Monthly information digest for EditPros clients and friends

CONTENTS FEATURE: Consider collaboration for large-scale or broad-scope projects GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn up to $500 FEATURE: Consider collaboration for large-scale or broad-scope projects      The theatrical musical production South Pacific, the 2007 Academy Award-winning motion picture No Country for Old Men, the Supremes' 1966 Motown hit song "You Can't Hurry Love," the play Inherit the Wind and the three dozen "Ellery Queen" detective novels have one important characteristic in common. All were composed through creative collaborations — respectively by songwriters Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II; film makers Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen (the Coen brothers); the Motown Records songwriting and production team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland Jr.; playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee; and co-authors Daniel Nathan (alias Frederic Dannay) and Manford Emanuel Lepofsky (alias Manfred Bennington Lee), two cousins who wrote together under the collective pseudonym of "Ellery Queen."      Although literary works are written most commonly by authors working alone, many co-authors choose to work in tandem out of necessity or as a matter of preference.      Teamwork may be the most practical approach if your assignment is overwhelmingly broad in scope, if it requires extensive research, if you lack expertise in some areas, if the time frame of the production schedule is too short, or if you are unable to devote sufficient attention to complete the project on your own. Collaboration is more complex than working alone, but if partners work synergistically the result can exceed what either writer might have been able to achieve individually. The partnerships of H-P co-founders William Hewlett and David Packard, Microsoft creators Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Apple Computer originators Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin illustrate that premise well.      The collaborative process can take many forms. Two co-authors can share equally in a project, each with the responsibility for developing ideas, conducting research, writing original material, and editing or enhancing material written by the co-author. A book may have a principal author who accepts and integrates contributions from one or more contributing writers. A book can be developed by an editor who solicits, compiles and organizes sections that numerous writers contribute. A collaborator also can be someone who critiques organization and writing.      Did you ever try to coordinate a caravan consisting of two or more vehicles on a road trip? You have to identify the route, destination and timetable beforehand in case one driver becomes separated from the others on the way. Shared instructions keep you all on course, even if you lose sight of each other now and then. Likewise, if you're going to work in tandem with another writer, start by defining and agreeing on the goals of the project.      An investment broker planning to write a book about retirement planning could strengthen the content by pairing with a social services administrator who has expertise in housing and medical care for senior citizens. A budding novelist with an idea for a fictional extortion plot could bolster the credibility of the tale by collaborating with a private detective who could help in developing plot ideas or could embellish perpetrator personality traits or crime scene details.      Authors who would like to collaborate on projects but are encountering difficulty finding compatible contributors may find help through writers' associations or online resources. One Internet service called Your Book Place helps authors find and connect with prospective co-authors, contributors and editors. The site also enables people with specific expertise or interests to offer their contributing services to authors. The services of Your Book Place include a mechanism though which students can collectively create a book under the supervision of their teacher, as well as the means for authors to self-publish their books.      Regardless of how you construct a collaborative relationship, make certain that you clearly define your goals and your mutual expectations, including requisite research and time commitments. Mutual trust, confidence and cooperation are essential for the success of any team writing project.      Here at EditPros we routinely collaborate by editing each other's writing, and in some cases by sharing in producing written content for a project — as we did in conceiving and writing our book Echoes of the Sixties. The overall concept, organization of the book and content guidelines evolved as products of discussion. We divided assignments for specific chapters, but throughout the process relied on each other as a "sounding board" to critique ideas.      Collaboration places additional demands on an editor. The person assigned to oversee the project should make adjustments to achieve consistency in style, use of terminology, phrasing and other characteristics to avoid jarring transitions between segments written by contributing authors. Unless the work is intended to be an anthology of the work of distinct writers, the editor's responsibilities include melding the contributed segments so they sound cohesive.      