Random Quotes from New Books This April

It may be April Fools’ Day, but there’s no fooling about our new books! Check them out. No joke.

Negotiation at Work by Ira G. Asherman

“The big problem is that the glasses you have in stock are not clear, but have a blue tint. Each glass also has a basketball, a baseball,and a football engraved on it. Your boss has told you to figure out a way to get the client to buy the blue-tinted glasses. She does not want to carry the inventory any longer. The glasses have been sitting in the warehouse for six months. They are all packed and ready for shipment and are of higher quality than the ones the client wants. What would you do? ” (page 37)

Persuasive Business Proposals by Tom Sant

“Of the thousands of proposals I read each year, the majority do not recommend anything. Most of them lapse into informative writing simply describe a product or service. Descriptions have their place, but they can come across as evasive in a proposal. In addition, descriptions typically consist of standard verbiage that provides a general understanding of the product or service, but nothing specifically relevant to the customer. An effective solution links specific features of the product or service back to the customer’s needs and outcomes, constantly answering the question, ‘So what?’ In a solution, each feature has relevance. It either solves the customer’s problem, or it delivers value, or it does both.” (page 160)

The Power of Reputation by Christopher Komisarjevsky

“Most of the time, we have the opportunity to address a mistake, find a solution, make a correction, and give it another try. We are also in a unique position to achieve a longer-term goal: to make sure similar mistakes do not happen again. We need to take a candid look back at how the mistake happened and perform a two-part analysis: factual and person. The factual, or practical, analysis requires us to understand the facts and take what some call a ‘deep dive’ to examine the circumstances that led up to the mistake. Straightforward answers to some tough operational and management questions are the start. We start that process by collecting facts and digging as deeply as possible to make sure that there is nothing we have missed.” (page 179)

Project Management for Non-Project Managers by Jack Ferraro

“The term for the process of alignment and project tracking is portfolio project management. The idea is to keep the organization’s resources focused by making sure the proeject is doing the right work to facilitate achievement of the organization’s strategic goals. Remember, even if your project is approved, you must maintain a clear focus on your project’s link to strategic objectives. Project team members want to work on successful projects that have significance. Don’t make them work on a project in which they can’t see the organizational value. This sounds obvious and simple, but organizational behavior can be strange. ” (page 92)

Raising Capital, Third Edition by Andrew Sherman

“Many established businesses have a desire for rapid growth. After a certain point in their life, however,  most firms experience a growth slowdown. While some companies are satisfied with their position in the market, others want to jump-start their growth. Some angel investors and angel investor groups provide business accelerators that cater to these companies. Many angels who are not affiliated with the accelerators will also look to them for potential investment opportunities. With the help of an accelerator, a firm can get its growth onto the fast track to a degree  that it was not previously able to achieve.” (page 89)

The Secret Language of Influence by Dan Seidman

“Internal buyers make decisions based on their own experience and internal standards. An internal person can have difficulty accepting other people’s opinions, even good ones. These individuals also give little feedback to others, so you may be in the dark when trying to figure out what’s going on in their mind. Evidence is only useful if it agrees with their opinions.” (page 25)

Want to sample other AMACOM books? Check out our Random Quotes from New Books series.

Erika on the Noble Art of Proofreading

The following is a guest post by Associate Editor & Copy Manager Erika Spelman on the the evolution of proofreading and how we make sure our books go out without any mistakes (most of the time).

I got my start in publishing as a proofreader. I was a young single mom and my mother had been temping as a proofreader, and she said “learn these symbols–you’d be great at this.” So I learned the proofreading symbols and got some freelance work, mostly through friends of the family. You can find a good example that shows a set of marks as well as how to use them online.

The term proofreading is often used loosely to mean giving something a once-over for spelling and grammar, but in publishing it generally means reading material that has been typeset–that is, material that is in proofs–as opposed to copyediting, which is done in an earlier stage. Besides knowing the symbols, to be a good proofreader, one does have to have a good sense of spelling and grammar. One also has to be the kind of person who is bothered by typographical errors (typos) and small differences such as extra spaces between words, or letters that are in slightly larger or smaller type than the surrounding text. Not everybody reads this way–many people gloss over errors when reading. A popular forwarded e-mail claims university studies show that people can read almost anything as long as the first and last letters are in place. Of course, the context of the words is also important for this to be true.

