Book Royalties <OT>

[Frederick H. Bartlett]

Andrew Koenig wrote:
> 
> Frederick> Wrong. Nearly all the actual work that goes into the
> Frederick> production of a book is outsourced. Typesetting is done in
> Frederick> the Far East or India; editing and indexing are done by
> Frederick> freelancers, usually in the US.
> 
> Sometimes, perhaps, but not always.
> 
> Barbara and I did the typesetting ourselves for ``Ruminations on C++''
> and ``Accelerated C++,'' sending PostScript files to the publisher.
> I did the typesetting for ``C Traps and Pitfalls,'' sending physical
> camera-ready pages to the publisher -- PostScript didn't exist in 1988.

Well, from the publisher's point of view, author typesetting is
outsourcing. Cheaper, too, so we like it. After all, some authors can
get really persnickety about typesetting (see Knuth, D.E.). Others
(most?) find the inevitable introduction of new (but usually
inconsequential -- honest!) errors extremely difficult to tolerate.

I'm working through ``Accelerated C++'' now; it's a fine book.

> I indexed all three books myself.

We do try to get authors to do their own indexing, or pay for it,
anyway. The additional expense ($500-$3000) is often enough to make a
book unprofitable.
 
Fred