page numbers and text that runs with them). We check and compare the table of contents to the various headings within the chapters to be sure titles are consistently spelling and capitalized. For a high school science textbook, we usually check proofs in "batches" of chapters since they are so large.

Once we are satisfied and have marked our corrections, we send the proofs on to the authors to proofread them. They are to read all of the text to be sure it matches the manuscript and everything is in good shape. They may have some addition style suggestions and we review their comments to be sure we are in agreement and return them to the compositor. We usually go through a few rounds of proofs until we are all satisfied prior to manufacturing.

I’ve introduced various steps in the publishing process for a high school science textbook. These same steps would apply to elementary textbook or talented and gifted textbook or any school textbook for that matter. You are wecome to review some of our Kendall Hunt Publishing Company's textbooks at our website.

The next big step in developing a high school science textbook is composition. Composition also known as typesetting, is the process of taking the manuscripts and loading them into a paging program, usually Quark or InDesign. Then they “format” the document. They add all of the design features that were determined based on the different elements within the manuscript. This would include various levels of headings, bulleted and numbered listings, table styles, chapter and unit opening features and so on. It also includes pulling the art features into the program and placing those in appropriate places per predetermined style guidelines and adding the captions.

As a general rule of thumb, we want the figures placed as close to the callouts as possible, usually top or bottom of the page. This is so that they are easily accessible after they are mentioned within the text so that the student can review them and then quickly find his/her place where they were reading. Comprehension is the key and you want to keep things as clear as possible. A good design holds and draws the student in and retains interest without making things confusing. You need a good flow. The design would vary based on the intended audience; whether it is for elementary students, high school, and also whether it is intended for a broad range of students or specifically for high level learners.

We’ve been talking about permissions and copyright law. This time, I’d like to briefly turn the spotlight on our Permissions Department.

I've only touched on some of the rules/regulations. For example, if you want to use a photograph of a group of people, you not only need permission from the photographer, you also need a model release from each person who is recognizable within the photograph!   Our permissions department helps KH personnel as well as the authors to understand them, and thereby help make our inquiry based science product possible.

Kendall Hunt Publishing’s permission department is helpful in setting guidelines as well as reviewing the submitted materials. There’s a complete document they provide to our authors instructing them to go about requesting the permission. They are a valuable resource. They also play a key role in organizing and retaining the documentation of the permissions and generally reclear the materials for revisions.

We couldn’t do what we do without them!

Last time I started explaining the role of permissions in the publishing process. As a school textbook publisher, like any other publisher, we must get permission to use other people’s material in our products, be it elementary school science textbooks, or a high school physics textbook.  We’ll finish this discussion in this post about fair use, public domain and citations.

Fair Use

The "fair use" clause comes into play if the writer wants to use an excerpt or quote from a work of substantial length; they still need to cite the source. Generally, we consider up to 250 words from the text of a book, magazine or journal fair use.

Public Domain

There are some items that are considered "public domain." These are works that have either expired or were not protected by copyright.  They can be used freely with applicable citation. Once they become public domain due to expiration, the copyright protection cannot be restored.

Works that cannot be copyrighted are those consisting of information that is common property with no specific authorship such as calendars, height/weight charts and rulers. Also items with standard information such as tables, schedules of sporting events, blank forms designed to record rather than convey information are also public domain. Official U.S. government works cannot be copyrighted, but the original source must be cited, for example NASA photographs.

Citations

The materials that are borrowed require a credit line list to be published within the textbook. Some require the credit line be printed with the actual image/article; others are generally listed in the back of the book or on the copyright page.

Next time, a few words about our Permissions Department.

In previous posts regarding developing a high school science textbook at Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, I've touched on acquisition, planning, manuscript development and copy-editing, cover design and interior design.

I was going to discuss composition at this stage; however, I want to touch on a very important step having to do with manuscript and art package development: permissions! Whether it’s a high school chemistry textbook or a primary school textbook, we use the same permissions process.

Copyright Law

While writing and developing art packages, our K-12 authors have to be aware of the rules of permissions regarding copyright laws. KH has a permissions department that helps our authors understand the copyright laws and helps them with these needs. Basically, if they are utilizing any material beyond what they are creating, they need to request permission for the borrowed materials.

Copyright protection extends to the authors of all original works including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and certain other intellectual material. The law of copyright gives the owner the sole and exclusive right to reproduce the copyrighted work in any form and to authorize others to do so.

The following chart provides a quick reference to copyright duration.

Next time I’ll talk about “fair use” and “public domain.” You’ll be a permissions guru before you know it!

In my last post, I talked about the cover design process that school textbook publishers, like Kendall Hunt Publishing, use on products. Additionally, whether it is books for gifted students, high school science textbooks, or textbooks for elementary school, the interior of the book must be designed. We submit to a designer a portion of the manuscript that contains the majority of the elements we want to incorporate: unit/chapter opener, different levels of headings, art/photos, tables, listings, and so on. We give the designer some instruction on the grade level and type of theme we want to achieve. The or subject is important as the cover of a high school physics textbook would obviously differ in many ways from a high school biology textbook. If the cover is in advanced stages, we may also submit that as a reference. Again, we begin with a few different choices and narrow it down. It's important to create a design that enhances the pedagogy and readability. Additionally, in the case of, high school science textbooks, we want to draw the student in, but don't want to overwhelm or confuse them. The designer usually submits about eight two-page spreads. In addition, they submit a general color palette for the project. We sometimes go through several proofs, making additional suggestions to get to the point that we are satisfied with the design.

Again, the design phase happens at the same time as the copy-editing and art package preparation phases. Hopefully, they all come together around the same time so that we can proceed with composition, which I write about the next time...

You can preview most of our K12 textbooks at Kendall Hunt Publishing Company's website.

In the previous article, I spoke about the beginning stages of creating a high school science textbook: acquisition and planning, as well as the development of the manuscript and art package. In this article, I'll introduce the design process that we, as an educational publishing company, use.

Around the same time that the copy-editing is being done, we coordinate with a designer to develop the cover image/design. When selecting a cover image for a high school biology textbook, high school chemistry textbook, or any of our textbooks, we look for a good balance of gender and ethnicity in an photos of people that we use. We also consider age-appropriateness for grade-level, whether it’s a primary school textbook vs. secondary school textbooks and whether it’s a product targeted to a specific ability, such as a curriculum for high ability learners.

The cover image needs to be strong and eye-catching and express the concept that we are trying to project for our target market. We want to draw the student into the content. The text/logo-type needs to be nicely balanced and eye-catching as well. We usually request 3-4 choices and may go through several "proofs" to complete the front/spine/back panels of the cover. The text on the back cover is another tool used to interest and draw students into the content. The saying, "you can't judge a book by its cover" is certainly true, however, we need to show something dynamic in order to have potential customers review our products in the first place!