Book chapter: Thinking bigger: Editing a book 101

Thinking bigger: Editing a book 101 Christopher McMaster, Editor Introduction At the start of my doctoral studies I was asked by a friend, “what do you want to do with your PhD when you finish?” I thought for a moment and told him that I would like to use it to work abroad, that I would try to find work with an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation). My friend, Tariq, only shook his head at my answer. “Chris,” he said, “you think too small. You have to learn to think bigger.” His confident rebuff to my plans of working for an NGO was simple: “You don’t work for an NGO, Chris, you make your own.” Tariq was many years my junior, but looking at his resume this wouldn’t be evident. He had left his war torn country to study abroad, earning a Masters in the United States and was then beginning his own PhD. He had worked for the United Nations, the US State department, and several international charities. To him, his PhD was a way to give back to his country, to help it heal. I admired his conviction and I listened to his words. He may not know it, but those words have shadowed my studies. They have haunted any plans I make for the future. Indeed, am I thinking big enough? In this chapter I take my friends’ advice and offer a ‘how to’ in thinking bigger: how to edit/co-edit your own book. During your postgraduate studies you are encouraged to publish. When my supervisor first suggested that I turn some initial research into a paper for submission to a national journal I felt a bit of trepidation. However, through her encouragement I submitted additional papers as well. As I had been writing and publishing by myself for the first two years of my doctoral study I wondered what ‘collaboration’ might 1 feel like. How could I work collaboratively with fellow students to produce something that is engaging and useful for the academic community? The original ideal wasn’t a book, it was simply a desire to collaborate—thinking bigger, beyond my own study. The result would eventually be an edited book written by postgraduate students, for postgraduate students. It would involve twenty-five contributors from not just my university, but from all over the country. It involved thinking bigger, thinking past the publication of articles. I co-edited this book simultaneously with writing up my own thesis, and saw its publication two months prior to my viva voce. While waiting for that oral examination I took the idea to Australia, the United States, South Africa and to the United Kingdom. Think bigger. It is a simple message, but scary and difficult at the same time. However, it is a message with merit, and pregnant with possibility. In the following sections I will take you through the process of co-editing my first book. The lessons and stages I went through in that project will undoubtedly be different in detail to projects I may pursue in future, or that you may face. The sequence, however, and the basic ingredients of that sequence, may just start a chain of thought that begins with an idea, and continues with a bit of gumption. The sequence of steps below are offered as an apprenticeship of sorts—letting you know what to expect, what to start thinking about and when to think about it. There are, of course, some details missing in this outline. As each project is different there will be more to learn each time. In publishing this book I am repeating a formula that worked well the first time, but I am still learning. That type of learning is what makes us better at what we do. An organised leader The outline below is based on my own admittedly limited experience, but that experience contains many useful lessons. One key thing to remember is to be organised. Keep a wall diary and a physical folder, if that is how you work, or keep electric folders and reminders. Never let the beast the run away from you. There will be hectic and busy times, so be warned. And be prepared. These times are manageable if you plan for them and be organised. If you like to compartmentalise, then do so: set an hour or two aside a day or week to focus solely on this project. If you like to multi-task, have multiple screens open on your computer. Everybody works differently. I liked to work on multiple projects simultaneously. I found that the more I had going on the more I got done. Work the way you work best. BUT, 2 to keep to a schedule, to get others to work to your standard and your timeline and to keep their confidence in you as editor: be organised. Editing a book is also all about leadership, and being a good leader. Much of good leadership is good people managing and people skills. You will be juggling many different personalities—what makes them similar is the result: you want a good chapter for your book. You are all working towards the same goal, which is a successfully edited book. There may be times when you are direct, but being direct is not the same as being tactless or discourteous. There may be times when you have to bite your tongue. During those times, swallow the blood and smile through it. When there are times when you have to be a ‘dick’, manage it professionally. There was a situation with one contributor that I had to cut from a book. She was a well-established academic and offered a well-written chapter, but it just did not fit the tone and flow of the rest of the book. The way I managed this was to give that contributor an out—I let her make the decision to take her chapter elsewhere, even if it ‘appeared’ that I had backed down. Ego is important, but needs to be managed as well. For me, in that situation, it was more important that every party felt their sense of honour, or self worth, was intact. That was much more important to me and my project than an egotistical need to feel in control or dominant. People skills are important. It is all very political, in the sense of how you relate to others. Ultimately, the message is to stay on top of the work as well as all the relationships involved. This type of project is based on relationships, after all, and involves a good deal of work. This work will occur in a sequential manner that I attempt to outline below. These steps include what you may have to do, perhaps should do, what you should expect, what you should be prepared for. Getting started Establish a good team to co-edit with, and learn each other’s strengths—what they can bring to the project. This will be very important in establishing expectations and dividing up workloads. I know I am good with concepts and content, as in flow and consistency of voice. I am not so good at copy editing or