Your Book Is Good, But It Needs Editing – Good Or Better Or Best Editing! I Always Do My Best

Above, “Get The Right BOOK EDITING” says Book Launchers (booklaunchers.com) – right there, they are right! But they are showing only “The Right” and not “The Best” book editing! American book authors and editors are not always right!

Above, why does Book Launchers only show the typewriter for typing and the ballpen for editing, but not the personal computer (PC)?

I am telling you: I am a teacher (UP Los Baños BSA major in Ag Edu, 1965), and I taught myself digital writing, editing and desktop publishing (DTP).

And I have the digital experience, having been The Editor In Chief of at least 20 books and an ISI-attaining Philippine Journal of Crop Science (PJCS) published by the Crop Science Society of the Philippines based at the UPLB campus in Laguna. So I know what I am talking about: “Experience is the best teacher,” as according to Julius Caesar. Roman military genius. As the one-man band Editor In Chief, desktop publishing with my PC, I made the PJCS up-to-date in 3 years (2003-2006) – and included in the international prestige list called “ISI” the next year (2007). Of course, the ISI requires high-standard editing.

So, I say: “Get The Right Digital Editing” for your book or journals! And if you get Frank A Hilario, I promise you the best!
(“Books & PC” from medium.com)

I will edit your beloved book using my experience of 48 years – (a) my editing typewritten pages from 1975 to 1985 – newsletters, journals, and magazines; and (b) my editing digital pages (from 1991 up to now) – books, magazines, journals.

Filmmaker Pamela Yates says, “The digital revolution has had a democratizing effect. Now anyone can be a filmmaker, but to be a good filmmaker is as hard as it ever was” (azquotes.com). Likewise, I say, “Now anyone can be a digital editor, but to be a good digital editor is as hard as it can be!”

I can do the desktop publishing (DTP) work for your book, up to the portable document format (pdf), which is the digital file that goes into the actual print. The pdf copy has all the necessary elements, from cover to cover, exactly as you would like them (and/or approve of them) to appear in the printed book for distribution.

Best to have that digitally prepared pdf first before going to the printer – so that at your convenience and right in your respective rooms, you and the Editor can produce an outstanding intellectual product.

More. Whether your book is about (alphabetically arranged) – agriculture, economics, management, science, technology – it probably needs an index to help the readers look for data and/or information.

You may think you are already very good in the English language and have had years of experience and do not need any editor at all – you are probably mistaken!

Also: A good Introduction will help sell your book – I can write that one. And an extensive index, I can prepare that too.

Frank A Hilario will show you best: “Go digital!”@517

Reinventing The Science Journal – From Drab To Exciting!

Dull, definitely all dull! Science journals beginning with the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to that of the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, are uninviting to read, even by those who are scientists – except if they have a paper published in that issue. From Atlanta in the US to Zimbabwe in Africa, are all The Editors In Chief dull, passionless, as dry as dust? From America to Asia, look at the above images – seriously, they are telling you, “Science is nothing to be excited about!” 
(“Science” from pngegg.com, “Asian” from ccsenet.org)

How do you make science journals sexy?

How intelligent are the world’s science journals? On the cover, all could be visually attractive, but either they don’t know how, or they don’t care.

Today, Wednesday, 07 Feb 2024, Manila, suddenly I have an idea of how to reinvent the technical journal so that readers anticipate each issue and the surprises it brings! And it is any or all of these:

1.   Publish speculative, theoretical, non-research papers by any professional in any field within the journal’s wide subject territory;

2.   Include contrary views that are presented with passion but not poison;

3.   Publish digitally at least quarterly (4 times a year).

If you do all 3, the universe of science publications will never be the same again!

I have been thinking of how to make each issue of a journal more exciting since I saw on Facebook the post about the Journal Of Human Ecology & Sustainability (JHES) being published by the College of Human Ecology (CHE) of UP Los Baños, my alma mater (BS Agriculture, major in Ag Edu, 1965). (Yes, I’m a Senior!)