There are some slightly different versions of the proofreading symbols, and when I started out as an associate editor overseeing freelance proofreaders, I worried that proofs were being marked incorrectly. By checking corrections made to proofs against pages marked by other people, I have learned that most compositors understand the different conventions. However, some symbols are recognized more universally than others. For example, “sp” circled in the margin means to spell something out (usually a number). One innovative proofreader uses the same mark with a slash through it to mean “use numeral instead of spelling out.” This symbol often requires a one-time explanation to the compositor.

Copyeditors and proofreaders must have a lot of attention to detail in their work.

When I learned to proofread, I was taught to circle any spelled-out instructions, because if one wrote something in the margin like “ital” to italicize a word, there was a danger that the compositor might actually type in the letters i-t-a-l, even though that would result in an error. Some proofreading guidelines agree with this stricture, whereas others don’t mention it.

My first full-time job as a proofreader was at a legal printer. I read old-fashioned galleys right out of the typesetting machine. I proofread letter by letter without worrying too much about the content. Unlike most of the material I work with today, at that time legal briefs were typeset by being typed from a hard copy rather than by being imported from an electronic (word-processed) file, so material had to be read word for word against the original, and typos were frequent.

In proofreading AMACOM’s books, proofreaders are responsible for catching minor grammatical and style or clarity-of-writing issues that were not caught by the copyeditor in addition to spelling errors and typos. In fact, for typeset pages that are generated from electronic files, proofreaders often skim the original while carefully scrutinizing only the typeset version, because it is highly unlikely that a word or paragraph will differ from the electronic manuscript. They do make sure that no whole sections were dropped; that formatting such as indentation of paragraphs and extracts is correct; that elements with special designs (such as sidebars and case studies) appear as they should; and that boldface and italics have not gotten lost in typesetting. They are also responsible for checking the table of contents and running heads against the chapter titles, checking page numbering (folios), and performing various other tasks.

Even after the type is set, there are errors lurking in the text.

There are different methods of proofreading, some of which were more prevalent before manuscripts were electronic. One of these was to use two people, where one person read the original manuscript out loud, including the punctuation, while the other read the typeset version and made corrections where it did not match what the first person read. Another method is to proofread material backwards, from the end to the beginning, because one is less likely to get distracted by registering the meaning of the sentences. Having two people proofread the same material and then comparing the two versions is a good way to make sure more errors are caught (as well as to gauge the expertise of the proofreaders against each other).

As an associate editor, I spend a minimal amount of time proofreading myself. I might proofread an occasional preface or about-the-author page that is submitted separately from the rest of the manuscript. My main proofreading responsibilities, however, are proofreading the covers and catalog descriptions of the books that I work on. Being out of practice makes these things a challenge–particularly catalog copy, which typically comes in on a Thursday afternoon and has to be turned around by Friday at noon. However, these tasks add to the variety of responsibilities of the job and keep us on our toes.

Erika Spelman is an Associate Editor and Copy Manager at AMACOM. She shepherds books through the production process, helps set house style, and serves as a resource regarding style, word usage, and grammar for the company. Prior to joining AMACOM, Erika worked as a manuscript editor at West Group and as a proofreader at Counsel Press. For freelance copyediting and production opportunities, visit our website.

Author Tips: 12 Things I Look at in a Manuscript

While everything is done on computers nowadays with email, cloud collaboration, and flash drives, we managed to dust off a few printed manuscripts to give you the romantic view of publishing.

The following is a guest post by Senior Development Editor Barry Richardson on what he flags first when reading a submitted manuscript for development.

(1) Proposal: Does the manuscript meet our expectations? Is it the book we thought we were getting? Is it what we contracted for? This includes:

• Does the page count match the contract?
• Does it cover everything mentioned in the proposal?
• Has the content, structure, or focus changed from what was originally proposed?

(2) Writing: Is the manuscript written well? Is it engaging and interesting?

