The following information applies to authored books only.
It is important that you adhere to the information on this page and in the general guidelines to ensure your manuscript is prepared and submitted to us correctly, so that we are able to process and publish the book efficiently and on time.
Book author responsibilities
Keep in touch. Maintain regular contact with us as you prepare the book. You should let us know how the book is progressing and inform us of any difficulties as soon as you are able.
Adhere to the submission deadlines, as agreed with us in your Formal memorandum of agreement. We'll work with you to ensure that any deadlines are realistic and achievable. If you are struggling to meet your submission date please contact us as soon as possible. Likewise, if you expect to deliver your manuscript early then please let us know, as this can impact on the cover design and copyediting processes.
Adhere to the book length, as agreed with us in your Formal memorandum of agreement. If the book looks to be far shorter or longer than agreed, please contact us as soon as possible.
Seek any necessary permissions for the reuse of third party materials. You will need to supply us with evidence that this has been done when the manuscript is submitted.
Provide a list of keywords that our picture editors can use to source a cover image (three months before the submission date we will begin to design the cover for your book). You can also supply a suggested image.
Write a preface. This should be an overview of the book, providing some context to the book – for example, how the content was developed.
Prepare the manuscript following our guidelines.
Submit the complete and final manuscript to us, with all requested materials, following the instructions we provided.
Check proofs and return them to us on time.
Preparing the book
Detailed information on formatting, as well as a sample chapter and an EndNote file for references, can be found in the general guidelines.
Preface
You will need to provide a preface for the book. A preface generally comprises an overview of the book, how the book was developed and its unique appeal. It is often followed by thanks and acknowledgments to people who were helpful during the time of writing.
One to two pages is usually sufficient.
Table of contents
You will need to provide a list of the chapter titles, including part/section headings where applicable, in the order that the chapters are to appear in the book.
Optional front matter
You may want to consider including other information at the start of your book, such as a foreword (an introductory piece written by someone other than yourself), dedication, acknowledgements, biographies, glossary, etc. This must be submitted at the same time as the chapters.
Cover image
We'll ask for image ideas for the book cover around three to four months before the submission of the manuscript. You should provide a list of key words that our picture editors can use to guide their image search.
You may also submit an image for consideration. The image should be a full colour TIF, EPS or JPEG file, with a minimum resolution 300 dpi at final size, and free of any copyright restrictions. If permissions or acknowledgements are necessary, please ensure you have sent these to us along with the image.
Visit our Bookshop to view recent covers of similiar books (for example, other books in the same series) to see how the image will be used. The use of any suggestions is at our discretion.
The cover will then be designed and sent to you for approval.
Estimating chapter length
Your contract will state how long your book is expected to be. Use the following as a guide for estimating how long each chapter is:
- Allow 500 words on a page (approximately 50 lines at 10 words per line on average)
- Count the number of figures, schemes, tables etc.
- For figures, allow half a page, or the equivalent of 250 words
- For schemes, the width of one substituted benzene ring is equivalent to 100 words
- A single line of mathematics or a chemical equation is equivalent to 30 words
Submitting the manuscript
You will need to submit to us the following files.
- Title page for the book (including names of all authors and contact details)
- Preface and any other optional front matter
- Brief table of contents for the whole book to indicate chapter order and any part/section headings
- Individual folders for each chapter containing the text, image files and permissions and copyright information:
- The chapter document should include (in this order):
- Chapter X and title of chapter (where X is the designated chapter number)
- Chapter abstract
- Chapter text
- References
- Captions for figures/tables
- Tables
- Figures should be supplied as separate files for all images (they should not be embedded in a Word file)
- Copyright permissions for images where the chapter author is not the copyright holder of the image; see Copyright & Permissions for further information)
- A completed chapter submission checklist
- The chapter document should include (in this order):
The final and complete manuscript should be submitted to us using our Large File Transfer system. Please contact us to receive your link to use the system.
The production process
Once we've received your completed manuscript, and we are satisfied that everything has been submitted in accordance with our guidelines, the manuscript will go through the following production processes:
| Process | Weeks |
|---|---|
| Copy-editing | 4–5 |
| Typesetting and proof production | 3–4 |
| Proof correction by authors | 2 |
| Revision of proofs and checking by our staff | 3–4 |
| Indexing | 3–4 |
| Printing | 3 |
| Total publication time | 20–25 (approx. five months) |
Proofs
Proofs will be ready typically within two to three months of submission.
PDF proofs will be emailed to you. Please mark any corrections on the PDF using the Adobe commenting tools.
Do not change the text within the PDF file or send a revised Word document.
Please note that the proofing stage is to correct typographical errors. We will correct simple errors in the original typescript but we will not accept large insertions or major revision of the text.
Indexing
The index will be created by us. If you wish to supply keywords for the indexer please include a separate list when you submit the chapters.
On publication
We will contact you to confirm your address for delivery of complementary copies of the book, as given in your Formal memorandum of agreement. Complimentary copies will be sent shortly after the print version has been published.