Fall Semester

ENGL 415 Literary Editing & Publishing

Instructor: Beth Spencer
Office Phone: 898-5983
E-mail: bspencer@csuchico.edu
Office: Taylor 107C
Office Hours: Wednesday 4-5 & by appt.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
English 415 is the course that produces Watershed, one of the oldest continuously published, student-edited literary magazines in the nation. In addition to soliciting, selecting, and editing material for Watershed, which goes on sale the last week of the semester, we will be taking a look at the publishing practices of large and small presses, the various types of editing, and some ethical questions in publishing. We’ll also talk about the history of literary editing and publishing in America.

The first part of the semester will be spent discussing assigned readings as we await the arrival of “live material” in early October. We’ll closely examine several literary magazines and talk about what seems to work, or not, in terms of their content, design, and governing aesthetic. As part of this process, students will be responsible for selecting/critiquing one poem and one story from last semester’s Watershed, as well as preparing a detailed oral report on a literary magazine of their own choosing (the library in Taylor 107 contains several good ones).

Once Watershed submissions are in, students will decide which material they wish to publish and the class will focus on manuscript editing and book production. Students who have opted to work on a group anthology of their own will likewise be involved in shaping and producing a quality literary publication. All students will keep a journal of their editing/production experience.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
100 Pts: Ten in-class exercises/workshops/reading quizzes. 10 points each.
100 Pts: Two Selection Essays. 50 points each. Poetry due week 4; Fiction due week 6.
50 Pts:            Literary Magazine Oral Report. Due week 5.
50 Pts:             Midterm: Will cover some basic concepts, terms, and lecture/reading material.  Week 8.           
200 Pts: Watershed editor’s journal, response letters. Or anthology, w/ editor’s journal.

TEXTS
Watershed, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Spring 2007: the 30th anniversary issue)
Spreading the Word, Cory & Slesinger
The Whole Story, Slesinger
A literary magazine of your choice. Plan to look at several issues. Taylor 107 has multiple issues of several different magazines.

EVALUATION
You must complete all major assignments to receive a passing grade. Late essays and reports lose 10 points and will not be accepted more than one class period after they are due. Late oral reports, editors’ journals, or final projects* (in lieu of Watershed) are not accepted. In-class exercises/workshops/reading quizzes cannot be made up if missed, and no work is accepted via email. Your overall grade will be based on your
participation and performance. Attendance in class and lab is mandatory.

*Instructor permission required for project in lieu of Watershed.

ENGL 416 Editing Manuscripts for Publication

Instructor: Casey Huff
Office Phone: 898-5983/898-4139
E-mail: chuff@csuchico.edu
Office: Taylor 107C
Office Hours: TR 2-3, W 2-4 & by appt.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
English 416 is a course in the principles and practice of manuscript editing, both line editing and copyediting. It will provide extensive training and practical  experience in editing manuscripts for journal and book publication. We’ll review areas in grammar, punctuation, mechanics, usage, and style that commonly present problems for writers and editors, and we’ll examine various strategies used by professional editors. You’ll learn to use standard proofreading/copyediting symbols, to use and develop style sheets, and to use Word’s Track Changes editing feature and Internet sources for editors and publishers.

We’ll spend most class periods working on projects: manuscripts currently in production with a publisher. One of these manuscripts will be from Chico Statements, the university magazine, but our final projects will be two book manuscripts from Naturegraph Publishers in northern California.  Workshops will focus on issues relevant to our projects or to manuscript editing in general. We’ll also examine the considerations and strategies editors of fiction and poetry make in preparing those manuscripts for publication. Several guest editors will visit class to talk about their responsibilities and practices.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
You’ll have reading assignments in The Copyeditor’s Handbook and the The Chicago Manual of Style. Many of these assignments will include exercises due the following class period. Obviously, your success on the exercises will depend greatly on thorough and careful reading. You’ll copyedit two shorter manuscripts and then two longer book manuscripts from Naturegraph Publishers. While we’re working on the manuscripts, we’ll have workshops devoted exclusively to those projects. Attendance at these workshops is mandatory. Since these manuscripts will be in production with the publisher, we’ll be working under deadlines not subject to our control or modification. If you miss a deadline, you will fail that project. Because our work will be included in the final publications, I expect your attitude toward the manuscripts and the deadlines to be professional. To maintain our productive relationship with Naturegraph, we must work to professional editing standards.

You will need an e-mail account, which you check every day, since I’ll need to communicate with you frequently. And always turn off cell phones before entering class.

EVALUATION
You’ll receive points for participating in in-class workshops and exercises (200 total). A midterm will be worth 100 points. Your work on the manuscript projects will total 500 points. That’s a total of 800 points (752+ = A, 720+ = A-, 696+ = B+, 672+ = B, 640+ = B-, 616+ = C+, 592+ = C, 560+ = C-). Most of the points will come toward the end of the semester to allow you time to develop your skills and earn more points.

TEXTS AND MATERIALS
The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications, Amy Einsohn (bring this to every class)
Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition
Manuscript Packets at A.S. Bookstore or Mr. Kopy
A good mechanical pencil or packet of Col•Erase red pencils
Several packets of yellow Post-It notes, (1.5” x 2” and 2” x 3”)
Dictionary –Webster’s 11th Collegiate (recommended)

Spring Semester

ENGL 315 Introduction Literary Editing & Publishing

Instructor: Beth Spencer / E-mail: bgumbo@aol.com / Phone: 891-0360 (H)
Location: Class in Taylor 204; Lab in Taylor 204
Office: Taylor 107C  Hours: By appt. and 2:30-3:30 on W.

