Writing

for
Publicatio
n
Book Review

SANJEEV REDDY C K
Roll. No. 626
Refresher Course

Submitted to

HRDC Mizoram University

Aizwal, Mizoram
July, 2020
Debbie Epstein, Jane Kenway and Rebecca Boden, Writing for Publication, 2005, New Delhi,
India: SAGE Publications Ltd, 126 pp.

Writing and publication are fundamental to the process of being a prominent academic and
this book ‘Writing for Publication’ written by eminent professors and authors Debbie Epstein,
Jane Kenway and Rebecca Boden, provides an easy-to-follow introduction to the publishing
process. This book immensely guides with tools and techniques for well structured academic
writing and editing, strategies for publishing books or academic journals, potential pitfalls to
avoid, with certain highlights on non academic writing and is filled with many short illustrative
real life stories that provide evidence based guidance.
Publishing journals or books for any academic is usually considered an immensely
personally rewarding activity apart from the professional recognition it brings. This
comprehensive book consisting of six chapters is a remarkable resource meant for all the
academic writers, especially aspiring academic writers and anyone who is interested in the art
of articulate writing, who are venturing out to successfully publish their books.
To begin with, the authors in the book duly stress on the fact that it’s important to be a good
reader in order to be a good writer. One can develop sound reading skills by reading wide
ranging topics related to their domain and reading actively to learn about the style, language
and formats in their field and to think about how one can develop their own distinctive
version.

The next step involves overcoming all the psychological barriers that novice writers
face in the initial stages of writing their book, by putting sincere and consistent efforts
everyday, they can gradually overcome all such barriers. Even the most experienced of writers
have bad days in which they find it hard to write even a single paragraph. As a novice writer
one might naturally feel confused whether to write in a conventional mode or adopt own style
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of writing, the authors here provide brief value points regarding the same dilemma whereby
they mention it is crucial to being aware that your research story has a personal or political
dimension and presenting your research story from more than one perspective boosts the
authenticity of your research.

Efficient planning ensures purpose, structure and clarity about the questions/issues to
be addressed in the book. A plan needs to be constantly revisited and updated. It should be a
coherent expression of your publishing strategy, aiming to help you achieve the desired
impact. A publishing plan is output-oriented, concerned with the tangible products of your
work. By setting realistic deadlines, you can be more committed and faster towards your goals.
The most important thing to note is to consider the target audience you are writing for, use
concise, engaging and lucid language, which would bolster your reach. Make effective use of
other textual materials beyond the written word such as figures, tables, pictures, photos,
diagrams and so on. Writing a creative and interesting title for your book will entice the target
reader. These can encapsulate and strengthen the argument being presented.
Collaborative writing is often an integral and natural part of collaborative research &
can be immensely rewarding, creative and generative. It’s a good idea to choose someone with
whom you share a theoretical & political standpoint, but don’t necessarily choose people who
are identical to you – different types of knowledge can be complementary and enriching. As
with any other piece of academic work, collaborative writing needs to be planned and agreed
on in advance. Thus the detailed aspects of effective writing are laid down by the authors in
the first two chapters.

Chapter three mainly deals with some common questions such as how, when and
where to start publishing in detail. According to the authors, one can publish their research
papers when they are exploring theories and ideas and are seeking to identify some gaps and
silences in relevant areas of study and to contribute to the redefinition of their field. One of the
most enduring problems in publishing is the issue of authorship, who gets named as an author
in the published output and the order of the names on the published piece when several
academics are involved in the research. There are no hard-and-fast rules on who should and
shouldn’t be named as an author. However, anyone involved in the conception and design of
the project, the collection and/or analysis of data, drafting the writing or some critical and
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substantial revision of it should be seriously considered as an author. There are a number of

conventions suggested in the book to choose among for addressing the pertinent issue.
‘Intellectual Property Rights’ (IPR) is an important aspect discussed in the chapter
which is the term used to refer to the system of law designed to facilitate the protection and
exploitation of IP by its owners. Academic writing mainly deals with copyright issue. This is the
legal protection against plagiarists or those who seek to remove one of the author’s name from
a co-authored work.
 In the fourth chapter, the authors elucidate the concept of Academic journal and the
process of publishing it. Academic journals are publications, on paper or electronic media,
which contain scholarly articles that present research findings, new knowledge, new
theorisations or interesting syntheses or re-presentations of existing knowledge. Professional
journal articles on the other hand are based on academic research translations of academic
writing for lay readerships i.e. they represent an attempt to render academic work more
accessible to a wider audience.

There are seven stages in the process of publishing an academic journal:

1. Getting ideas, doing research and writing.
2. Giving conference and seminar papers.
3. Targeting a journal.
4. Preparing papers for submission.
5. Review process.
6. Feedback collection.
7. Technicalities of proofs and copyright.

Chapter five forms the crux of this book and the author delves into explaining the
detailed process of publishing books. Research monographs and Edited collections are the
types of books discussed in this chapter. Research monograph is a book that is concerned with
one principal theme, i.e. a book with one consistent argument or set of arguments that runs
through from the introduction to the conclusion and on the other side Edited collections are
books put together by an editor on a particular topic or theme and will include several
chapters by different authors. Once the research work is ready, the next step is to publish the
book with the help of a publisher. Publishers generally have a commissioning editor for each
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specialist area they deal with, one must contact the commissioning editor before contacting
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the publisher. Two key documents, a proposal and a contract should be handed over to the
publisher as a part of the partnership or rather a collaborate venture to publish your book.
The proposal is the document that you send to the publisher following their
respective company guidelines which describes your proposed book and in which you set out
the case for why they should publish it. You must be able to seamlessly explain and convince
that your book addresses the pertinent issue in a rigorous way, highlighting the unique selling
points of your book, and assuring its appeal in the concerned market segment, as academic
books seldom achieve mass popular readership.
The contract is the legally binding agreement between you and the publisher
concerning important matters related to your book, such as copyright agreement and financial
transactions. Finding an apt publisher for your book might get little tricky, but as the authors
suggest the best way to find a publisher is to start looking at and asking about the firms that
have published books in your area. Make sure of finding a publisher with fine business acumen
and good reputation.

Several key skills such as networking, negotiation, proof reading and persuasion are
consequential for getting the publishing work done. The authors primarily attach significant
value to the process of generating pertinent feedback from the publishing houses and close
fellow academics for reviewing and editing purpose so as to enhance the quality of the
research work.

The final chapter of the book throws some light on a whole range of alternatives to
journals and research books which include textbooks, Dictionaries, encyclopedias, reference
books and annotated bibliographies. While many of these other sorts of publishing do not
‘count’ in research audits, they may be worth doing for other reasons, such as disseminating
your work to wider audiences.

On the whole, this book delivers an insightful account on the process of publishing
books and academic journals, helping the readers navigate the world of publishing with ease
and sheer confidence. The authors provide in-depth levels of details in a succinct manner
making the book immensely engrossing.
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Sanjeev Reddy C K
Page

Assistant Professor
Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management
Nellore, Andhra Pradesh
Refresher Course HRDC Mizoram University
Roll. No. 626
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