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Interdependence And Conflict Interaction In The Copy Editing Process Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing: Erin Stegman Fall 2013 Senior Capstone Project Presentation Project Mentor: Dr. Amy Rupiper Taggart

Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

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Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing: . Interdependence And Conflict Interaction In The Copy Editing Process. Erin Stegman Fall 2013 Senior Capstone Project Presentation Project Mentor: Dr. Amy Rupiper Taggart. Special Thanks To:. Dr. Amy Rupiper taggart Dr. suzzanne kelley - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

In terdependence And Conflic t In teract ion In The Copy Ed i t ing Process

Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

Erin StegmanFall 2013 Senior Capstone Project Presentation

Project Mentor: Dr. Amy Rupiper Taggart

Page 2: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

DR. AMY RUPIPER TAGGARTDR. SUZZANNE KELLEY

ANDNEW RIVERS PRESS BOOK TEAMS AND

AUTHORS

Special Thanks To:

Page 3: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

How the Copy Editing Process Works• At traditional publishing houses, an acquisitions editor will solicit or

receive and unsolicited manuscript and decide that the subject area or storyline is worth spending a large amount of time and money on.

• Senior editor will take over the project and first do substantive edits to the manuscript

• Then sends it to the copy editor who will• Fact check• Read for inconsistencies• Keep a style sheet• Edit according to the Chicago Manual of Style or house style

guide (or both)

• Copy editor and author send MS back and forth with approved or disapproved edits until the MS is (virtually) error-free

• This is where the conflicts emerge…

Page 4: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

Presentation Outline

• The conversation surrounding the idea of authorship

• Research questions• Methods• Conflict categories• Author conflict example• How can this relationship be improved?

Page 5: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

A Few Views on Collaborative Writing

• Traditional Views:• Lunsford and Ede: Modern authorship is a “cultural

construct” (Singular Texts/Plural Authors, pg. 77)• Hierarchal perspective of collaboration (Singular

Texts/Plural Authors, pg. 133)• George Herbert Mead’s Collaborative Perspective on

Rhetorical Invention

• However, several theorists believe:• Editors function as collaborators in the writing process of a

text, as they contribute largely to the overall meaning (M. Thomas Inge)

• Can also be viewed as co-authors

Page 6: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

Research Questions

1. What are the most common conflicts occurring in the copy editing process?

2. Which power plays or conflict strategies are being implemented within these interdependent interactions?

3. Can collaboration theories be used to reduce or improve the frictions in these relationships?

Page 7: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

Why is this Important to English Studies?

• Chances are good that each of you will collaborate with other writers to co-author a document

• Conflicts are inevitable

• You encounter the products of copy editing and co-authorship each and every day

Page 8: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

New Rivers Press and My Research Project• Publishing practicum course through MSUM• Allows student copy editors to work with a

small literary press called New Rivers Press.• I am part of a book team that worked

through the semester to copy edit a novel manuscript.

• Dr. Suzzanne Kelley approved my request to contact book team members and authors to use e-mail correspondence

• Obtained permission through the use of informed consent forms

• Several of these e-mails serve as examples of conflict interaction or successful collaboration in the copy editing process

Page 9: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

Conflict Category ChartInattention to

voice Unauthorized

changesDisagreements

over the style /grammar

Ignorance Poor communication from one party

Other

Initiated by

Copy Edito

r

1. make changes against the author’s wishes2. changing author’s voice to match the copy editor’s wishes3. Sending the manuscript back

1. Silent changes in the track changes function2. Sending the manuscript to the typesetter without speaking with the author about making certain edits

1. impose consistency rules against the author’s wishes2. Know a rule and painstakingly apply it 3. Flouting the rules of grammar to make the author feel incompetent

1. Copy editor does not do adequate research into the manuscript’s subject area2. C.E. goofs and has to start editing process over 

1. Freelance editors are sometimes unable to communicate with the author directly2 Being ambiguous about author’s tasks

Initiated by

Author

1. Difficult and want no stylistic changes made 2. Go over the copy editor’s head and make a complaint3. Exploding in anger and make threats

1. Wants to continue making changes, adding things while the manuscript is in the copyediting stage2. Change the e-file once the manuscript has begun edits

