Re: Organizing and taming hectic Academia work (faculty viewpoint)? Tips or a good guides sought after :)

[Alan L Tyree <alantyree@gmail.com>]

On 16/06/15 11:49, Bob Newell wrote:
> "Julian Burgos" <julian@hafro.is> writes:
>
>> b) I write the manuscript in org-mode.  Then I send the org-mode file to
>> my coauthor.  Because the org-mode file is just a text file, my coauthor
>> can use Word to edit it.  I ask him/her *not* to use "track changes" and
>> to save the edited version also as a text file.  Then, when I receive it I
>> use ediff in emacs to compare both documents and incorporate the edits I
>> want.
> Simple is best, and I wish I had thought of this simple idea before I
> took an 87,000 word novel that I wrote in org-mode, output as ODT,
> converted to DOCX, and then sent to an editor. I got back all the track
> changes stuff and even worse, margin notes, and punctuation (like quotes
> and ellipses) changed over to Word-ish characters.
>
> It wasn't utterly useless but it created a lot of extra work, which
> still isn't over. Next time I'll do as per above, tell her to just edit
> the thing directly, write her notes in-line, and keep it as pure ASCII.
>
> I really believe she thinks I was going to use Word to publish the
> novel. Failure to communicate on my part. I could say lack of judgment
> on her part but that's unfair; in her world, most everyone uses Word at
> some stage in the process.
>
I used this method when working with an editor on the last edition of my 
book on banking law: almost 300,000 words. I had a few special 
constructs that I asked her not to meddle with, and she put editors 
notes in-line. It worked a treat although the publisher actually 
required Word files at the end.

Cheers,
Alan

-- 
Alan L Tyree                    http://www2.austlii.edu.au/~alan
Tel:  04 2748 6206              sip:typhoon@iptel.org