From conception to bookshelf: Developing and publishing an edited scholarly book

Abstract

This article explains the process of proposing and editing a multi-authored scholarly book and dealing with academic and university publishers. It begins with the conception of the idea. It then addresses soliciting authors to write chapters; identifying suitable academic publishers; organizing and submitting proposals; the peer review process; timely completion of the manuscript; and marketing. It draws from the author’s experience as the lead editor of two volumes on international journalism – After the Czars and Commissars: Journalism in Authoritarian Post-Soviet Central Asia (Michigan State University Press) and Critical Perspectives on Journalistic Beliefs and Actions: Global Experiences (Routledge) – and two volumes on international environmental issues: Environmental Crises in Central Asia: From Steppes to Seas, from Deserts to Glaciers� � � (Routledge) and Biodiversity, Conservation and Environmental Management in the Great Lakes Basin (Routledge).
Key words: editing, scientific book, marketing, university publishing houses.