Westing Game: Final Manuscript

Archived audio
Note: Ellen Raskin begins talking about the final manuscript at 19:16. You can slide the clip in the Real Player popup window to fastforward or rewind the tape.

In the final manuscript, there are two versions of each page for Chapter 1, shown here. The first version includes notes back and forth between Raskin and her editor, Ann Durell. The second version shows Raskin's revisions, based on this editorial input, and also shows the marks of her copy editor, Julie Ziercher, as well as notes from the proof reader.

In keeping with the color coding used in the original manuscript, notes from the editor are indicated with pink type and a note from the proof reader is indicated in yellow. Click on these notations wherever you see them on the manuscript pages to get a close-up view of the notes. Here you can also see Raskin-as-book-designer begin to emerge, as she's thinking about how each page will look in the printed book. On the revised pages of the final manuscript, she includes specific notes to the typesetter.

Stages of this manuscript:

1) to editor

2) back to author

3) to copy editor

4) back to author

5) author, copy editor and art director check out each page together

6) to typesetter

Key to notes on manuscript pages:

Red pencil = Julie Ziercher, copy editor

Blue pencil = Julie Ziercher, copy editor and Riki Levinson, art director

Black pencil = author

Pink slips = Ann Durell, editor (pencil) and Julie Ziercher, copy editor (blue ink)