1. Formats the manuscript in a way that is unconventional and will not budge on it2. Being difficult because they’ve been burned by bad editing before

1. Ignorant of house rules/Chicago manual of style rules2. ignorant of how to prepare the manuscript to be published3. May ask to skip the copy editing process/hired a freelance editor out of pocket

1. Author is unwilling to listen or negotiate2. Not respectful of the calendar or production schedule

Initiated by

Third Party

House rules trumping author’s wishes unless exceptions are made

The senior editors do not give adequate feedback to the copy editors

1. Disagreements over contracts, rights, royalties, or marketing tactics2. Hiring of Freelancers 3. Schedules of the publisher and author do not match

Page 10: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

Inattention to the Copy Editor’s and Publishing House’s Wishes or Style Guides

BT: We only have a few questions for you, so rather than send you a manuscript back labeled with them, I'm just going to ask them here because they are rather small and few. BT: This one does refer to the style overall. There are consistently double spaces after periods throughout the collection, is this deliberate? I do know this is how typing used to be taught (I even remember learning that,) so I wanted to know if it was deliberate, or just an accidental habit and we should fix it. AU: Yes, in the olden-times we did put two spaces after periods, so that's the way all the poems are formatted.  I think the convention--going from one space after a period to two spaces after a period--is in flux right now, with some writers (probably older) using the two spaces and some writers (probably younger) using the one space.  So I think it's fine to keep it with two spaces.

Page 11: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

What’s going on here?

• Book team knows that Chicago Manual of Style mandates one space between sentences

• Author believes that she is entitled to keep two spaces because she is an “older writer.”

• The two interdependent parties must go through differentiation stage to reach conflict resolution.

Page 12: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

How can the author/copy editor relationship improve?

Normative Model of Conflict Management

• Differentiation• Preliminary understanding

of others’ point of view• Acknowledge legitimacy of

other’s issues/must work together

• Motivation to work through conflicts

• Integration • Search for common

ground/improve understanding

• Move toward possible solutions

• Implement resolution

Page 13: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

How can the author/copy editor relationship improve?

• Joanna Wolfe’s strategies• Clarifying roles and

responsibilities up front in a task schedule

• Including revision in the task schedule and allow for plenty of time to implement revisions

• Laying some ground rules for conversation

• Putting aside time for revision

• Deciding in advance how impasses (stalemates) will be handled

• Establishing team priorities

Page 14: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

Project Works Cited List• Folger, Joseph P., Marshall Scott Poole, and Randall K. Stutman. Working Through Conflict:

Strategies for Relationships, Groups, and Organizations. 6th Ed. Boston: Pearson, 2009. Print.

• Fontaine, Sheryl L. and Susan M. Hunter. Collaborative Writing in Composition Studies. Boston: Cengage, 2005. Print.

• Inge, Thomas M. “Collaboration and Concepts of Authorship.” Modern Language Association. 116.3 (2001): 623-630. Print. 28 October 2013.

• Jacques, Kelly Chrisman. From Conflict to Concord: Copyeditors, Composition, and Technology. Diss. University of Kansas, 2010. Lawrence, 2010. Print.

• LeFevre, Karen Burke. Invention as a Social Act. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1986. Print.

• Lunsford, Andrea and Lisa Ede. Singular Texts/Plural Authors: Perspectives on Collaborative Writing. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992. Print.

• ----. “The Concept of Authorship.” Singular Texts/Plural Authors: Perspectives on Collaborative Writing. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992. Print.

• Saller, Carol Fisher. The Subversive Copy Editor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009. Nook file.

• Wolfe, Joanna. Team Writing: A Guide to Working in Groups. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010. Print.

Page 15: Power Plays, Collaboration, And Copy Editing:

Works Cited for Images IncludedRed pen: http://elspethcooper.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/red_editing_pen.jpg

Tracked Changes Example: http://www.google.com/search?q=track+changes&client

New Rivers Press: https://twitter.com/NewRiversPress

Team Writing: A Guide to Working in Groups: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=Team+Writing+A+Guide+to+Working+in+Groups+by+Joanna+Wolfe+2009+Paperback&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=