Grading a book-Where to start?

To arrive at a grading system that takes into account every aspects of a book-from conceptualization to its final reading- is easier said than done. The final product that a reader has in hand goes through a long gestation period. It passes through several stages that somehow affect its character. Each stage plays an important role in shaping the final outcome.

In this article, I would briefly point out each step that has a role in making a book. In the subsequent articles, I would explore each of them in great detail in order to find out their real importance and how they affect a book-positively or negatively. I would also try to arrive at a grading system that takes into account each of them and in turn remains true to the book.

Let us start the journey.
The book that you read travels a lot through different stages. What are these stages?

1. Demand for a book in the market
2. Editor(s) visualize a book or a goes ahead by visualizing a full series (more true in the case of children's books)
3. Hunt for an author
4. Editor meets an author
5. Author writes the manuscript
6. Manuscript goes through intense scrutiny
7. Manuscript is corrected
8. Manuscript is send back to the author
9. Manuscript again goes through intense scrutiny
10. The final correction
11. Layout is decided
12. Images are hunted
13. Text and images are placed
14. Spreads are sent to the author
15. He gives his final remark
16. Copyediting of the manuscript
17. Final crosschecking of the facts and text
18. Proofreading done
19. Final correction
20. Book is published
21. Book is graded
22. Book is marketed
23. Readers buy and read
24. They make their final comment

These steps more or less suffice the entire book making process. I may have left one or two steps here and there, but all in all these are the major steps through which a book passes and becomes a book. We will talk about them in great detail in my subsequent articles.

Cheers
Kundan