Publications & Marketing

The Process, Step by Step: A Cornell User's Guide

1. Planning meeting. Come prepared to describe your problems and goals. We'll help define your audience, refine your message, and choose the most effective, efficient means of communication. We encourage you to bring along

• key members of your office or work group, including a likely liaison who will work closely with us;
• samples of publications, web sites, or displays you admire;
• a rough idea of what you want (or have) to spend.

2. Project proposal. We will send you a project proposal outlining the scope of proposed work and the estimated cost of our time and such items as printing, photography, distribution, and web production. If you give us the go-ahead we will start working with you immediately, producing a proposed timeline and a completion date.

3. Research. What motivates your audience? Who's the competition? What's the most effective presentation style? Quantitative methods, such as polls and surveys, and qualitative methods, like focus groups and one-on-one interviews, can uncover facts about your audience that will help us focus your message and target its distribution for greater impact.

4. Writing. Our writers will work closely with you to create a solid manuscript. In preparing for this collaboration, think about the information you need to present. Who should the writer interview? What background materials can you provide? Who needs to approve the manuscript before you proceed to the next stage?

5. Take-in meeting. Once the manuscript is approved, you will meet with your team to begin the editing and design phases. We will discuss such issues as headings, captions, credits, images, authorization to use copyrighted material, quantity, delivery, and distribution. We will prepare a production schedule, giving approximate dates when you can expect the various proof stages.

6. Editing. The editor will review the manuscript for clarity, style, consistency, tone, and errors and omissions. Then the editor will discuss any proposed changes with you, either in a meeting or by e-mail or telephone.

7. Design. The final manuscript will be turned over to the designer, who will combine text, images, typography, color, shape, size, and texture to produce a preliminary design. The designer also will work with the production coordinator to obtain an estimate of printing costs from vendors throughout the central New York region (and beyond, if necessary).

8. Proof stages. The initial proof is your first look at the designer's concept for your piece based on your prior input and the completed manuscript. This is the best time to make major adjustments. You will probably keep the proof for a few days, so you can consult with others in your unit. Most jobs only require one additional proof. However, it's important that your publication is exactly the way you want it before it goes to the printer, and that may necessitate a third and even a fourth version.

9. Sending your job to the printer. The printer will prepare your publication for the presses and produce a printer's proof for you and our team to check. If there are changes, we may request a revised printer's proof. The printer's proof is your last chance to make sure everything is just right, so plan to take the time to go over it carefully.

10. The final product. We will work with the printer to assure quality control of printing, collating, and binding, and a timely delivery.

A Word* about Manuscripts

Less is more.
     In a world of 24/7 media, audiences are perpetually on the brink of information overload-the point where the brain refuses to absorb any more messages. The challenge: say it succinctly. Pare sentences to their essence and let photos do much of the talking. That can be hard in a scholarly community, where many of us are in love with words (especially our own). But it can be done. And Publications and Marketing can help.
*Okay, 78 words.

© 2006 Cornell University