Hi. I'm still working in that book (see recent post on building a book production team ). Now we have chapter first proofs coming back one-by-one from the printing company. Most are OK. All I need to do for them is check punctuation and complete details for an occasional reference.

A few I did not previously fully read after they had been reviewed and then revised by the authors. I have been making major editorial decisions on wording changes and deleting entire paragraphs of text. One paper appears to have originated as cut and paste from the author's original thesis. The author does not seem to have fully read the paper. He or she probably never looked at a hard copy, with the pages spread out on a table, to get a complete overview of structure and content.

Perhaps the worst problem is that many figures submitted by the authors have not been designed with any understanding of the limits of resolution on a book page. Typically, the inset maps on a sketch map have text labels that were copied directly from a previously larger map. The result is text that will be about 2 points or less in font size in the final copy.... vanishingly small.

The authors have no sense of how to maintain proportions within a figure, so that all parts are legible in the final result. It is not hard to do. Authors just need to think a few steps ahead.

Actually, it is mostly the younger authors who are producing poor figures. Most of the senior contributors already know how to design good figures.

As an editor, I should have been thinking perhaps five steps ahead. I should have attacked this problem much sooner. I should also be patient, and understand that I have a teaching role here, in my correspondence with the authors.

Que sera sera.

I will do what I can do in the next few days. We still have a second proof to improve matters with.