Read on Twitter
I don't quiiite have a pre-order announcement for A Civic Technologist's Practice Guide yet, but we are *so close*. I'm 100% confident now that pub date will be September. (get notified at http://cydharrell.com/book .) meanwhile, I thought some of you might enjoy a thread on process:
it's probably useful context that I've had this as one of my set of 10 business cards for several years now. it's probably also useful context that my lone graduate credential is a book publishing certificate (U of Denver Publishing Institute 1994) &
...I worked in book publishing for several years. all that's to say, it matters a lot to me not just to create a book for #civictech, but to create one that's as high quality as it would be if I was working with a publisher. & I knew what that requires. so.
on December 22 last year, I wrote an outline in a taxi. this is it, pretty much exactly as it sprang from mobile Gdocs. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T7h4bQUH6VwRmF8vXJjjT-O-LhPgMwUQg2XKCOJ8LKU/edit?usp=sharing I told my family & no one else.
The first weekend of January, I started two things: drafting & asking smart people to check my work. I tried to knock out a chapter a weekend, 12 in all, but some took longer. in mid-March I started sending them out. every chapter got at least one early review.
I asked the first reviewers if I was missing anything, if anything was wrong, & if it, well, sounded like me as they know me. (btw, I'm going to thank everyone publicly, with a bit more fanfare, when we launch.) when I assembled all those first drafts, I had 35,096 words.
in March, I started looking for an editor. I knew from publishing that there are 3 stages of editing: developmental, line, & copy.
-developmental edits are about the structure & content of a book
-line edits are more about the flow
- copy edits are language & punctuation details
-developmental edits are about the structure & content of a book
-line edits are more about the flow
- copy edits are language & punctuation details
I contracted with a professional editor for 2 rounds combining dev & line edits. but first, I worked through all the feedback from early readers & added an introduction. when I handed it off for editing at the beginning of May, I was at 45,206 words.
structural edits are *hard*. but they made the book so much better. I got the manuscript back a few weeks later, worked through those edits - moving pieces around, answering questions (intentionally, my editor was new to civic tech) & wrote the conclusion. 45,549 words went back.
meanwhile, I had found book designers. you've seen the cover, but I've seen sample page spreads too. I wanted it to be readable & comfortable, with a bit of style but not too fancy. like civic tech. we settled on a 6"x9" trade book - an absolutely standard size, no reason not to.
the second round of edits moved more pieces within the standardized chapter structure we'd established in round 1. it pulled out sidebars and footnotes & clarified the main text so it flowed. this was a combination of dev & line editing.
I worked through these in July, along with some additional feedback from people who had read complete drafts. we re-organized the reference sections, added little explanations (I think you're going to find those sections really useful), re-wrote the intro & conclusion
meanwhile, I was registering ISBNs and an LCCN (Library of Congress Cataloging Number), getting a bar code set up, & asking readers of the full manuscript for blurbs for the back cover.
the part I had the toughest time with was figuring out the concrete process & sequencing - which print on demand service to use, which e-book converter to use, what I had to have complete to sign up & then go public with each of those. I think I've got it - we'll see shortly.
after I worked through the last of the structural & line edits, my main editor did a final review. then we handed it to a copy editor, a different person because it's quite a different discipline. that was at the end of July. word count: 42,342.
(I forgot that we did a lot of tweaking of chapter & section titles in the second edit round)
the copy editor's work was to keep my voice but bring the writing & formatting to the standard of Chicago Manual of Style & a specific Merriam-Webster dictionary. she also flagged inconsistent or over-repeated word choices, or just awkwardnesses.
I thought this would be hard for me, but I found it easier than the structural edits - more like a vigorous spa treatment than the (needed & skillful) surgery of the earlier rounds. this was also the stage to decide on a citation style & stick with it.
with all the work on references and tweaks, the copy-edited final manuscript is 42,906 words. silly metric, but it's an easy way to measure that it's changed every time. it is now being typeset, & then comes proofreading.
after proofreading, it can be uploaded to the paperback & e-book production services & will become orderable pretty immediately. then all I need to do is share credit with all the wonderful people who helped & market it! 
that should happen next week, but if a stage takes more time, it'll take more time. It matters how done it is, to me & I hope to the eventual readers. When you hold it in your hand, I want it to feel polished & solid, even beautiful. We as a field deserve that.
so if you're tracking,
outline -->
chapter 1st drafts -->
revisions based on chapter reviews -->
developmental edit -->
2nd round dev/line edit -->
copy edit -->
typeset -->
proofread -->
publish
(alongside cover & interior design, & all the administrative setup)
outline -->
chapter 1st drafts -->
revisions based on chapter reviews -->
developmental edit -->
2nd round dev/line edit -->
copy edit -->
typeset -->
proofread -->
publish
(alongside cover & interior design, & all the administrative setup)
which may sound daunting, but it has been tremendous fun. I can't wait to share more of it with you, & tell you about the people I've been lucky enough to have help me with it. 
adding a little tease from a proof I just received: this is half of a table (the only table in the book) showing touchpoints that members of the public might be familiar with from different branches & levels of government
