Start with the work
A route through the ledger.
Read in sequence or stop at the decision in front of you. These paths join the new working guides to the site’s source-led essays and studies.
Reading path
Read a passage closely
Begin with a visible detail, then test the explanation against what the passage actually permits.
A Letter That Makes the Reader Revise: Pride and Prejudice, Chapters 35–36
Watch a reader revise a judgment.
Three ways to turn the pages of Frankenstein.
Distinguish the manuscript, the sequence and the edition.
Three short openings about who gets to explain.
Compare who is allowed to explain.
Show a reader how the judgment was made
Carry the evidence into a review.
Reading path
Take a draft into revision
Keep an accountable manuscript, ask a bounded question of a reader, then make the next editorial decision.
Keep one manuscript, and a record beside it
Establish the current text and its records.
A Reverse Outline Diagnoses the Draft You Actually Have
Diagnose one problem before changing everything.
Scene and Summary Are Pace Choices, Not a Virtue Scale
Try the method on a bounded passage.
Keep a Viewpoint Knowledge Ledger Before You Revise for Surprise
Carry the decision back to the whole manuscript.
Reading path
Prepare an ebook for readers
Structural checking, navigation and reader testing answer different questions. Keep a record for each.
Calibre Checks Should Follow the Reading Order
Inspect the order of the files.
Let Sigil’s Code and Preview Argue Usefully
Compare the code with the rendered page.
EPUBCheck Is a Gate, Not a Reader
Validate the delivery candidate.
Kindle Previewer Is a View, Not a Device Lab
Test the reading experience beyond one view.
Reading path
Plan a responsible release
Move from a publishing route to terms, files and readers. None of these steps promises a sale.
Choose the publishing route for the edition
Name the tradeoffs for this edition.
Read the publishing package as a contract
Define what the service actually delivers.
From approved text to a usable edition
Record the evidence for each handoff.
Give the first reader somewhere to go
Give the reader a clear next step.
Reading path
Build an edition from sources
Keep the text, its rights boundary, and the source of each correction in view.
One source, several chapters: organizing a research library.
Keep retrievable bibliographic records.
A Standard Edition Begins With a Public-Domain Boundary
Check the edition and the territory.
Distributed Proofreading Makes the Scan Answerable
Compare transcription with the scan.
Archive the Source Package, Not Just the PDF
Preserve the editable record.