Description:
In An Author's Guide to Scholarly Publishing, Robin Derricourt divides his energy between informing potential authors about the ins and outs of scholarly publishing and training them to be the kinds of writers scholarly publishers enjoy working with. For 12 years the publishing director for Cambridge University Press (in England and Australia) and a published academician himself, Derricourt brings a tremendous amount of knowledge to his subject. Academic publishing is a world unto itself, in which publishing's accepted rules of engagement--agents, enigmatic titles, attention-getting design, publication parties--do not apply. Derricourt, writing in epistolary style, is a hand-holder of the best kind: blunt ("the likelihood is that any particular book will not suit us"), funny (the chapter discussing peer review is addressed "Dear Judy Cation"), and very helpful. Ever so gently, Derricourt enumerates the qualities that make some academic authors so stellar, such as stylish writing, organization, and copyeditor appreciation ("the copyeditor is the only person who will have read every word of your book with care"). Within these pages, Derricourt advises on the creation of bibliographies, tables, edited volumes, indexes, and so many other elements of the publishing process. One chapter even offers a detailed explanation of how publishers calculate a book's price. Surprise: there's a formula; publishers don't "just invent the highest price they think they can get away with." --Jane Steinberg
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