Publishing Workflow

This is an overview of the process of publishing a book with Quire at Getty Publications. The process parallels in many ways the workflow used for our InDesign-produced print books. Special attention has been paid here to some of the unique aspects of Quire work, starting with the roles of team members and the key tools we use.

Project Roles

Role	Description
Author(s)	writes the content that comprises a manuscript
Project editor	project manages and oversees concept and structure of a publication
Digital team	converts manuscript into Quire publication using GitHub and a text editor, also oversees technical customizations
Copy editor	corrects grammatical, factual, and stylistic errors in the text
Proofreader	checks for formatting errors and inconsistencies
Production coordinator	manages the creation of the physical publication, and works with Digital team on image quality
Rights assistant	clears image rights, including video and images for cover use, and provides image credits

Tools

Tool	Description
GitHub	project management tool optimized for collaboration and version control
GitHub Desktop	user-friendly interface for managing projects hosted on GitHub
Visual Studio Code	free, plain-text text editor for editing Quire project files
Pandoc	command-line file conversion tool used in Quire for EPUB conversion and useful for converting Word to Markdown
ImageMagick	command-line tool for programmatically processing and manipulating image files
Amazon S3	cloud storage used for storing some project IIIF image files
Netlify	web hosting service used by Getty to preview and deploy Quire projects

Pre-transmittal

• The authors submit the manuscript as Word files to the project editor, along with an image log and image files.

• The manuscript undergoes editorial review and peer review before being sent back to the authors. The authors return their revised manuscript to the project editor.

• The rights assistant reviews the image log, checks image quality, and clears image permissions as needed.

• The project editor meets with the Quire team to review content and begin discussing the form the Quire publication will take. Three things are covered:

  1. Any special tagging that needs to be done to the files to ensure a clear conversion from a Word document into a Markdown file. This helps the text-editing process run smoothly and efficiently.

  2. Special requirements such as the use of videos, pop-ups, IIIF images, etc.

  3. The content model of the book is reviewed to identify unique attributes or places where the pattern of the book diverges from the default. Quire is built to look for patterns so this is a critical step that will inform the data structuring of the publication and YAML formatting.

• The project editor gives the copy editor a memo outlining the tagging instructions specific to that publication. The copy editor reviews the manuscript, queries the authors and incorporates their changes, and “tags” the manuscript. (See Manuscript Prep.)

Transmittal & First Pages

• During transmittal, images and manuscript text come together in a final package that is officially handed-off from the project editor to the Quire team, along with a memo outlining important information about the publication.

• The Quire team creates a private repository for the project in GitHub. (See Code Repository & Deploy Setup.) This marks the beginning of first pages (in other words, the first Quire draft of the project) and all work is done off of a first-pages branch. The repository naming convention is https://github.com/thegetty/project-name/ where “project-name” reflects the final URL of the book: https://getty.edu/publications/project-name/.

• The Quire team uses Pandoc to convert the manuscript Word files into Markdown files. (See Manuscript Conversion.)

• The Quire team uses a text editor, Visual Studio Code, and creates a publication outline with placeholder Markdown files and landing pages structured according to the publication’s Table of Contents. The converted Markdown is then added to the corresponding content files.

• The Quire team creates the publication’s data files (publication.yaml, figures.yaml, references.yaml, etc.) and cleans up YAML formatting on individual Markdown files.

• The Quire team processes the publication images for web readiness with ImageMagick, and adds them to the project as a git submodule, a private repository for third-party assets. (See Image Processing.)

• Once the images are ready, they are placed in the Markdown files using the figure shortcode. Other shortcodes are added where necessary, based on the markup originally done by the copy editor.

• When all the main content is in place, any necessary design and customization work can take place. Design work is typically based on the cover created by a Getty Publications designer. New features are those previously identified by the Quire team and project editor and are built by either the Quire team or Getty Digital. (See Development Workflow.)

• Once all the publication content and data is added, and formatting and customization are complete, the project is output for review. (See Publishing Stages.) The Quire team deploys a preview version of the website via Netlify and sends the URL, PDF, and hard copies of the publication to the project editor.

• These files are then sent to the proofreader and authors for review.

• The project editor collates all corrections in a master hard-copy set that will be entered into GitHub in the second pages phase.

Second Pages

• The Quire team creates a second-pages branch in GitHub based on the first-pages branch. Additional task- or user-specific branches should be made from, and therefore merged into, the second-pages branch.

• Any straightforward changes are entered in GitHub by either the project editor or copy editor. A printout of the manuscript with any complicated or outstanding edits marked with Post-Its and a memo outlining website issues are sent to the Quire team.

• The Quire team tackles these edits in Github. Anything that cannot be immediately resolved is added to the repository’s issue tracker for more thorough review and problem-solving.

• Once all second pages changes are complete, the Quire team deploys a another preview version of the website via Netlify and sends the URL, PDF, and hard copies of the publication to the project editor.

• A print-on-demand version of the publication is printed and reviewed by production and the Quire team, with special attention to image quality.

Final Pages

• A final round of review takes place, marking the final pages phase. All changes are merged into the main branch on Github.

• Once again, the Quire team deploys a preview version of the website via Netlify and sends the URL, PDF, and hard copies of the publication go out for department review.

• Once the final (ideally, few and minor) changes are approved and merged, a PDF is sent to a short-run digital printer. A final proof is printed and reviewed.

• Once that final printed proof is approved, the publication is considered ready for launch.

Launch

• The printer prints roughly one hundred copies and the e-book files are sent to corresponding vendors.

• Altogether, an eight-to-twelve-week period marks the time between publication completion and the final publication “pub date.” During this time, Marketing & Publicity promote the publication by sending out a press release and link to the preview site. Review copies are sent to authors and institutions that request copies. Promotion is also done on social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). The book is listed on the Getty Publications website and in the sales catalog.

• Print books are delivered to our warehouse approximately one month before the pub date.

• On the pub date, the website goes live. The publication (both e-book and print copies) is now available for sale on Amazon, the Getty website, and through other venues.

This marks the end of a Quire publication’s workflow.