What services does the Book Sprints team provide?

Facilitation#

The Book Sprints facilitators maintain the space for the writers to exchange their ideas and create a shared mental model of an often-complex topic. They guide the conversations on the scope, audience, and style of the book and steer the writers through the multiple decisions which must be made in a collective content creation process.

The facilitators accommodate different opinions, personalities, and work styles to ensure that all voices are heard and contributions are constructive. They listen deeply, read the group dynamics, pre-empt obstacles to collaboration and productivity, and adapt the process accordingly.

At the same time, they have an active leadership role in that they manage the workflow and delegate tasks. The facilitators monitor the writing, editing, and design of the book, which are fully concurrent and web based. They enforce the deadline and move the group decisively towards the outcome. They also coordinate the remote book production team of copy editors, illustrators, and book designers.

They do not take part in the writing, nor do they weigh in with opinions about the content. Instead, they enable an environment in which the group can collaborate creatively and purposefully.

Illustration#

Together with the writers, the illustrators develop a visual style guide (use of colours, icons, drawing style, and typefaces). The style can range from technical iconography to cartoon-like sketches, as long as it can be achieved in the fast-paced duration of the Book Sprint. Alternatively, they can use a client’s existing branding guidelines.

During the writing process, the writers request visuals, based on existing images or new ideas. The illustrators design these in the agreed upon style and work closely with the writers to finalise them. Due to the time pressure, they rely on clear instructions from the writers and do not develop ideas for illustrations from the text alone. Towards the end of the Book Sprint, the illustrators propose several book cover options for the group to choose from.

The illustrators collaborate with the writers on web-based design applications like Figma. The final illustrations are owned by the client. They are included in the PDF and ePub, and can be shared as print-ready JPG and SVG files. They cannot however be provided as PowerPoint or InDesign files. Once the Book Sprint is finalised, additional new illustrations can be requested for an extra fee.

HTML Book Design#

The HTML book designers create a customised design for the content in development. An academic book for example will have a distinctive look and feel to a collective manifesto or a playful handbook. The book designers present a design sample of text, headings, illustrations, and tables to the writers for feedback. As the content progresses, the design template can be expanded to include new elements such as pull-out boxes, quotes, code blocks, and more.

Outside of Book Sprints, a typical book typesetting process is done page by page through InDesign and may take weeks. To shortcut this process and match the speed of a Book Sprint, our book designers use custom-built tools: The collaborative writing tool Editoria, an HTML-based collaborative book production platform that does semi-automated typesetting and immediately generates a print PDF, screen PDF, and an ePub. The production of other export formats can be negotiated based on the client’s needs; however, InDesign files will not be provided.

After the Book Sprint, the book files are shared with the writers for approval, and minor corrections can be made. Once the files are approved, future updates or translated versions of the book can be produced for an additional fee.

Copy editing#

Throughout the Book Sprint, the copy editors repeatedly read the text and report back to the group on structural issues, clarity, tone, and voice. In collaboration with the writers, they develop a running style guide to help the writers create consistency in the use of notable terms, voice, formatting, and capitalisation. When the writers finish a day of writing, the copy editors clean the text to correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

With a few exceptions, they ordinarily do not rewrite the text or do substantive or structural editing. Typically, they will highlight problem areas and suggest improvements and corrections for the writers to discuss and implement during the next day of the Book Sprint.

At the end of the Book Sprint, the copy editors will do a final proofread of the text according to the style guide developed and agreed on with the writers.

Project management#

The Book Sprints project managers guide the clients through the process of setting up a Book Sprint from the first proposal to vendor onboarding and contracting. While the selection of participants, venue, and logistics are the responsibility of the organiser, the project manager is available to talk through these topics and offer recommendations.

They also manage and schedule the Book Sprints remote production team and the facilitator. After the Book Sprint, the project manager can coordinate the printing of your book, with our printing partners in Europe and North America, for an additional fee.