Course Description
English 315  is a fast-paced 4-unit course intended to introduce you to the world of literary editing and publishing through reading, hands-on editing projects, and discussion. Whether you’re considering a publishing career or plan to teach, the class will give you a chance to study and practice various levels of editing and book production. We will also investigate the publishing practices and the history of literary editing in America, discuss a few of the ethical issues and economic pressures affecting the industry in general, and build our confidence as wordsmiths.

Texts
Editors on Editing, Gross
Pushcart Prize XXXII: The Best of the Small Presses, Henderson et al, eds.
Watershed, Fall 2007 issue

Requirements
Group Anthology   You & a few classmates collect & compile literary material on a theme of your choice and produce a book that demonstrates your understanding of concepts learned in class.
Chapbook   You will work with a student poet to produce a chapbook of the poet’s work--three copies.
Editors’ Reports on selections from Pushcart XXXII. These will be typed and evaluated twice--first by the student(s) who assign the selection, then by me.

Evaluation
You must do all the work to receive a passing grade. Late work will not be accepted.
Group anthology = 25%; chapbook for writer = 25%; editor’s reports on selections from Pushcart = 25%. Occasional workshop exercises & quizzes that help me know whether you’re keeping up with the reading = 25%. 

Attendance: Crucial. More than three absences will lower your grade.

ENGL 419 Chapbook Production

Section 1: Mon. 4-6:50
Instructor: Casey Huff
Office Phone: x5983 / x4139
E-mail: chuff@csuchico.edu
Office: Taylor 107C
Office Hours: MW 1-3, & by appt.

REQUIRED TEXTS
The Whole Story (Bench Press)
I Call This Flirting, Flick (Flume Press)
The Sheep Breeder’s Dance, Greaney (Flume Press)
Non-Designers’ Design Book, Williams (Peachpit Press)
Manuscript packets, Meriam Library Electronic Reserve (some printing required)

Suggested Reading
The Design of Books, Wilson
1001 Ways to Market Books, Kremmer

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Chapbook Production is designed to teach students how to run a literary contest, and then edit, produce, promote, and distribute the resulting chapbook. Students will learn strategies and techniques for soliciting manuscripts, judging submissions, selecting, editing, negotiating editor-author relations, designing, laying out, proofing, advertising, promoting, and distributing literary chapbooks in a culture that places little value on contemporary literature. Students will also learn about the resources available to literary publishers, including professional associations, trade publications, Internet sites, and e-mail lists for independent publishers. Manuscripts for the annual Flume Press Chapbook Contest are solicited in December. Entries will be considered and a winner selected, with students in the course learning to function as editorial assistants and first readers at Flume Press. By the end of the semester, students will take the manuscript into production.
      Most classes will run more like staff meetings than traditional college courses, and I expect you to prepare for and approach these meetings as you would a professional workplace meeting. You wouldn’t leave the room in the middle of a meeting, eat your lunch, send a text message, or check e-mail/voicemail during a meeting (and keep your job for long…)—so I expect that you won’t do those things here either. Please let me know if you have a disability that requires accommodation of any kind, and we’ll work out appropriate procedures.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
The primary project will be the selection of a winning manuscript and the production of the resulting chapbook within Flume Press’s production deadlines during the spring semester. Each student will be responsible for reading 25–30 manuscripts submitted to the contest and for recommending to the editor three to five manuscripts to be sent to the final judges as finalists.  Each student will also write responses to 6–8 of those submissions. These letters require detailed analysis and comment on specific characteristics in each manuscript.

In addition, students will be required to complete the following assignments:
•  Editor’s Report on an editor’s essay from The Whole Story
•  Manuscript Report on a submission that you believe should be a finalist.
•  Correspondence with the winning author. Students will compose letters to the author to      negotiate editing changes, content arrangement, and, if time allows, promotion.
•  Production Report recommending appropriate fonts for chapbook cover and text; text design specifications; ad design; and flyer design.
• News Release to accompany copies sent to reviewers.
•  Editor’s Notebook to be kept throughout the semester, including notes on mss., observations, questions, and suggestions about the editorial and production processes.

COURSE EVALUATION
Students will be evaluated on the quality of their written assignments and their participation in collaborative decisions and production meetings. Criteria for evaluating written assignments include your ability to make clear and compelling claims about the stories you read and to support those claims with specific references to the text and the literary traditions from which those stories come. Editor’s Report, TWS–50 pts.;  Mss. Response Letters–100 pts.; Manuscript Report–100 pts.; Production Report–50 pts.; News Release–50 pts.; Editor’s Notebook–100 pts.; Workshop Participation–50 pts.  Total – 500 points.

Certificate Program Faculty

Casey Huff, co-founder, editor/publisher of Flume Press, co-founder of Trial Impression literary magazine, and currently university publications editor and certificate program coordinator.

Beth Spencer, founder and publisher of Bear Star Press, poet and writer.

Ellen Walker, former editor at Dustbooks publishers, managing editor of The Small Press Review, and co-editor of The International Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses; founder of the literary editing certificate program. 

 
Program Coordinator

If you have any questions, please contact

Casey Huff
Office: Taylor Hall 107C
Phone: 530-898-5983
E-mail: chuff@csuchico.edu

Department of English
CSU, Chico
400 W. First St.
Chico, CA 95929-0830