Host (Des): Welcome back to ELT Publishing Family Fortunes. Before the break, we asked each publishing team to name ‘Something that publishers are deliberately vague about in project briefs’.
Donald gained control of the board for Big Four ELT with his answer: ‘Everything’. But his team have lost two lives already. Sandra’s up next! Hello again, Sandra!
Sandra: Hi Des.
Host: So, Sandra. What do you think? Something that publishers are deliberately vague about in their briefs. In their project briefs obviously *cheesy grin to camera, audience chuckle*
Sandra: Er… I’ll say approaches to grammar. You know – whether to take an inductive or deductive approach to the presentation stage.
Host: Okay, we’re saying ‘grammar approaches’. Our survey says…
*ding phewewewew*
It’s there at number 2! And that sound means you’ve won a bonus prize. Over to Penny, to tell us what it is!
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Audience: woooooooooo!
Host: What do you think of that Sandra!
Sandra: Excellent! I could have used that in my last project! Thank you!
Host: Now…. Sergio!
Sergio: Hi Des!
Host: Sergio, you’re a Portfolio Manager, is that right?
Sergio: That’s right, Des!
Host: And… what exactly is that? I mean, what does a portfolio manager do? It’s one of those jobs that sounds quite important.
Sergio: Well, it is! Do you remember carrying around those black A1 portfolio folders for art class at high school once a week?
Basically, I oversee safe storage of these. Every member of the design team has their Year 11 art portfolio stored in a dedicated room at our head office.
Host: Er… Why?!
Sergio: We are constantly striving for more visual impact than a certain well-known publisher. All that vibrancy, the umbrellas, fishermen on Inle lake – their images alone sell millions of coursebooks a year. We find the closest that most art and designers have got to striking that balance between being aesthetically appealing yet suitably esoteric was when they created collages for GCSE Art and Design. We store their GCSE work on record in case it hits an artwork brief at some point. Trust me – AI-generated images don’t even come close to GCSE portfolio work.
Host: Wow. Not what I was expecting. What qualifications or experience do you need for guarding GCSE art portfolios?
Sergio: I used to guard National Record of Achievement folders for all staff which, as every PSHE teacher will tell you, are an essential document for progress in life. Then I got a promotion.
Host: That was 30 seconds well spent, Sergio. Thank you. So, what it’s gonna be? What are publishers deliberately vague about in briefs?
Sergio: the timeline for the project, Des.
Des: the timeline! Let’s see if it’s there. If not, The Packagers have a chance to steal *camera cuts to packagers in a huddle talking options)*
Host: Our survey says….
*it-uuuuuuuuh*
Des: Sergio it’s not there! Perhaps you got confused – publishers are very clear on timelines for a project in the brief to lure authors in. It’s once the project starts that they become deliberately vague.
*Sergio sighs and facepalms*
Host: So, over to The Packagers. Let’s hear their ideas. Starting with their captain, Emma.
Emma: We think that publishers are deliberately vague about… the number of draft stages
Host: okay. Bruce?
Bruce: er… we dont think they’re vague in briefs. After all, it’s meant to be a concise overview of the project and we can flesh the rest out as we move forward
Host: okay. That’s… unlikely to fit on the board I think. Olga?
Olga: maybe… what constitutes fair and acceptable use of AI?
Host: ah, I should point out that we conducted this survey on 100 people in 2022
Olga: Oh
Host: So, Emma, what are you going with?
Emma: we’ll go with ‘briefs are not vague. After all, it’s meant to be a concise overview of the project and we can flesh the rest out as we move forward’
Host: … okay. Well, we asked 100 people this question. The chances of multiple respondents defending publishers, and doing so using that exact wording, seem pretty slim. But it’s *your* choice.
Emma: Bruce said he remembers someone approaching him with a clipboard on Bletchley High Street in 2022 and asking this exact question. That’s the answer he gave, and he got given an ‘ELT Publishing Family Fortunes’ pen for participating.
Host: okay. But that was only one response.
Emma: I was there too. We were at a publishers away day. The whole team were. And we answered ‘We agree with Bruce’.
Host: Okay, so you’re actually going with ‘we agree with Bruce’?
Emma: Er… yeah I guess so…
Our survey says…
*ding*
Host: it’s there! Packagers, you’re through to the Big Profits round for the chance to pay overworked authors a pittance, and win a signed photo of Jack Richards.
We’ll see you again after the break (of contract)!
Categories: General, materials writing
ELT Planning 
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