In the social sciences and the humanities, publishing scholarly books is the name of the game for career advancement. Yes, teaching within an academic setting is crucial, but traction for tenure in these fields mainly comes through the pen. Most academics master how to please their advisors, peers, and mentors; few take the step of mastering the industry of publishing. William Germano’s book, laudably in its third edition from the University of Chicago Press, fills that gap by charting how academic publishing works, from traditional methods to digital domains.

For this type of academics, writing a book unlocks the next step in a career, but steps along this path are less obvious than getting a degree. This book demystifies the publishing process for scholarly book writers. It discusses everything from idea to post-publication, including proposals, choosing a publisher, reviews, contracts, publicity, and the electronic age. It’s exceedingly thorough. It’s also relatively up to date, though with a latest publication date of 2016, its section on quickly evolving electronic publishing could stand for another revision.

What can academic book-writers gain from mastering an industry that is somewhat outside of academe, ignoring that many scholarly presses are affiliated with universities? Well, increased knowledge facilitates increased precision, and more precision facilitates more efficiency, which in turn can facilitate greater impact. It makes your book about more than just your department and your students. You can see how your book works through other institutions and involves even society at large. Your audience more tangibly expands to include new readers.

Academics in the social sciences and the humanities provide the primary audience for this book. Not to be overlooked, however, are editors, staff in charge of publicity, and other participants in the academic publishing industry. Reading this work can help smooth out making a scholarly book product. Starting from academic writing, it shines the way of making this effort into a business process. Germano identifies many potential pitfalls and so expedites success, whatever that realistically looks like for you. By understanding the various roles in the process’s big picture, future writers who read this book can find the journey more fun and enjoyable. ( )

In response to a review below, Germano also has a book on turning diss's into books; I'll read it soon.

It's hard to know how to rate a book like this: I'm inclined to give it 5 stars if, and only if, my book, knock on wood, finds its home in every home, and adulation on every corner.

Bits of the book are jarringly obsolete; references to the 'Net [sic: the word he wants is "Intertubes"], disks (including Zip disks), and uncertainty about the couthness of email abound. Hurrah for the precise map of the ideal inquiry letter, but for a book with so much (necessary, welcome) handholding, I'm a bit miffed about the omission of guidance on the line-spacing of the project description. No more than 5 pages, sure; but is that double or single spaced?

I would recommend that all readers supplement it with anything by Lindsey Waters on the death of the monograph. Germano sniffs at proclamations of its death, but I still think Waters--or John Holbo for that matter--knows what's already arrived. ( )

Useful for scholars and trade authors alike!

Having read a number of books on publishing in the past several months, I was delighted to stumble upon "Getting It Published." Although it isn't directly related to my current career path - presently, I'm self-publishing a general trade nonfiction book, as opposed to a scholarly tome - I found Germano's advice to be helpful, thoughtful, and eloquent nonetheless.

In welcome contrast to the many publishing books that are aimed at more general audiences, "Getting It Published" does not dumb itself down for the lowest common denominator. Germano's writing is witty, enjoyable, and informed - it's as though you're receiving guidance from your academic advisor rather than reading a how-to book written by some faceless, self-proclaimed publishing "guru." It should come as no surprise that Germano is the VP and publishing director at Routledge. His wealth of insight is remarkable - he covers the process of publishing scholarly work from beginning to end. From writing the manuscript, to crafting a successful proposal, signing a contract, and seeing the work through to publication, Germano doesn't miss a beat. He even covers the not-so-little details, like copyrights, permissions, quotations, artwork, and cover design. His discussion of the various publishing houses and their tasks ("What do publishers do?") was most informative.

"Getting It Published" is a must-have for those new to scholarly publishing. Newbies to the world of publishing who aren't looking to publish scholarly work won't be disappointed, either - there's plenty of useful information in here for everyone. It also serves as a much-needed break from all those awful "For Dummies" books and "Idiot's Guides" that seem to saturate the publishing market!

http://www.easyvegan.info/2005/05/10/getting-it-published-by-william-p-germano/ ( )