PubServ: The Voice of Experience

Q: What economies make the most sense during the present economic downturn?

A: An all-too-common reaction to a business slowdown is to attempt to cut costs by doing everything in house. In the long run, however, it makes better sense to increase outsourcing. Every in-house person who does project managing, editing, proofreading, composition, or art rendering comes with a price tag. The total cost per employee includes Social Security taxes, any benefits—including sick days and holidays—and breaks required by law. There is also the overhead cost of providing a desk, computer, phone, and perhaps an office for each person, not to mention providing a clean work area and restrooms. Studies show that the typical hourly employee actually works less than 31 hours in a 40 hour work week. The workflow and schedule are determined by the skill, speed, accuracy, and availability of the in-house staff. When companies outsource to a full-service company like PubServ, they have, in effect, an extension of their own business without all the extra costs. They can also be assured that experienced professionals are working for them, that high publishing standards are being followed, and that schedules are being kept..

Q: I currently use individual freelancers to get my prepress services, but they constantly miss deadlines and are slow to reply to my inquiries. How can I avoid these problems?

A: At PubServ we have more than 50 in-house employees and more than 100 freelancer editors and writers. This team of experienced professionals will make sure your project never languishes. Our project managers send each client a weekly status, and they email or talk with clients as the need arises. No client is left waiting for a reply!

Q: What happens when my files are at the printer and I have last-minute corrections, but the compositor is overseas?

A: We recognize that last-minute changes (typically called blueline corrections) often require a quick turnaround. To address this issue, we have our team of experienced typesetters in Illinois handle corrections during the later stages of a project, allowing us to respond quickly to our clients' needs. We can typically make late-stage corrections and post files for the printer on the same day.

Q: How can I avoid communication difficulties when dealing with an international compositor?

A: The project managers at our Illinois location will shepherd your project through all stages of the publishing process, making it easy for you to follow-up on project details at any time. Today 80% of all communication with authors and clients is done by email. However, when an unusual situation arises—which happens quite often in book publishing!—the only answer is a good, old-fashioned phone call.

Q: When I ask for samples or give direction to my overseas supplier, I never seem to get what I ask for the first time. How can I better communicate with the production staff?

A: At PubServ, we have an efficient method for overcoming the English-language barrier. First, we create more than 90% of client samples at our Illinois facility. This strategy allows us to send approved samples along with other production information to our partner in India. Second, a key production department head from our Indian partner is here at our Illinois location. Third, when questions arise, clients can call or e-mail their own personal project manager at our Illinois office.

Q: How do we take our best-selling books from English to Spanish?

A: At PubServ we provide a three-step translation service. Our experienced English/Spanish editors accurately translate the text into country-neutral Latin American or Castillian Spanish. A second member of the translation team verifies the translation. The translated text is then copyedited by an editor who is fluent in the target language. The result is a high-quality translation that can be marketed with confidence.

Q: How can I be certain that the photographs and art in my publication will print correctly?

A: At PubServ our art department reviews the photographs and art files received from clients at the beginning of each project to check for potential problems. Our prepress technician also checks the photographs and art when flightchecking final printer files. Photographs should be 300 dpi, and for best results they should be sized before being imported into a page layout program. Line art can be from 600 dpi to 1200 dpi. A bitmapped image, however, should be at least 1200 dpi. All fonts should be embedded in the files so that they do not drop out when printer files are generated. TIFF or EPS files are the preferred formats to use. Only high resolution images should be embedded in Illustrator files, and the use of pattern fills should be avoided. Art files with grayscale gradients may require special treatment when preparing final PDFs. All color photographs and art should use CMYK color, and black-and-white images should use grayscale.

Q: How can I be certain that files prepared by overseas compositors will print without font or art problems when sent to the printer?

A: At PubServ, we produce final PDFs at our Champaign, Illinois location. Using the Quark or InDesign files and the art that we receive from our overseas compositors, we create final printer PDFs based on the print specifications and settings that we obtain from the facility that will be printing the final product. The printer PDFs then undergo a strict quality control procedure, including a flightcheck for potential problems such as RGB colors, low-resolution art, incorrect number of color separations, unembedded fonts, and Truetype fonts. Our prepress technician makes adjustments as needed to achieve print-quality final PDFs.

Q: What makes one index superior to another?

A: An index is a tool printed in the book that allows readers to quickly find the information they are seeking in the text. A good index is not a concordance; it covers not only main ideas but also the interrelationships between the ideas presented by the author. A good index is created with the book's audience in mind, using vocabulary and terminology common to the readers of the book.
See Indexing in Brief.

Q: What is the difference between a copyedit and a proofread?

A: A copyedit is usually performed on the manuscript and precedes a proofread which is done to the typeset page proofs. A copyeditor prepares the manuscript for composition; a proofreader checks to see that the typeset pages are faithful to the copyedited manuscript. If the manuscript has not been copyedited, a publisher may choose to have an editorial proofread done to the typeset pages. The proofreader or editor is given limited editorial authority to correct errors discovered in proofreading. See Levels of Copyediting.