Writers create text. Editors make sure it's the right text for the publication. Proofreaders make sure it has all its commas in the right place and all its proper nouns capitalized, not to mention checking about 10,000 other points of style and grammar. Finally, a production designer works with the printing plant to make sure that when paper comes off the press the colors are true, the pages are in the right order, and the book or magazine is what the publisher ordered. The process, throughout, demands strict attention to detail and unwavering adherence to specifications.
Publishing is also an online industry.
Most print-based newspapers and magazines have versions on the Web. Some book publishers are toying with the idea of using the Internet to download whole books to consumers, who would either print them out themselves or read them on handheld digital displays, a few of which are already on the market. Potentially even more revolutionary, a new kind of publishing is being done solely on the Web. It takes the form of recognizable products like Salon or The Onion, which are corporate enterprises, and phenomena that seem entirely new, such as McSweeney's and the Drudge Report, which represent both the promise and the pitfalls of a publishing medium available to anyone with a computer, something to say, and a lot of time to spend saying it. On the production side they are similar in that they require the same attention to detail and similar, if not identical, design skills.