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fact-checking
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From: Kathleen Krull <kkrull1>
Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2005 14:03:25 -0700
I have to jump in regarding questions a few days back about the accuracy of facts in the books we've been talking about. Fact-checking in children's nonfiction trade books is alive, well, rigorous, and (to use a scientific term) anal. Editors know that one review mentioning some type of inaccuracy can doom a book. In my experience, the process starts with editors (who are passionate about the subject because they tend to sign up books they are passionate about). They question and demand back-up material and nitpick all the way up to the level of their expertise, then turn manuscripts over to copy?itors who take pride and pleasure in finding a writer's mistakes. Outside experts are sometimes called in, and no stone is left unturned, no fact left unquibbled over. While this process can be agonizing to the writer (I'll spare you), its goal is always the highest quality of the book-- everyone is on the same side.
This month I am tiptoeing toward science with a new series called Giants of Science
(see below). My hope for these books is that juicy life stories can lure 5th-6th graders who might not think they're interested in science.
I'm in awe of what Lisa Westberg Peters did in "Our Family Tree." Her word-crafting, in distilling one of the most complex subjects ever for the benefit of young children, is exquisite. The amount of decision-making that went into the text is taxing to contemplate, and it's all done so artfully that this book belongs everywhere. I'm curious about whether she knows of backlash it has had from segments of the population that seem to be anti-science.
Kathleen Krull
Please visit my website at www.kathleenkrull.com NEW for July 2005: Leonardo da Vinci, the first book of the GIANTS OF SCIENCE series, illustrated by Boris Kulikov (Viking)
Received on Wed 13 Jul 2005 04:03:25 PM CDT
Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2005 14:03:25 -0700
I have to jump in regarding questions a few days back about the accuracy of facts in the books we've been talking about. Fact-checking in children's nonfiction trade books is alive, well, rigorous, and (to use a scientific term) anal. Editors know that one review mentioning some type of inaccuracy can doom a book. In my experience, the process starts with editors (who are passionate about the subject because they tend to sign up books they are passionate about). They question and demand back-up material and nitpick all the way up to the level of their expertise, then turn manuscripts over to copy?itors who take pride and pleasure in finding a writer's mistakes. Outside experts are sometimes called in, and no stone is left unturned, no fact left unquibbled over. While this process can be agonizing to the writer (I'll spare you), its goal is always the highest quality of the book-- everyone is on the same side.
This month I am tiptoeing toward science with a new series called Giants of Science
(see below). My hope for these books is that juicy life stories can lure 5th-6th graders who might not think they're interested in science.
I'm in awe of what Lisa Westberg Peters did in "Our Family Tree." Her word-crafting, in distilling one of the most complex subjects ever for the benefit of young children, is exquisite. The amount of decision-making that went into the text is taxing to contemplate, and it's all done so artfully that this book belongs everywhere. I'm curious about whether she knows of backlash it has had from segments of the population that seem to be anti-science.
Kathleen Krull
Please visit my website at www.kathleenkrull.com NEW for July 2005: Leonardo da Vinci, the first book of the GIANTS OF SCIENCE series, illustrated by Boris Kulikov (Viking)
Received on Wed 13 Jul 2005 04:03:25 PM CDT
