The making of the fourth edition of The Publisher’s and Author’s Handbook by Arkady Milchin and Ludmila Cheltsova

The handbook has a very complex structure and since we won’t be introducing any major changes, we decide to leave the format and the layout as they were. We remove the appendices devoted to legal copyright issues (they change rapidly and are easier to follow on the internet or using specialized legal databases) and add a useful appendix on hyphenation.

Refreshing the typeface, which makes the layout slightly askew. Reverting the change.

Deciding to add color to highlight examples, of which there are a lot.

Choosing three shades of blue. Making color proofs and settling on the Pantone color.

Refreshing the index: deleting the references to removed appendices and correcting the layout of the affected sections. While the author, the editor and the proofreader go through the block, we create the cover and the endpaper.

Getting the art director’s approval, preparing the files for printing.

While we are waiting for the books to come from the print shop, we get the sad news: Arkady Miltchin passed away. It is a tragic loss, he will be greatly missed at the studio.