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HOW TO EDIT AN ASAO VOLUME
Guidelines
originally prepared in 1985 by Margaret Rodman,revised
in 1999 by Andrew Strathern and Pamela J. Stewart, in
2002 by Michèle Dominy, and in 2004 by Jeannette Mageo
and the monograph series editorial board.
Phase
1: The Session
The qualities that make a good ASAO session pave the way for a
successful volume. As you organize your session you should be thinking
ahead to the volume, if that is your goal; pay attention to (1)
the breadth and depth with which you cover the relevant ethnographic
material (2) comparability of chapters around a set of clearly defined
theoretical and ethnographic questions, (3) originality and scholarly
significance, and (4) the consistency with which varying contributions
address a set of common theoretical and ethnography questions. The
final session and the later volume should be strong theoretically
and ethnographically. Being an ASAO volume, it should also be rich
in cross-talk: contributors should speak directly and indirectly
to the introduction and one another’s work.
Try to attract at least 10-12 contributors so that you can be
selective in inviting participants to contribute to a volume. After
the session, consider eliminating the weakest and/or least appropriate
papers. Encourage each contributor to make comments on each paper.
These should be written, but verbal comments at the meetings can
also be very helpful. As organizers and potential editors, you should
comment extensively on each paper. The more rigorous you are in
suggesting revisions before and after the symposium, the fewer changes
you are likely to be asked to have your contributors make later
on. Seven chapters plus an introduction and conclusion makes a good-sized
volume. The longer the book, the more work it will be for you to
edit and the longer it is likely to take to appear in print (because
of the number of people involved). The University of Pennsylvania
Press limits our volume submissions to 125,000 words. Length determines
the production cost and selling price of our books. This favors
a shorter volume. In a longer volume, you must be certain that every
chapter is equally strong and that the quality is as consistent
as it would be in a shorter book.
Every volume must have an introduction and a conclusion. The session
organizer(s)/volume editor(s) generally write(s) the introduction
as well as a brief preface. Edited collections need either an interesting,
innovative topic or a fresh perspective on an important older topic.
The introduction should clarify what the volume attempts in this
regard; this project should also be discussed in cross-talk between
chapters. In other words, we expect the volume's integrity to be
created and carried not simply by its introduction and/or conclusion
but also by the manner in which the chapters engage one another
The introduction should also situate the volume clearly in the ethnography
of the Pacific and within anthropological theory, as well as in
relation to other recently published works. Be sure to include the
potential author of the conclusions in your ASAO session. It may
not work well to invite someone to write conclusions who has not
attended your session, although there can be no hard and fast rule
about this.
Phase
2. Preparation of Copy for Submission to Series
Editor
Discuss your plans for a volume with the Series Editor and
Editorial Board members at the annual meeting. Then keep the Editor
informed of your progress. When your volume is close to completion
but prior to submission, please send a prospectus to the series editor
via e-mail.
The prospectus should consist in a two or three page overview of
the volume followed by chapter abstracts. The overview should clarify
the volume's unifying theoretical and ethnographic questions. The
overview should also suggest the volume's contribution to one or
more literatures: how does it compare to other recent works and
what is its special contribution? Be sure to highlight cross-talk
between the chapters on common questions and themes. Chapter abstracts
should be written by the chapter authors, not by the editor, and
should clarify the chapter's relation to the volume's unifying theoretical
and ethnographic questions, its special contribution to the volume
as a whole and its cross-talk and intersections with other chapters.
On the basis of the prospectus the Monograph Series Editorial Board
will invite submission of the full manuscript.
If you are invited to submit you manuscript for review, give an
approximate date for submission. Confirm this about 6 weeks before
the manuscript is ready so that reviewers can make the time to read
the manuscript promptly. You should try to submit clean (but not
photo-ready) copy, paginated throughout, with all its parts: tables
of contents, list of figures/tables/maps, preface, introduction,
all other chapters, conclusions, notes, bibliography. Accurate maps,
tables, and figures should be included with the manuscript. You
should wait until later to submit biographical notes on each chapter
author so that these will be up to date when the book appears. You
should also wait until later to make an index for the book. A prospectus
with chapter abstracts should accompany the manuscript. The manuscript
should be sent to the series editor in hard copies and as attachments.
The completed volume should be all in one font with standardized
margins and saved in one file; the pagination should be continuous.
Please do not bind manuscripts; they will need to be copied.
Phase
3. Review and Revision
The Series Editor will mail the manuscript at ASAO expense to appropriate
qualified reviewers among the three members of the Editorial Advisory
Board, or other reviewers if appropriate. The review process should
take approximately 90 days.
The manuscript may be recommended to the University of Pennsylvania
Press (with or without revisions), rejected, or the volume editor(s)
may be requested to revise and resubmit the manuscript for a second
round of reviewing. Individual chapters may be rejected or chapter
authors may be requested to revise and resubmit. If the ASAO Monograph
Board accepts the manuscript with revisions, the revised manuscript
should be submitted with a cover letter describing how editors and
contributors address editorial comments and suggestions. Please
submit the manuscript via email, on a disk and as a hard copy. The
email and disk versions should present the manuscript as one document
with cover page and table of contents.
The University of Pennsylvania Press reserves the right to seek
another level of external review. Manuscripts must be submitted
to and accepted by the Faculty Editorial Board of the Press. The
volume editor is responsible for costs in revising the manuscript,
and must prepare clean copy from which the typesetter can work.
You (not the Series Editor) are responsible for reading proof and
making all revisions.
Phase
4. Production
Once your volume has been accepted for publication, it will
be typeset. The ASAO Monograph Series Fund pays for the composition
costs in this phase, but volume editors are encouraged to seek a grant
in aid of publication through their universities. The volume editor
should prepare an index according to instructions to be provided by
the University of Pennsylvania Press. You must also prepare biographical
notes on contributors in conjunction with the chapter authors. The
volume editor must proof the manuscript until error-free final copy
is achieved. Once all is ready, the manuscript is sent to the Press
by the Series Editor. It takes up to one year from this point of production
to being available for distribution.
Phase
5. Distribution
The Press decides on the size of the print run and the
mixture of hard and soft cover books. The Press handles distribution
and advertising, including displays at the meetings. The Press provides
volume editors with 12 free copies of the book. Each chapter author
receives 1 free hardbound and 1 paperback copy of the volume courtesy
of the Press and has an option to purchase additional copies at a
40% discount at time of publication. Volume editors are encouraged
to provide the press with names and addresses of non-ASAO members
who would be likely customers for their books. The Press asks the
volume editor to complete an "Author's Questionnaire" at
the time of publication. This involves writing a brief description
of the book suitable for a press release and listing appropriate journals
to which the Press should send complementary review copies. |