A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO PUBLISHING IN PSYCHOLOGY

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A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO PUBLISHING IN
PSYCHOLOGY ________________________________ Dr G
Neil Martin, FRSA, CSci
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A PSYCHO-ANATOMY OF WRITING_____________________
______

• Why write? Who writes?
• Who publishes?
• How does an author get published?
• What makes a good author (and a bad one)?
• What is involved in the writing process?
• How long does it take to publish a book?

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WHY WRITE?

• You want to inform, educate, entertainothers
• To earn a living

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WHAT DO THESE HAVE IN COMMON?

• Watership Down, Richard Adams
• And To Think I Saw It Dr Seuss
• Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, J K
  Rowling
• Carrie, Stephen King
• Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank
• Gone With The Wind, Margaret Mitchell
• A Time To Kill, John Grisham

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TRADE vs ACADEMIC

• Trade general readership market unlimited
• Academic HE market-constrained
• (Other Schools/professional publishing)
• Publishing processes are different
• Cross-overs- Baron-Cohen, Zimbardo, Jones,
  Tannen, Pinker, Dennet, Dawkins, Wolpert, Davies

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THE LIBRARY

• Human Neuropsychology (1998, Prentice Hall)
• Psychology (2000, w Neil Carlson, Pearson Ed)
• My PsychLab (2001, Pearson Ed)
• Psychology, 2e (2001, Pearson Ed)
• Essential Biological Psychology (2003, Hodder)
• My PsychLab, 2e (2004, Pearson Education)
• Human Neuropsychology, 2e (2006, Pearson Ed)
• Psychology, American edition, 6e (2006, Allyn
  Bacon)
• Study Guide in Psychology (2006, Pearson Ed)
• Psychology, 3e (2007, Pearson Ed)
• My Psych Lab, 3e (2007, Pearson Ed)
• Psychology, A Beginners Guide (2008, Oneworld)
• Psychology, 4e (2009, Pearson Ed)
• Psychology, Enhanced Edition (2009, Pearson Ed)
• Psychology, American edition, 7e (2009, Allyn
  Bacon)
• My PsychLab, 4e (2009, Pearson Education)

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ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS

• Pearson (Pearson Education, Allyn Bacon,
  Longman, Dorling-Kindersley, Penguin, FT)
• Wiley-Blackwell
• Oxford/Cambridge University Press
• John Wiley
• Taylor Francis/Psychology Press
• HodderArnold
• Academic Press
• Houghton-Mifflin
• Open University Press
• Sage
• Macmillan/Palgrave
• Elsevier

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WHY DO PUBLISHERS PUBLISH?

• We pick books which represent overarching ethos
  of company, say something important and which
  will generate revenue
• We are very sales driven, so publish books to
  meet market requirements
• Our sales are achieved by getting books adopted
  by lecturer
• Serve the academic and professional communities

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THE WRITERS STRUGGLE___________________________

• There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit
  down at a typewriter and open a vein
• Red Smith

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THE PROCESS

• The idea- yours or the publishers
• The approach/proposal- commissioning editor
• The agreement- editorial boards and contracts
• The hard work- the writing
• MS delivery- production editor
• The production- copy editing/proof copying

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THE PUBLISHER

• is a commissioning editor, supported by an
  assistant, assigned to a list (texts within an
  area)
• the guiding force searches for authors for
  new projectsguides them through the writing
  process.
• Has a target no of acquisitions (40-50)
• Manages book from idea to publication

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THE GERM OF AN IDEA

• Recommendation from existing author
• Reviews of other projects
• Look for new areas of research likely to be hot
  topics
• Leads from the sales team
• Visit campuses, attend conferences
• Contacted by academics
• Gaps in market/new, developing areas
• You have an idea- is it viable/marketable?
• Single/multiple authored or edited

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THE PROPOSAL

• Give a detailed description of the books aims
  and content (chapter headings and content)
• Identify your target audience/market- essential
• Identify competitors (weaknesses and strengths of
  competitors- how is yours better/different?)
• Indicate author strengths

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TIPS ON WRITING A GOOD BOOK PROPOSAL

• Clear statement of aims/rationale
• If our curiosity is not piqued by the proposal,
  we usually find it hard to imagine the book will
  be of interest to the public
• How does book sit in market/has potential to
  compete
• Genuine need for the book
• Detailed table of contents- indication of how
  well the author has thought through plans
• Well-written