In scholarly writing, collaboration is customary. Through brainstorming, two co-authors can draw upon their collective experiences and conceive ideas that might not have occurred to each of them if they had been working solo. Two authors working together can compensate for each other's weaknesses and complement each other's strengths. Collaboration also enables participants to constructively critique each other's work. If you have been assigned to prepare a long report or have contemplated writing a book, consider collaborative authorship. GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions 1. Joe P. wrote:      "This may not be a grammar question per se, but I am hoping you will be able to answer the following question: If someone is appointed to an advisory body — a commission, for instance — the Florida Garden Commission or the Modern Art Commission or the Latino Commission, are those appointed to serve referred to as 'commissioners'? Or does this title denote an elected office?" The grammar coach replies:      You are correct that the title "commissioner" often is associated with public administrators, typically appointed rather than elected officials. A commission is a type of municipal governing body, or a governmental administrative agency with quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative powers. A commissioner can be someone with either judicial or administrative power in a district, province, or other governmental jurisdiction — for example, the officer in charge of a department or bureau, as a police commissioner. The title also is commonly used to designate the administrative head of a professional sports league, such as the commissioner of the National Football League. In addition, the designation "commissioner" can denote a person who serves as a member of a commission. (Sources: Webster's New World College Dictionary; Merriam-Webster Online dictionary; Cambridge Dictionary of American English; Compact Oxford English Dictionary.)      The members of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education are called "commissioners," as are the appointed members of the Federal Communications Commission and the five appointees who oversee the Federal Trade Commission. 2. Barry S. wrote:      "An author refers to 'efficiencies of scale' within the text of this essay: 'The obsession with cost cutting and efficiencies of scale are just considered to be the price of doing business in this age.' In business school we were taught about 'economies of scale,' and frankly that's the correct term that I think this guy meant to use. I suspect it's another hack way of butchering the language, kind of like 'irregardless.' We know what it means, but that doesn't make it right." The grammar coach replies:      You're correct that the traditional expression is "economies of scale" rather than "efficiencies of scale" — and although the writer of the article you cited may have veered from convention by saying "efficiencies of scale," doing so is not necessarily erroneous.      The Web site InvestorWords.com uses the word "efficiencies" within its "economy of scale" definition: "Reduction in cost per unit resulting from increased production, realized through operational efficiencies. Economies of scale can be accomplished because as production increases, the cost of producing each additional unit falls." It also contains a definition for the antonym "diseconomies of scale," but not for "efficiency (or efficiencies) of scale." The same is true for another site, BusinessDictionary.com, and for Investopedia, a Forbes Digital Company.      A search for "efficiency of scale" or "efficiencies of scale" on Investopedia leads to a list of alternate terms that include "economies of scale," which Investopedia explains as: "The increase in efficiency of production as the number of goods being produced increases. Typically, a company that achieves economies of scale lowers the average cost per unit through increased production since fixed costs are shared over an increased number of goods." The dictionary adds, "After a point, an increase in size (output) actually causes an increase in production costs. This is called 'diseconomies of scale.'"      You could also legitimately refer to miscalculations of scale, measures of scale, dilemmas of scale, a matter of scale, a sense of scale or other prepositional phrases. Someone could thus argue that the expression "economy of scale" relates specifically to cost of operation, while the variation "efficiencies of scale" would more clearly connote worker productivity or teamwork. Such a coined use would be nonstandard, but it could be justifiable if it helps to clarify a point.      Are you perplexed by some aspect of grammar or word usage? Don't be shy! Ask the "grammar coach" at EditPros and we'll try to help—at no charge, just for the sport of it. FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn a finder's fee of up to $500      Do you know of a friend or colleague whose office can benefit from EditPros' services? If you do, EditPros may reward you with a "finder's fee" of up to $500.      EditPros LLC, established in 1993, performs writing, editing, proofreading and publication management services for newsletters, brochures, Web sites, annual reports, research studies, business proposals, and other informational and marketing materials. Our office is in Davis, Calif., between Sacramento and San Francisco; however, our clients include educational institutions, private corporations, health-care organizations, trade associations, scientific research institutions, Web site developers and government agencies from throughout the United States. We have worked with some of them for more than 10 years.      If you recommend our services to a friend or business colleague, and that introduction leads to an assignment for EditPros, we will award you a "finder's fee" equaling 10 percent of the amount we earn on the first assignment for the new client, up to a maximum finder's fee of $500. Naturally, the finder's fee is applicable only to client organizations for which we have not worked previously.      This offer will remain in effect until further notice. YOUR TURN: Ask the "grammar coach" or subscribe      We invite you to submit your questions to the "grammar coach," and we welcome you to subscribe to this monthly newsletter—which we'll send to your e-mail address at no charge. We respond to all "grammar coach" questions personally, but delays may occur because we must place top priority on assignments from our clients. We appreciate your patience and your interest.      You also can change your e-mail subscription address. For an address change, please indicate your existing AND your new e-mail address. Thank you. OUR PRIVACY POLICY for e-mail newsletter subscribers:      We do not use any commercial e-mail lists or automated mass-mailing programs, and we do not allow access to the list by anyone else for any reason. Our subscriber list is maintained by hand, and it is not for sale. We are protective of confidentiality because many of our readers are also clients of ours. Any accompanying advertising is placed by Yahoo.com in exchange for our use of the e-mail server to distribute this newsletter.