Fundamentals of Editing and Publishing

Author: Shiguang
Reviewed by: Mei Shida

Publishing and Editing

Publishing, more fully “publishing activity,” is the professional practice of selecting, editing, reproducing, and disseminating works to the public. It covers a complex series of processes that take a work from its original manuscript to the final publication, with the purpose of conveying valuable information to readers.

Editing has a dual identity. As a verb, it means the process of organizing and refining source material or an existing work. As a noun, it refers to a professional who organizes, records, collects, arranges, compiles, and reviews intellectual products and other documents before making them available to the public—for example, a publishing-house editor. Editing is an important part of publishing and a prerequisite for reproducing and distributing a publication. Its primary purpose is to produce the publication’s intellectual and cultural content. It is a professional form of intellectual production involving the planning, organization, review, selection, and refinement of works.

An Editor’s Responsibilities

An editor’s responsibilities fall mainly into three areas:

1. Guaranteeing the quality of a book—setting the floor
   This is the basic requirement of editorial work. An editor must review a manuscript rigorously, looking for errors, omissions, or unreasonable content. The editor ensures that the book meets political, ideological, scientific, and factual standards, prevents elementary mistakes, and gives readers accurate and reliable information.
2. Improving the book—raising the ceiling
   Beyond guaranteeing basic quality, an editor should apply professional judgment to explore and refine a work in depth. Optimizing its structure, polishing its language, and strengthening its logic can make the content more engaging and readable, help the author express ideas more effectively, improve the book’s overall quality and value, and make it more competitive in the market.
3. Ensuring timely publication
   While maintaining quality, an editor must organize the schedule sensibly so that the book can be published and distributed on time. This requires strong time-management and coordination skills, as well as close cooperation with the author, typesetters, printer, and other parties. The editor must avoid extending the production cycle through delays in their own work and meet the expectations of readers and the market.

The Publishing Process

Publishing a book generally involves the following stages:

Topic design --> Three-review system --> Editorial processing --> Release for typesetting --> Three proofreadings and one final read --> ISBN application --> Quality inspection and print authorization --> Marketing and distribution --> Reprinting and new editions

1. Topic design
   This is the starting point of book publishing and principally includes gathering information, planning a topic, submitting a project proposal, and soliciting a manuscript. An editor collects information through multiple channels, learns about market demand, industry developments, and reader preferences, and combines this knowledge with the publishing house’s position and direction to plan a title with market potential and cultural value. The editor must also communicate with the author, establish the writing requirements and publication plan, and lay the groundwork for the editorial work that follows.

2. Three reviews
   The initial review is the responsibility of the commissioning editor, who reads the complete manuscript, determines whether it meets the topic requirements, and examines its content quality, structural coherence, language, and other fundamentals. The second review is generally conducted by the deputy head of the editorial department. Building on the initial review, it examines the manuscript more deeply, with particular attention to political, ideological, and academic issues, and ensures that the manuscript has substantial publication value. The final review is the responsibility of senior leaders such as the editor-in-chief and president, who evaluate the manuscript as a whole and make the final decision on publication.

3. Editorial processing
   After the manuscript passes all three reviews, an editor must process and organize it, including formulating and carrying out an editorial plan. This stage requires meticulous correction and revision: standardizing the language, adjusting the structure, supplying missing content, and bringing the manuscript up to publication standard.

4. Release for typesetting and handoff
   Once editorial processing is complete, the manuscript enters the typesetting and handoff stage. The editor communicates with the typesetter to determine the page design—including typeface, type size, and line spacing—and ensures that the typesetting suits the book’s overall style and normal reading habits. The editor then sends the prepared manuscript for typesetting, reviews the resulting proofs, and promptly corrects any problems introduced during composition.

5. Three proofreadings and one final read
   This is the proofreading stage of book production and consists principally of the first proof, second proof, third proof, and a complete read-through. The first proof chiefly checks the correctness of the typesetting, text, and punctuation. The second focuses more closely on continuity, logic, and structural coherence. The third makes a still more detailed check to ensure that every problem has been resolved. Finally, the entire manuscript is read through once more after the third proof to ensure that its content quality meets publication requirements.

6. ISBN application
   An ISBN is a book’s unique identifier. The editor must apply to the national press and publication authority for a number and prepare the associated copyright materials, including information about the author and a content summary. This step is essential to the book’s lawful publication and sale.

7. Quality inspection / print authorization
   Before printing, the typeset book must undergo a quality inspection covering the cover, body text, and other components. Only when the inspection confirms that the book can be printed without problems and that print quality will meet the relevant standards can the formal instruction to print be issued.