Congratulations! Extremely glad that UP Los Baños is now publishing online a science journal – this teacher & editor says furthering education should not be limited to printed pages of journals.

As far as this digital denizen know, the Journal of Human Ecology and Sustainability (JHES) is a historical first in all educational institutions in my country. Publishing a science journal online is an open invitation for contributions to knowledge, and I must congratulate the publisher CHE of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) for this educational endeavor.

My question is: “Who is The Editor In Chief?” The many-authored post does not include the name. Not that I am applying for the position, but I want to congratulate her/him for that first-in-history digital journal in the Philippines!

I have farther/further suggestions:

(1)   For the JHES, search for a Financial Sponsor so that within CHE you can create a good-sized Journal Team that would include a Board of Editors (including from abroad), an Executive Adviser, and Internet connections for the journal staff at the office and at home.

(2)   Make sure that the Managing Editor knows what s/he should be doing, including spending for and spinning stories or articles.

(3)   Choose The Editor In Chief as someone who has a proven outstanding experience in the world of digital publishing.

Good luck, College of Human Ecology, UP Los Baños!@517

On A Philippine Media Columnist Writing A Book On Philippine Agriculture, 2024

 

If you are a columnist of PH media, I as an editor have some advice for you for compiling your columns into a book. These thoughts come to me as I edit a book by Conrado Francisco Heradilla, the book titled “The Rise Of Rice In Philippine Society,” 345 pages. (Oh, the name of the author and the title of the book I have given are fictitious, but really, that book and that author are real. There are lessons for you if you are an author, or wish to be one, whatever the subject of the book, in the development of our dear country, the Philippines.) 
(“Why Filipino” from youtube.com)

My advices, plural:

#1, Title

To the title “The Rise Of Rice In Philippine Society,” I would have added this subtitle: “Where Is Science In The Rise & Fall Of Rice & Consumers In Philippine Society?” itself a good book summary.

#2, Chapters

The Introduction itself should have a title, to indicate or imply what the reader can expect to find in the book. To catch the reader’s immediate attention is important.

Chapter 1 – History Of Rice In The Philippines

The chapter can begin anywhere in time, if only to suggest the age-old and can-be-improved method(s) of planting rice in these islands: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.  

The chapter should end with the current major problems of the production, consumption and the business of rice. The problems I see, or the areas that need improvement, are:

(1)   Yields.

(2)   Prices.

(3)   Technologies.

(4)   Credit.

(5)   Economies of Scale.

(6)   How Stands PH Farming In Asia?

(7)   What To Do Now?

Chapter 2 – Yields
 Yields differ in different provinces in the country, even given the same rice variety – what is the basic problem/explanation?

Chapter 3 – Technologies
“Technology” refers to the variety of rice as well as how to plant, grow, harvest and process rice.

Chapter 4 – Credit
The most prevalent form of credit for Filipino farmers is called “Five-Six” where you owe someone five pesos and you give back six pesos within a very short period of time. Banks have yet to attract farmers who may lack much education anyway.

Chapter 5 – Economies Of Scale
Farmers are friendly to each other but do not form informal teams to help each other grow rice more profitably together. (No, I don’t think my alma mater UP Los Baños teaches economies of scale in its essence, only in its definition.)

Chapter 6 – How Stands PH Farming In Asia?
ANN says, the “Philippines Way Behind Other ASEAN Countries in Agri Performance” (Author Not Named, 07 Dec 2018, Agriculture Magazine, agriculture.com.ph):

The Philippines lags behind – in a number of ways – compared to other member countries of ASEAN when it comes to agriculture. The facts and figures that tell us the reason for this were presented by Dr William Dar during a round table discussion on the future of Philippine agriculture…

Chapter 7 – What & How To Do Now?

Your guess is as good as mine!?@517

Chapter 8 – xx

 

#3, Final Word, xx