MI employee replies to DCP's rumorspreading over at MDDB

[_Doctor Scratch]

Carl, I don't want to be skeptical, but I am.

Besides Sorenson's book which has been in the works for years--

1- How many books does NAMI have that have been accepted for publication and are currently in production? What are their titles?

2- How many completed manuscripts have been accepted for publication? What are their titles?

There is nothing confidential whatsoever about books under production, nor manuscripts that have been accepted for publication. There is no reason you can't give us their authors and titles.

It looks like Hamblin wants to know ahead of time which titles to target for "hit pieces" in Mormon Interpreter.

[_Kishkumen]

I find this passage amusing.

(Twenty seven books in the editorial pipeline - really?)
(Books accepted for publication based on title?)
(More proposed TITLES pouring in?)

It gives one little confidence that things are going to be much better in terms of actual production than they were before DCP was fired. If I were an investor in a (very) small publishing company and saw such a statement in a corporate report, I would sell in a heartbeat.

What do you know about publishing LDS books?

Furthermore, they did not accept books based on title alone.

[_Kishkumen]

In any case, it is good to see that the false rumors posted on MDDB about the demise of NAMIRS were grossly inaccurate. I have been hopeful that we might see the institute's new direction bearing fruit in the near future, and Griffin's report is certainly promising. Good.

[Guest]

I find this passage amusing.

(Twenty seven books in the editorial pipeline - really?)
(Books accepted for publication based on title?)
(More proposed TITLES pouring in?)

It gives one little confidence that things are going to be much better in terms of actual production than they were before DCP was fired. If I were an investor in a (very) small publishing company and saw such a statement in a corporate report, I would sell in a heartbeat.

What do you know about publishing LDS books?

Furthermore, they did not accept books based on title alone.

Kish,

I know next to nothing about publishing LDS books.

However, I know a hell of a lot about non-fiction and technical publishing in general.

I have authored, co-authored, and/or edited, more than 100 peer reviewed scientific articles, more than two dozen patents and several well-reviewed technical books, including one that won a national award in 1990 and remains a featured publication on several government press websites two decades later. I have also served on the editorial boards of two scientific journals and overseen the publication of a number of books and proceedings for the in-house technical press of a major government laboratory.

When Griffin says they have 27 books in the "editorial pipeline", and have accepted 27 titles with more proposed titles pouring in, do you take this to mean that they have 27 completed manuscripts that have been accepted by the editorial board and are therefore in the process of being copy edited, designed, laid out and proofed for production? I certainly don't.

Given their recent publication record, and the time from submission to publication that has been described for books such as Sorenson's Book (mentioned by Bill Hamblin), it seems that the claim of 27 books in the pipeline with more proposed titles pouring in would require some special and highly optimistic definition of "editorial pipeline" and "accepted titles".

Let me ask you this; based on their publication record to date, do you believe they have 27 books in the editorial pipeline with any reasonable expectation of production, publication and release anytime soon?

And if you believe this, do you also believe that "proposed titles pouring in" is a relevant metric of production for a publishing house?

Pretty hard to swallow, especially given Griffin's statement to the effect that funding is always a problem for the organization.

If you are able to provide evidence to the contrary, I would be more than happy to reconsider my remarks.
___________________

ETA: Upon re-reading Griffin's post, I see that he uses the word titles to refer to both book titles and the books themselves, so I will go back and delete my statement about accepting books for publication based on title alone. Kishkumen was quite right about that.

[_Kevin Graham]

The Maxwell Institute sits on considerable funds that have been raised over the past decades, and I expect that it should be able to do things with those funds.

Translation = "Maxwell has a lot of money thanks to me."

It also has a library of already-produced books and articles and other materials that totals in the tens of thousands of pages, produced since the late 1970s.

Translation= "Maxwell has a huge library thanks to me."

That in itself will make for an impressive on-line presence.

Translation= "Whatever good comes from Maxwell, it is because of me."

[_Kishkumen]

When Griffin says they have 27 books in the "editorial pipeline", and have accepted 27 titles with more proposed titles pouring in, do you take this to mean that they have 27 completed manuscripts that have been accepted by the editorial board and are therefore in the process of being copy edited, designed, laid out and proofed for production? I certainly don't.

I think you are reading him incorrectly. Nothing in there says that they have 27 completed manuscripts, but that is not anything to worry about, in my opinion. They probably have 27 things under contract based on proposals and partial manuscripts. I don't understand why that troubles you.

ETA: In re-reading Griffin's post, I see that he uses the word titles to refer to both book titles and the books themselves, so I will go back and delete my statement about accepting books for publication based on title alone. You were quite right about that.

Ah, OK. I follow you now.

[Guest]

When Griffin says they have 27 books in the "editorial pipeline", and have accepted 27 titles with more proposed titles pouring in, do you take this to mean that they have 27 completed manuscripts that have been accepted by the editorial board and are therefore in the process of being copy edited, designed, laid out and proofed for production? I certainly don't.

I think you are reading him incorrectly. Nothing in there says that they have 27 completed manuscripts, but that is not anything to worry about, in my opinion. They probably have 27 things under contract based on proposals and partial manuscripts. I don't understand why that troubles you.

When a non-fiction manuscript is accepted for publication, be it a peer reviewed paper or a book, it means that the work of the author (often with input from the editor and peer reviewers) has been essentially completed and the editorial board has determined that the manuscript is ready to enter the production process. This process normally includes copy editing, design and lay out, possible correspondence with the author regarding details as needed, and production of galleys for final approval by the author. Thereafter the chief editor normally gives final approval and book or article goes to the printer.

We currently have (by my count) 27 books in our editorial pipeline. These are all titles that have been accepted for publication, and more proposed titles are pouring in.

When someone says that titles (referring to books in this case) have been accepted for publication, as Griffin did, this would normally mean that these works have been accepted by the editorial board and have entered the production process as described above.

As you have stated, it is highly unlikely that such is the case here, and that is why I find the passage amusing. It would appear that Bro. Griffin is a bit over optimistic and is swinging above his weight right now. Maybe he needs to slow down and take some time to work into his new position.

[_Kishkumen]

As you have stated, it is unlikely that such is the case here, and that is why I find the passage amusing. It would appear that Bro. Griffin is swinging above his weight right now and needs to take some time to work into his new position.

Well, we don't know exactly what the case is. I can tell you that the METI (Middle Eastern Text Initiative) volumes represent a fair number of those books. And, maybe the lingo wasn't perfect, but I wouldn't be too hard on Griffin for that reason. He and I were friends at BYU and he was among the smartest and hardest working people I knew there. We haven't really kept in touch over the years, but I doubt he has changed all that much.

[Guest]

Deleted.

[_Kishkumen]

Fair enough. I am certainly not claiming that Carl Griffin is a bad or incompetent person. I am sure that he is a very nice guy. I am claiming that, in his apparently boundless Mormon enthusiasm, he:

- is grossly misrepresenting the situation (intentionally or not), or
- does not know enough about what he is doing in this area to describe the situation accurately, or
- does not respect his audience enough to provide them with accurate information, or
perhaps more than one of the above.

For a newly re-organized entity seeking to build credibility, especially with the academic community, such posts are unfortunate.

I'm sure they'll survive disappointing you.