I'm excited but clueless
June 1, 2011 5:23 PM   Subscribe

Some guidance on what could be my first publication...hopefully not my last

I work for a non-profit that serves people from several varied cultural backgrounds. It has occurred to me that it would be useful to publish manuals for local city workers (social workers, teachers at schools, etc) guiding them to these families, who come from low profile countries and have idiosyncrasies that routinely shock, offend or weird out people who aren’t familiar with them.

I proposed this idea to my federal –level supervisor, and she said she would love to publish these, as part of the grant that also funds my program (and my job). Then she asked me if it was an independent project, or something I would like to do with her grant. What does this question mean? Would I be able to take credit (let’s say put the publications in my resume) for the project if I do it under the grant? What did she mean? I have no financial interest at all, but I would like to have the professorial acknowledgement!

My second question is more to the point of working on the manuals. If I, for example, wanted to give an introduction on the countries of provenance of my newcomers, can I, say, copy a map from Wikipedia? Should I come up with my own maps and pictures? I know this question is kind of silly, but I really have no clue. I want to make sure I credit whoever needs to be credited for any images.

Also, any tips for a person who’s a complete newbie when it comes to publications like these will be treasured with devotion.
posted by anonymous to Writing & Language (3 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Sounds like a great idea! I can't speak to your questions regarding funding or authorship, but I can tell you that copyright permissions for any art, maps, photos etc. is a must. I manage publication of some very large technical books and copyrights are always a huge part of the process, especially if your request to reprint is turned down or ignored and you suddenly have big gaping holes in the document to deal with.

Also, I would very carefully vet your information, more than once. And proofread, proofread, proofread.
posted by Gusaroo at 5:39 PM on June 1, 2011


copyright permissions for any art, maps, photos etc. is a must.

With this in mind, there are some good paths. Most images on Wikipedia are clearly marked with a license that says how they can be used and nearly all of them [with teh exception, I think of some publicity stills types of shots] are available to be repurposed for any reason. I just finished writing a book and I used illustrations from Wikipedia for a lot of different things. I can't say my publisher was thrilled with this--they don't quite "get" creative commons licenses--but they didn't dispute my right to use the images. The same is true, though with some caveats, for things produced by a governmetn agency. Be wary of sites that claim to have "copyright free images" Unless you really know where they came from, I would not be at all comfortable with this. There is also the even larger treasure trove of stuff in Wikimedia Commons and the Internet Archive both of which are pretty good at including the licenses for art/image type stuff.
posted by jessamyn at 5:49 PM on June 1, 2011


Not sure how much help I can be, but a couple thoughts?

-- as far as getting paid, I would guess there is exactly the same money involved up front whether you say you are independent or doing it through a grant, but something to bear in mind, that is if these manuals are good and helpful, they may be in print for years, and you should try, try, to set up some kind of royalty agreement. Not to belittle it in any way, but if this a Fed level thing, you will say I want this, your supervisor likes you and will approve, she will pass it up the line and someone who you dont know and really doesnt give a crap either way will stamp yes, approved, and you get medium sized checks for a very long time.

-- GREAT BIG SCARY ASS AS A WRITER FLAG HERE!!! " It has occurred to me that it would be useful to publish manuals for local city workers (social workers, teachers at schools, etc) guiding them to these families, who come from low profile countries and have idiosyncrasies that routinely shock, offend or weird out people who aren’t familiar with them."

I truly believe you are going into this wth a good heart, and good intentions, but this feels to me like an almost impossible job for a writer. Pick any culture, and imagine the worst of it, then sit down, and spend a week interviewing what you have heard is the most knowlegeable person in the world about it, be that a professor, or a respected elder. Try to cull that knowledge into a few thousand words, that you can make said employees comprehend. Now take it to the second most knowledgeable person on the culture, and understand they are about to tell you you are full of shit, and know nothing about them as a people etc etc.

I understand your intent, what trips me up is the idea of a manual to deal with little known cultures from low profile countries who shock, offend, weird out, etc. As a writer, I would have no idea how to do this without offending someone, whether I was a member of that group, or just one of those types who will pop up and scream injustice/racial/bigotry!!! because you just said something that said culture actually does. It will be the absolute truth, and it won't matter. You are now an anti- (fill in the blank).

Best thing I can say, is when you do it, make it about individuals ,case studies, and let them explain why they do what they do. Put a human face on it. Let the mother explain why she does this, or allows this to be done, to her children. I think that will soften any aspect of you commenting on/judging the culture as a perceived outsider, and might better serve the actual social workers etc, who will pretty much be meeting these people face to face. You will come out better as a writer, and your audience will be better prepared and served with street level knowledge."

Just my .02, hope it helps. Feel free to Memail if there is any other way I can help.
posted by timsteil at 6:27 PM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]


« Older What's the easiest way to cut clips out of movies?   |   Looking for a really mean lawyer in Maryland. Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.