(3) Accessibility: Is the manuscript reader-friendly? Do I understand what the author is saying – whether or not I’m familiar with the topic?

(4) Organization: Is the material set up in a logical way? Does the order of the chapters make sense? Within the chapters, do the topics flow from one to the next in a logical progression?

(5) Introductions and Connectors: Are new chapters or sections introduced properly? Is there connecting material that carries the reader from one section to the next?

(6) Subheads: Are there any subheads to help guide the reader through the material? Are there enough subheads? Too many? Are the existing subheads too long, too short, too complicated, too vague? Do they give away too much of the material to follow?

(7) Repetition: Does the author repeat the same information in different places? Is it word-for-word or merely another way of saying the same thing?

(8) Material Needed: Is there anything missing that seems like it should be included?

(9) Excess Material: Is there material that doesn’t belong? Does the author go off on tangents unrelated to the topic at hand?

(10) Copyediting Issues: If there are specific problems with grammar, spelling, consistency, agreement throughout the manuscript, put these concerns in a note to the copyeditor.

(11) Marketing: How does the book compare to other books on the topic? Does it have a unique feature that will help it sell? Does it cover everything that other books on the topic cover? Is there something missing? Is it timely?

(12) Permissions: Is there anything that would prevent us from publishing it today? Do we have permission for everything quoted in it? Are we waiting for any coauthors/contributors to add material?

Barry Richardson is a Senior Development Editor at AMACOM. Our in-house “book doctor,” he helps improve manuscripts while keeping the author’s voice and expertise–whether it’s heavy-duty editing, reorganization, rewriting, or coaching authors. Prior to joining AMACOM, he worked for 25 years at Prentice Hall (P-H). Visit our website for freelance development inquiries. Find more Author Tips on the AMACOM Books Blog.

Podcast: Susan Shearouse on The Upside of Conflict

In a new American Management Association podcast, Susan Shearouse, author of Conflict 101: A Manager’s Guide to Resolving Problems so Everyone Can Get Back to Work, provides a crash course in conflict resolution.

Whether personal or professional, conflict is inevitable. In her book  Conflict 101: A Manager’s Guide to Resolving Problems So Everyone Can Get Back to Work (AMACOM) Susan Shearouse, with 20 years of experience in mitigating disagreements as a conflict resolution strategist, discusses the importance of trust, how assumptions lead to false perceptions, and using the “Satisfaction Triangle” as a conflict arbitration tool.

Click HERE to listen to the podcast.

Susan Shearouse has provided facilitation, mediation, technical assistance, training in conflict resolution processes, group decision-making processes, managing change, sexual harassment awareness and organizational effectiveness to organizations and individuals since 1990.  She is an adjunct staff member for the American Arbitration Association, McNamara and Associates, Inc., and an associate of Resolution Dynamics, Inc. In addition, she has served as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Specialist for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS) and as adjunct faculty in Georgetown University’s MBA program. she earned a Master of Science in Conflict Resolution from George Mason University in 1988 and servedas  Executive Director of the National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution (NCPCR). She is on the Advisory Board of the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University.

Podcast: Cultural Intelligence Difference

In a new American Management Association podcast, David Livermore, president and partner at The Cultural Intelligence Center and author of The Cultural Intelligence Difference: Mastering the One Skill You Can’t Do Without in Today’s Global Economy talks about the importance of honing CQ skills in today’s global workforce.

David Livermore defines Cultural Intelligence Quotient (CQ) as one’s ability to function effectively across national, ethnic, and organizational cultures. From a misinterpreted gesture, to an e-mail in lieu of a phone call, there are implicit actions, rules, and guidelines that differ from countries or even corporations, that can make a profound professional impression. Knowledge of these nuances isn’t innate, regardless of skill-level, IQ, or EQ. But CQ can be learned. Livermore outlines the four areas of CQ and why your proficiency in them can be the defining factor in your career progress.

Click HERE to listen to the podcast.

David Livermore, president and partner at the Cultural Intelligence Center and a visiting research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He has done consulting and training with leaders in 100 countries, and is the author of The Cultural Intelligence Difference and  Leading with Cultural Intelligence.