| ashu |
Posted
on 14-Mar-01 12:58 PM
What follows is dedicated to our new Web friend
Shailesh Nath.
Because of his alleged WordsWorth Bookstore background,
Shailesh Nath may not need to read this essay, though
he may want to read ONLY the last paragraph.
But those of us find writing both frustrating and
exhilarating on a day to day basis may learn a few
new things here.
This essay first appeared in The Kathmandu Post
Review of Books of January 2001. This edition was co-ordinated by Pratyoush Onta. Until recently, the author,
Bela Malik was with the Oxford University
Press in New Delhi.
Enjoy,
oohi
ashu
**********************************************
How are books published?
Bela Malik
Manuscripts become books or perish by the wayside depending on
publishing processes that are not always easy to comprehend.
Theoretically, the upper end of the industry has rigorous guidelines that govern publishing procedures. But in the hospitable South Asian environment, such guidelines may or may not have meaning, depending, sometimes, on who you are or where are located.
Consequently there are two processes involved in publishing: one official, and fairly scrupulous, for those who do not command the necessary resources to circumvent them, and the other, unofficial and flexible, for those who do.
For the large part such flexibility will vary according to the publishing house and its profile in the market.
Different genres of books require different editorial inputs and marketing techniques and the profile of each house is determined by its strengths in these areas. The area of specialisation of each house is manifest in its lists, and, as a rule, no house will entertain manuscripts that do not fit its lists.
List building within the defined field of each house is handled by an acquisitions editor or commissioning editor who interacts with authors and takes manuscripts through various processes that transform them into books.
Acquisitions take two forms. Proposals are either submitted by authors, or the acquisitions editor solicits manuscripts from specific individuals. In case of submissions, its best if the author approaches the most suitable publisher. Most publishers discourage submission of the manuscript as the very first step in the process. The author is required to send a proposal
stating the main ideas of the book, a chapter outline, an indication of its length, the number and type of illustrations, photographs and maps (if any) and the estimated time of completion of the manuscript.
In case of fiction, sample chapters can be included. A brief biographical resume is useful as is any market-related information. Based on these details, the in-house editors decide whether to reject the proposal or to solicit the manuscript. Sales and marketing departments may be consulted on questions of commercial viability. For the marketing and sales departments, the market is not defined by its potential size but the size of
it that the company’s sale structure can access. Returns are gauged by an estimate of the market so defined (which helps fix a tentative print run) and the costs.
Each publishing house fixes a minimum print run for a project to be considered worthwhile. Aside from the marketing consideration, sociology comes into the pitch. The standing of the author
counts while making an initial assessment. Well-connected authors stand a greater chance of having their manuscripts considered seriously. Once the proposal passes muster, the manuscript is solicited.
At this stage solicited and commissioned manuscripts go through the same process. A quick editorial look at it to see if the manuscript bears out the promise held out in the proposal and the manuscript is sent to one or two readers depending on the house policy. Since the reader is an expert in the field, the reader may also be asked to comment on the commercial value of the
manuscript.
If the report is positive and no major revisions are sought, the
manuscript is evaluated for its cost. Prima facie, if the costs seem high, then the costing precedes the peer review evaluation.
With the costs looking okay and a strong peer recommendation backing the script, the proposal is presented to the publications committee for approval. Since all along, editors have been working together with colleagues in marketing and production, the chance of an outright rejection is minimal at this stage. Marketing and production may give suggestions on the print run and price. A tentative title, publication date, cost, format, and pricing is agreed on internally and the author is offered a contract. The terms of the agreement are mutually negotiable (royalty,
gratis copies, amount of discount for buying further copies, copyright, translation and subsidiary rights, etc).
This stage from the submission of the manuscript for review and the reply of the publishing house normally ranges from between a month to three months. If it is unduly long, it can be assumed that the publishing house is in internal disarray making it a problem one to deal with.
The editorial process begins with receipt of the final and complete manuscript. Editing mainly entails line corrections and rendering the script consistent. Any photographs, maps or illustrations are marked out on the manuscript for the layout.
Once the script is ready for the press, publicity
for the book begins. The copyedited script is given for typesetting once all queries are resolved. Two sets of proofs are generated. One set is sent to the author for checking and the other set is checked against the copy in-house. The corrections on the two sets are collated onto one of the sets of proofs. The collated set is given to the typesetter for the generation of the final copy, which is called the camera ready copy (CRC). The CRC is checked against the collated set.
A copy of the CRC is sent to the author for indexing. The cover is designed and the cover (art worked or image set) is given to the production department along with the CRC.
The price and print run are finalized and the book sent for printing. The advance copies arrive for inspection. The author gets a copy for checking, and various departments of the publishing house also check an advance copy. Once pronounced okay, the rest of the copies are bound and distributed in the market. From receipt of manuscript to the arrival of the book in the market, publishing houses take a varying period of time
depending on the house and on the type of book.
Despite all the clichés about technology that are freely tossed about, publishing remains a labour-intensive form of production. People, not machines, make a book.
Therefore, a lot is based on trust and good will. Also the process can not be rushed. Although the authors would like to see their books in the market sooner than later, they need to be patient. Just like a baby, a rushed labour would deliver a premature book.
(Bela Malik was until recently a commissioning editor of Oxford
University Press, New Delhi. She now teaches at Rato
Bangla School in Patan)
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