8. Sales and marketing
   After publication, the editor works with marketing staff to develop sales and marketing strategies. The book may be promoted through channels such as book fairs, publicity events, and social media to raise awareness and sales.

9. Reprinting / new editions
   The editor assesses whether to reprint or issue a new edition according to the book’s sales and market demand. If readers respond well and demand remains strong, the editor consults with the author and arranges a reprint or new edition to meet that demand.

What Parts Make Up a Book?

A published book has several external and internal components. The external components include Cover 1 (front cover), Cover 4 (back cover), the spine, Cover 2 (inside front cover), Cover 3 (inside back cover), the dust jacket, belly band, and flaps. Internal components include the title page (inner cover), copyright page (edition-record page), preface and foreword, contents, and main text.

• External components
  • Cover 1 (front cover) is the book’s outer face. It generally bears the title, author’s name, publisher, and other information, attracts readers, and protects the book;
  • Cover 4 (back cover) generally contains a synopsis, author biography, publication information, barcode, and similar material;
  • The spine bears the title, author’s name, and publisher’s name so that readers can find the book on a shelf;
  • Cover 2 (inside front cover) and Cover 3 (inside back cover) are generally white, although they may carry information related to the book;
  • A dust jacket wraps around the front and back covers and protects them;
  • A belly band is a strip of paper wrapped around the middle of a book. It usually carries promotional copy or highlights from the content to attract more readers;
  • A flap is the part of the front or back cover folded inward along the opening side and can carry an author photograph, biography, or similar information.

• Internal components
  • The title page (book-title page/inner cover) follows the front cover and generally bears the title, author information, publisher, and publication date. It is the formal beginning of the book;
  • The copyright page (edition-record page) follows the title page and helps readers understand the book’s publication history, including the ISBN, edition, and impression;
  • A preface and foreword appear before the main text and evaluate the book or its author. They are generally written by a scholar, specialist, or the author and provide readers with guidance and background;
  • The contents outline the complete book, listing chapter titles and page numbers so readers can browse and locate material quickly;
  • The main text is the book’s core and carries the author’s principal content, ideas, and arguments.

Other relevant concepts include CIP data, editions and impressions, and barcodes. CIP—Cataloguing in Publication—is the bibliographic data prepared for a book before publication and filed with the national press and publication authority. An edition identifies a version of a book, while an impression counts the number of times that version has been printed. A barcode is a pattern of black bars and white spaces used to manage and sell books. Publications in China currently use two categories of barcode: the Chinese Standard Book Number barcode, which includes book, electronic-publication, and audiovisual-product barcodes, and the Chinese Standard Serial Number barcode.

• An edition identifies a version of a book. The first publication is called the “first edition” or “original edition.” A substantially revised work that is reset and published again becomes the “second edition.” A further revised and reset publication becomes the “third edition,” and so on. Changing only the cover or replacing isolated corrections does not change the edition, only the impression.
• An impression counts the repeated printings of the same book. Beginning with the first printing of the first edition, every reprint must be added cumulatively on the edition-record page. If the first edition was printed three times, a reprint following revision should be recorded as the fourth printing of the second edition.

Page Design and Typesetting

Designing a book’s format is a complex and exacting process. It involves the full sheet and format, printed sheets and page count, format design, page and type area, running heads and page numbers, leaves and pages, head and foot margins, chapter-opening pages, the binding edge, and the trim edges.

Let us first consider the full sheet and book format. A full sheet is a flat sheet of printing paper manufactured to a specified length and width. Common dimensions include 787 mm × 1092 mm, 880 mm × 1230 mm, and 850 mm × 1168 mm. “Format” is the publishing term for a book or periodical’s finished page size and indicates how many portions are cut from a full sheet of printing paper. We often hear that a book is 16mo or 8mo. Common formats include 8mo, 16mo, 32mo, and 64mo, with both portrait and landscape variants; their relative sizes appear above. Different formats suit different kinds of book. The 16mo format is often used for academic works and magazines, while 32mo is more common for novels and general-interest reading.

If these sizes still feel abstract, think back to buying book covers in primary school. The larger covers made for exercise books fit 16mo, while the smaller covers made for textbooks and notebooks fit 32mo.

Now that we understand book formats, we can turn to printed sheets and page count. A printed sheet is a unit for measuring the length of a publication. Printing a full sheet once—on one side—counts as one printed sheet; printing both sides counts as two. Printed sheets are closely related to format and pagination. In a 32mo book, one printed sheet corresponds to 32 numbered pages. In the same way, one printed sheet in a 64mo book corresponds to 64 numbered pages.

