User:FallenArchangel/My Modus Operandi and Aim in regards to PPs.

Note: If you have PPed one of my books before then there is probably nothing new here.

This is mainly for those PPers who have not yet worked on one of my books and who may have questions/doubts, to help them decide whether to select one of my projects and or whether to jump on board earlier perhaps.

Aim:

One of my main aims is to avoid ambiguities or grey areas of the Guidelines, where something can be done more than one way, by trying to address them with a clear choice one way or the other, before the P" or F" rounds start.

This is to help get a consistent result for the PP to work with. Feedback suggests that it is also appreciated by proofers/foofers as it means less time spent needing to ask questions and waiting for answers. I believe that is one of the key reasons why I don't get so many questions in my projects and this saves me a lot of time which I can instead use to prepare more books.

Formatting notes:

I run all my projects past the dp-format team, to help create and review the formatting notes. This is in part an educational exercise for me to learn what to look out for by seeing what I miss, but mostly it is to ensure that anything which is likely to raise a question from foofers is addressed from the start.

If a PP is already on board at that stage, then I get the PP to then review those notes and anything they want added/changed will be added/changed before the project is released to the rounds.

The same thing applies if a PP is already on board before the P" rounds. I would get them to review the initial PCs after I create them and anything they want added/changed will be added/changed before the project starts its journey.

Project discussion questions:

I am happy to work it either way when a PP is already on board. If the PP is happy to answer questions then I am perfectly happy for them to answer questions directly in the project discussion. However if the PP would prefer not to have to deal with the crowd and the questions then I am also happy to act as the buffer between the PP and the crowd by fielding the questions myself.

Ideally, if things go to plan, then there will be no questions, since they have already been addressed before the round started, but if something was missed and a decision between multiple ways of doing something needs to be made then one of two things can happen. If the PP is happy to answer questions, they can just answer the question and specify their preference. I will support and agree with whatever choice the PP makes. It's all about the PP after all and if I were to make the choice myself, I would often just be flipping a coin for the sake of selecting one of multiple options for everybody to aim for for the sake of trying to get a consistent result for the PP. If the PP prefers not to deal with the crowd and questions then I would pm them to let them specify their preference in the matter and then relay the answer to the project discussion. That would take a little more time for the question/answer cycle, but I'm in no particular rush and my projects don't auto transition to the next round such that I am prepared to hold a project in the available state to allow those who asked the question to see the answer and if desired to act upon it.

I won't just abandon the PP to the project discussion questions just because they jumped on board early. If they are prepared to answer questions, I will support any choices they make. If they miss a question or just aren't in the mood to answer or are too busy, I will still get to the question and deal with it if it hasn't already been dealt with. If the question doesn't require a choice to be made and I see the question first I will also continue to field such questions.

Book covers:

I routinely provide i_back.jpg if there is a back cover in the source, but this is not a request/demand that the PP use or include it. Even if it is not decorative and just plain, it could potentially be of use, rotated, as an alternate cover, if in better condition than the front. I leave the choices for covers to the PP and merely provide the options available in the source.

Ad pages:

Potentially, if the PP is on board from the start and opts to leave some ad pages as full page illustrations even if they are all text (provided db-req agrees -- I'm still not clear on their stance on the issue and want to avoid missing pages issues later on) then I generally don't mind.

If however the OCR page texts have already been included and proofreaders and formatters have worked on the text of those pages, then the option to just treat those pages as full page illustrations is off the table and I expect such text to be included.

Excluding pages from posted book:

Potentially, if the PP is on board from the start and opts to leave out some pages, such as some ad pages, (provided db-req agrees -- I'm still not clear on their stance on the issue and want to avoid missing pages issues later on) then I generally don't mind.

If however the pages have already been included and proofreaders and formatters have worked on the pages, then the option to just toss the pages is off the table and I expect such pages to be included.

Why should a PP jump on board earlier:

I don't want it to be seen as more work for a PP to jump on board early. If desired the questions can still be left for me to deal with. I would prefer to have it seen as an opportunity, where the PP can save themselves time, by having any grey areas of our default Guidelines addressed in a manner that suits their own preferences, rather than having to switch from one option to another themselves when they later start working on it, by having the proofers/foofers simply do it their preferred way from the start.

How soon can a PP jump on board:

It's never too soon. If you are prepared to PP a book and there is a viable source (no missing pages, clear text and reasonable illustration quality etc. and not already in-progress -- Check In-progress status here) then you can be the assigned PP before the project is even created. If you browse TIA and find something you would like to PP just let me know and I will run it. I'm not really fussed about what kind of book it is or subject matter. If you find it interesting then others will likely also, so I will be prepared to run it.