Looking for some simple info on the editorial process for periodicals -
anyone here know anything about this? 
I work as an editor, but in a business context. Typically, there are no space constraints, but when there are, it makes me pretty crazy getting authors to comply with them, and I often end up having to accommodate them, somehow.
Meanwhile, I've volunteered to produce a car club newsletter. I want to avoid the I-can't-fit-your-five-pages-in-the-three-I-gave-you BS, and I'd like to use this as an opportunity to learn something about the publishing work flow.
Questions:
I assume that you lay out the doc first, then determine word count, which I stipulate to the authors prior to writing?
Do most using INDD also use InCopy, or do you not bother, just placing text and then applying all formatting in INDD?
After editing, do you typically kick it to the author for review, or only if there are issues?
Do you typically not lay out draft content, instead waiting until the words are final?
Where can I find info about the process, or a well-regarded book? Searching "how to produce a magazine" isn't fruitful.
Thanks
I have experience with InDesign, although I have never made a news letter. The grid system in the Layout menu makes it really to make a nice page layout. For longer text, I usually just generate what I need to say in Word and then copy and paste into InDesign. You can format the text to your heart's content after that. I know there are some good basic tutorials on YouTube about general layout and the grid system. Let me know if you have more questions.
I did a car club newsletter for a few years. Biggest issue was getting people to submit enough content to fill the thing. But, as for the technical stuff, I used MS Publisher, which I found easy, intuitive, and familiar since I was used to other MS Office products.
My general procedure was to receive some text and some pictures from someone, edit the text for grammar and punctuation, send the edited text back for approval (you can use the "Track Changes" feature in Word for this), then paste it into the document. The length of the article dictated the layout, I'd size the pictures and captions and such so that the article would end at the end of a page, at least ideally. I tried not to cut anything from the text, and I always checked with the author first if I did.
This is JG's department, not mine, but I'll try to explain it.
First, content is king, so text comes first. Always start with unformatted text, then edit that to fit your voice/layout/etc.
Now, how do you get that text? Most publications, ours included, have a few basic templates that most pages/sections/issues/etc. are built on. Stuff like "A feature story opens on a spread with a title and a subhead," "photos should be this big" and "body text should be this wide and this font" That will let you know roughly how many words a set page count will need based on what the topic of the story is, and how many photos you think it will need.
Then, give your writer that word count, and make it clear that it's a firm word count if it is. When you get it back, edit it for length, clarity, and grammar, then bring that text over and lay it out on the page. Don't be afraid to edit people down–concise writing almost always reads better.
If production has more capacity than editing, then sometimes they'll lay out "For Placement Only" text. That means it's been edited for length, but nothing else, so while it may be exactly 750 words like you'd planned, it's still full of dick jokes. Don't waste time laying out raw text, though, or you'll just have to do it again once you've edited it.
In my limited experience the biggest problem with volunteer newsletters is getting content. If you get something that's too big and it has real content I'd either change the format to accommodate or run it as a multi-part series.
"After editing, do you typically kick it to the author for review."
If you EVER want to get the newsletter out, NEVER let the author have a hand in anything once he/she/it has submitted the piece for publication.
Seriously, your word is law. They're simply contributing grain for the mill, and there will be another load of grain next month.
If you're printing it yourself on the computer, use whatever program that you're comfortable with, there's no industry standard here. What works for you, just works. If it's being printed by another, work with them. Find out the program that they like and the proper platform that works best with their set-up.
Maybe it's an on-line publication and you just do it up as a PDF and they print it out themselves at home if wanted. Don't make work for yourself, don't over think, it's words on paper, Easy Peasy.
Thanks for the responses, guys. I'll be getting the content well ahead of time, dictating article length, and not giving authors a second shot at a review, something I'm obligated to do at work.
InCopy isn't really needed, InDesign will do all that you need. I've been working on catalogs for 20 years now, so between all of us here, we should be able to help you out.