$\text{Number of printed sheets} = \frac{\text{main-text pages} + \text{supplementary pages} + \text{blank pages}}{\text{format divisor}}$

In publishing terminology, one leaf has two pages, with adjacent page numbers on its two sides: an odd number on the recto and an even number on the verso. We can now look at what appears within a page, but must first distinguish three concepts: format, page layout, and type area.

• Format means the complete typesetting scheme for a book or periodical. It includes the arrangement, typeface, and type size of the main text, headings, figures, tables, running heads, notes, and page numbers; the size of the type area—lines per page, characters per line, and line spacing; the punctuation style; and whether the book contains heading illustrations, tailpieces, fillers, and other elements.
• Page layout is the overall arrangement of content on each page of a publication, including text, figures, tables, and the surrounding blank space.
• The type area is the part of a publication printed with text, figures, and tables, excluding the surrounding margins. A well-designed format, page layout, and type area improve a book’s appearance and readability and make readers more comfortable.

As the image shows, a page contains not only the type area but also the running head, page number, head margin, and foot margin.

• A running head is a line of text printed above the type area to help readers browse and find material. It generally contains the title of the part, chapter, or section and the page number. Ordinarily, the running head on an odd-numbered right-hand page is lower in the hierarchy than the running head on an even-numbered left-hand page. For example, the even-page running head may carry the book title, while the odd-page running head carries the chapter title.
• A page number can appear by itself below the type area, in the foot margin, or above the type area, in the running-head position, but odd page numbers must be on the left and even page numbers on the right.
• The head and foot margins are the blank spaces above and below the type area respectively. The head margin is generally larger than the foot. These spaces make the page more attractive, facilitate binding, and leave readers room to record what they learn.

In addition to its main text, a book may contain part-title or chapter-opening pages. A part-title page is a single page inserted between the major divisions of the main text—for example, between parts or chapters—and bears the name of the part, division, or chapter. Its reverse is usually blank. Such pages help readers locate and browse the content quickly, strengthen the book’s organization, and require their own design.

Printing and Binding

Once the page design and typesetting are complete, the book can enter the printing and binding stage.

On the left and right sides of the type area are the binding edge and trim edge. The binding edge is the side on which the book or periodical is bound, by perfect binding or another method. The other three sides that must be trimmed smooth are the trim edges: the head, tail, and fore edge. Page numbers are generally placed on the trim-edge side to make them easy to find while leafing through the book.

Printing a book begins with choosing the paper. Paper comes in different types, generally distinguished by its weight in grams per square meter. Common printing papers include:

1. Coated paper
   • 250g is generally used for major perfect-bound books of more than 10 printed sheets
   • 200g is generally used for perfect-bound books of 7–10 printed sheets
   • 157g is used for flapped covers / saddle-stitched books of fewer than 7 printed sheets, with lamination
   • 128g is used for flapped covers / saddle-stitched books.
2. Offset paper for the body text: 58g, 60g, 70g, or 80g.
3. Kraft paper for covers: generally used for examination-paper covers.

After choosing the paper, we must consider the form of binding. Binding methods include saddle stitching, generally used for booklets of fewer than 100 pages and fastened with staples; perfect binding, in which glue is applied and may crack after a long time; exposed-spine sewn binding, whose back shows rows of thread joining small gatherings of paper and which allows even a thick book to lie flat; and hardcover binding, which uses a complex process to make the book more attractive.

We must also consider how the book will be printed. Color options include four-color CMYK printing—cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Books may be printed in black only; in two colors or spot colors, which requires two passes through the press; or in four colors, which requires four passes and is expensive.

At this point, the book is ready to be published, but several finishing steps can make it even better:

• Lamination: a plastic film is applied to the surface of the printed material to protect the book. The manufacturer uses adhesive, heat, and pressure to bond the film to the print surface, producing a paper-and-plastic composite. Lamination is generally divided into gloss and matte finishes, although new processes such as soft-touch film have appeared in recent years. Gloss film produces a bright, vivid surface; matte film reduces reflection and gives the product a more elegant appearance.

Paper lighter than 128g is unsuitable for lamination, which is generally used on paper heavier than 200g.

• Shrink-wrapping: packaging equipment places plastic film around the book, and a high-temperature shrink machine then contracts it to create a complete seal that protects the book.

• Varnish and UV: varnish is a liquid coating applied to printed material to increase gloss, wear resistance, and water resistance. Water-based varnish, which has excellent environmental properties, is generally used in China. UV refers to a class of inks cured by ultraviolet light that can create many artistic effects on a printed surface. Spot UV is usually applied after lamination.

Many other colorful printing processes are available, including foil stamping, gravure printing, and letterpress printing, but a detailed discussion lies beyond the scope of this article.