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APPROVAL/REJECTION OF PROPOSAL

• CE makes initial assessment
• Sent for review- some publishers only publish
  with reviewer support
• Presentation to directors- editorial, production,
  sales, marketing and MD who approve/reject
• Timetable for completion and delivery
• Contracts drawn up and exchanged

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THE GYNAECOLOGY AND MIDWIFERY OF PUBLISHING

• Average length of time from proposal -1 to 3
  years
• Writing can be short production process long
• 0 months- proposal agreed
• 0-6 months- delivery of MS
• 6-12 months- production (layout, design, copy
  editing, proof editing, permissions, picture
  research)
• 12-18 months- final publication

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WRITING AND RESEARCH

• Thorough and regular search for materials-
  general first (well-regarded texts a good source)
• Science Direct (monthly) WoS ILRS resources
  references
• 3e of Psychology- 1000 pages, a million words,
  200 new references

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NOTE TAKING

• Source material
• Read and underline
• Notes taken- building up to a catalogue
• Notes can be for new sections/chapters or for
  inserts (revisions to text with new studies)
• Revisions- good to start with stand-alone
  sections (can be slotted in feeling of
  accomplishment)
• Focus on key facts/findings- surgically brutal

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FEATURES -Psychology 4e

• Controversies in Psychological Science
• (2-3 x 18)- weather and mood, bitter gene causes
  obesity, fMRI measures deception
• Psychology in Action
• (2-3 x 18)- sex differences in communication
  East-West differences in visual perception
• Cutting Edge
• (4-5 x 18)-myth of bystander intervention,
  attraction and menstrual cycle, intelligence and
  health

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CHAPTER REVISIONS

• Revise new sections after you write them
• Chapters revised about 3 times
• Final MS printed and revised
• ALL material in the final MS and labelled-
  prelims, text, references, tables and figures
  hard copy plus electronic copy
• The horror of figures- inserting one ruins your
  formatting
• For big books, half of book might be submitted
  ahead of deadline for reviewer comments

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BE STYLISH

• Clear text
• Engaging
• Informative AND entertaining
• Avoid obfuscation
• Dont over-simplify
• A good communicator can explain the complex simply

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FEATURES OF A GOOD AUTHOR

• Good at explaining thingsmakes you interested
  in the subject
• Enjoys communicating their specialityin a
  playful, engaging and non-threatening way
• Provides breadth and depth
• A good teacherInterested in students and issues
  in university education
• Intelligent, articulate, passionate about
  subject
• Committed to their book
• Reliable
• Well-knownable to shift copies by name
• Prepared to take on board reviewer feedback
• Shows an awareness/understanding of the
  publishing process
• Works hard to show novel ways in which subject
  relates to reader

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FEATURES OF A BAD AUTHOR

• Does not accept constructive criticism/reviewer
  feedback
• Promises but does not deliver
• Is not interested in reader response
• Dense, dry, just plain bad writing
• Someone who is rude! Demanding

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SELLING YOUR BOOK

• Marketing- advertising
• Endorsements
• 1. Reps!
• 2. Reps!
• 3. Reps!
• Getting it into bookshops
• Meeting with publisher, reps, booksellers

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SOME COMFORTING WORDS OF ADVICE

• Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting
  struggle, like a long bout of some painful
  illness. One would never undertake such a thing
  if one were not driven by some demon whom one can
  neither resist nor understand.
• Sylvia Plath

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SOME MODERATELY MORE COMFORTING WORDS

• Success is going from failure to failure with
  no loss of enthusiasm
• Winston Churchill

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WITHOUT WHOMETC

• Janey Webb (Pearson Education)
• Morten Fuglevand (Pearson Education)
• Marsha Fillion (Oneworld)
• Andrew McAleer (Wiley-Blackwell)
• Andy Peart (Blackwell/Oxford UP/Pearson)
• Christina Wipf-Perry (Hodder/Oneworld/Pearson
  Education)
• Nicola Short (Pearson Education Marketing)
• Marjorie Scardino (Pearson)
• Dr Nicky Brunswick
• Prof. Neil Carlson
• And the 128 reviewers who read proposals, MSs
  and final books