Editing In Atlas

Atlas Streamlines Communications

Because authors can input their content directly into the Atlas editor, Simon can see their updates and changes in very nearly real time.

“With Atlas, it’s possible for me to see what my authors are up to in a minute or two—everything is in one central repo, and I can go to a project and see how much has changed very, very quickly. I don’t have to keep pinging an author to say ‘where is it?’” he says.

This makes it much easier to stay on top of a book project’s progress and deadlines. “Because the build function paginates for you, authors can also see for themselves pretty easily how far along they are,” Simon adds.

“In fact,” he laughs, “authors learn pretty quickly that excuses don’t work. I can see exactly how far along they are.”

Atlas Simplifies Collaboration

But working with one author in the early stages of a book—even using traditional publishing processes—is simple compared to coordinating multiple authors, editors, reviewers, copy editors, and proofreaders all working on a single project. Toss in a tight deadline, and the headaches multiply exponentially.

“Track Changes in Word has its ups and downs. When you have multiple collaborators working on a project, it can be a nightmare. Some people make direct changes. Some send separate comments in an email—or worse, on paper. Some make corrections on an older version, correcting something that has already changed. Some make conflicting changes,” Simon explains. “The more people involved, the quicker it implodes.”

Atlas allows multiple collaborators to work on a project simultaneously. Rather than emailing versions back and forth and then slogging through the tedious process of ordering and merging all changes into one central document (as well as managing the potential for error that process introduces), Simon simply determines who can access the document, and Atlas’ version control system keeps track of all changes made, who made them, and when. He can approve—or reject—any change made by any collaborator, he can compare versions, and he can instantly revert back to any previous version.

 “In Atlas, I can see who made a change and when, and I think the commenting feature in Atlas also forces reviewers to think more about what they are changing and explain why,” Simon adds. 

The Learning Curve

The interface is very similar in look and feel (and features) to familiar software tools like Microsoft Word and WordPress. Content can be imported from other programs (like Word or git) or written directly into the Atlas editor.

“You can start immediately, writing into the Atlas editor,” says Simon. “I actually found it easier to explain than our old Word template, and a lot of our authors just stay right in the web interface. It’s very easy in the beginning, and if you’re working with a publisher’s established template, you don’t need to worry about formatting much.”

Simon recommends that editors play with Atlas themselves before diving into a book project. “Try writing something new in Atlas, or transport something new, it doesn’t have to be as intricate as a book, a blog post will do,” he says. “It helps to play with it first, so you can sympathize with authors’ concerns and explain the process more clearly. And it’s nice to dive in with something that doesn’t have a deadline.”

Dramatic Effect on Errata

“The most dramatic effect of Atlas has been with errata and revisions,” he says. “It’s ridiculously easy to fix an error.”  

With Atlas, you simply enter the changes into the latest version, then with the push of a button, your revised copy is repaginated, and rendered into every desired format—in minutes.  

Pushing the Boundaries

With Atlas, you can also embed dynamic content like video, audio, interactive data visualizations, coding environments, interactive widgets, etc. In most cases, it’s as easy as adding an image in WordPress.

Simon was surprised to discover than some of his authors—without any training—started adding innovative dynamic content on their own. “Some authors just turn in the text. But Atlas has proven a lot more capable than I originally thought—I’ve had authors surprise me by pushing past the boundaries, using code or video, or doing interesting things with animation.”