The way the publishing process *really works*
2008 August 19
Trust me, we have crazy dance parties at Forerunner Books.
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(I will not keep silent)
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You mean…..that isn’t the way it works???!!!
Silly me, not bringing headphones to work. This is interesting without sound, though.
And I must contrast software engineering, which is much like meeting Cthulu. Of course, I am having one of *those* weeks…
First, it’s ‘Cthulhu’
Second, yes, software OR web design/development are much like that. “You just sit there, type some things, and have an awesome game? Sweet!”
Yah, after the carpal tunnel, bad eyes & back, so many long nights, stressfull null-pointer exceptions, segfaults, etc…
But I digress.
Authors, I’m sure, have a far better patience level than I do.
There’s a reason I don’t write or code for a living. Editing is so much easier. Why, I never have nights where I’m hunched over my laptop at 1 a.m., staring cross-eyed at the 1,675th comma splice in a manuscript while mentally constructing the points I will make in the fourth round of the “you need to rewrite half of this chapter” discussion I’ve been having with the author, who still hasn’t addressed the comments I made in the previous chapter and tomorrow will email me with a chipper, “Thanks but I think I’m just going to delete the three chapters you worked on and take the book in a different direction, because my grandma read the book and said it would work so much better that way!!!”*
*All of which has happened, except for the bit about the grandma. Although I’m not completely sure about that one—it would explain so much if it were true.
I’ll blame the misspelling on the 2d6 Sanity I’ve lost thus far.
In discussions here, I’ve often found the process of sw engineering to be similar to the process of publishing (is there a better term to encompass the entire process, Jenn?). The primary difference is that sw has the goal of being functional but a book has the goal of being understandable. Or something like that.
My primary stress as of late is that I’m dealing with the military. Which isn’t necessarily bad, but does add an extra layer of stress.
Also, I was sadly disappointed to find the video not much more exciting with the sound.
That’s funny, my dad just wrote me an email describing how some of the things he deals with in software engineering are like what I deal with in editing. I would say your differentiation is accurate. Certainly both are professions in which one finds perfectionists!
I am curious about you’re working on, but I assume military snipers will show up on the roofs of my apartment complex if you tell me, so I’ll just pray for grace for you.
Maybe they’d use snipers, but usually it’s the ninja squad who handle such things. That’s actually the job I first applied for, but it seems engineers are more in demand right now.
And yes, computers are very perfectionistic. Us sw engineers become so as well, because imperfection just doesn’t work.
Thank you for the prayers. The on-site work is done, and now they’re continuing from a different facility. I just have to provide phone support now.