recognising some mistakes in text. So it is important for me to find somebody good at that and to be able to step aside and let them work their kind of 3 magic. I may also have been a type of captain that encouraged mutiny or disaster in a past life, like Ahab chasing his white whale. Having somebody on the team that can keep that kind of ego check is important. This is all about being honest about your strengths and weaknesses. There was a time in my first book, for a whole day, where I was the sole editor. My original partner was unable to continue and I was faced with completing the project on my own. But being honest with myself during that sleepless night, I realised that if I had a partner that compensated for my weaknesses, the book would not just be ‘good’, but ‘outstanding’. The phone call the next day established a partnership that is still strong. As you begin your project, set up an email account that can be used as a communication hub for contributors and can be accessed by co-editors. While you manage the site and communications, it is good to share access—your co-editors may be able to communicate more effectively with some contributors, as their proposed abstracts may be more closely aligned with their areas of experience or expertise. The sharing of access and communication will also build cohesion among the team. Gmail is an example of an application that can be useful for this purpose, although your co-editors will need Gmail accounts to be able to have access. These are easy to set up. Skype allows you to hold conference calls, which will be vital for key shared decisions. Cloud storage such as Dropbox allows for team access to documents. Good communication also allows you to exercise good leadership. I always interpret ‘good leadership’ as one that isn’t based on a single personality. If you communicate openly with your team, then should you for whatever reason be incapacitated, the project will continue to advance. Once you have an idea for a potential book, draft a very good call for abstracts. Send this to your team members so that they can have input. It is amazing how better some documents read after they have been co-written or co-edited. Your call for abstracts will concisely describe to potential contributors what your book is all about. Spend the time describing this clearly. This work will be invaluable when you are ‘selling’ the book to a publisher, as well as drafting the blurb that will be on the back cover. Before I completed my first call for abstracts I sent the idea as a concept to an established academic I trusted, asking, ‘What do you think of this idea?’ That email assuaged my own (at the time) weak confidence, and that kind of reassurance can be offered by your academic mentors. 4 With your call for abstracts, create a timeline for the project and stick to it as far as possible. Let your team know and agree with this. How long do you want to give to collect abstracts? More time means more opportunity to reach potential contributors. Too much time may mean losing momentum. Consider the balance, and figure into the timeline you and your co-editor’s other responsibilities. If you are writing a thesis or lecturing, don’t have chapters coming for review during a crucial time, such as marking assignments or preparing a chapter or a conference presentation. Create a schedule that suits your team. Drive the process consciously. When you are happy with the call for abstracts, send it as far and wide as possible. Use all your contacts, be clever and think of the most efficient way to send out the call. In the Australian version of this book, this was through what was known as the Thesis Whisperer. That avenue alone reached hundreds, even thousands, of potential contributors. After that we utilised individual contacts at different universities. And, just because you send a call to a specific department or school, that does not mean it will go to other parts of the university. How will you ensure your call goes elsewhere? In the United States a few hours were spent contacting Graduate Associations at individual universities. As we were trying to reach graduate students and potential contributors, going to the source seemed more logical than going through their Deans. Be clever. You are not only sending out a call for abstracts but making contacts and networking. If you want to work in tertiary education, contacting established scholars is also a way to say, ‘Look at me, you may want to hire me if I apply for a job at your institution.’ An organised professional Be very organised when abstracts for you book come in. Abstracts will come in for the length of time that you specify in your call. Some will come soon, some will come later. Create a folder where you keep these. Number each abstracts and give it a clear title. Create a separate document where you list in table form each abstract topic and author, with each author email. The number on this table should correspond with the number file name in the abstract folder. When your team looks at all the abstracts and decides what is in and what is not in, you want that to be as easy for you and them as possible. This folder could be openly 5 accessed by your team throughout the collection process through a shared Dropbox account or as Google docs. If this is how your team prefers to work then the ultimate selection process may be quite straight forward as you are all very familiar with the proposed chapters. Use the submission process to also communicate with potential contributors. What may seem as a ‘quiet’ period in the project can actually be very interesting. As potential contributors ask you about the project you grow in confidence and clarity as to what your project is. You can ask them to alter their abstract to more suit your book concept, or to answer any of their questions. This is an important time in building relationships with potential contributors but also to make it clear what you want from potential contributors. During this time even more concept ideas for projects may present themselves. While collecting abstracts for the Australian version of this book several people wrote from farther afield asking why the idea was so geographically limited. From those emails came a United Kingdom and a United States version. Thinking bigger sometimes has a tendency to lead to even bigger things. During the entire process, remember: act and be professional, or how you define ‘professional’. You are the ‘expert’ and the trusted leader in this venture. Contributors will expect this. They will not want to be a part of a project that appears weak or adhoc. Oooze confidence, even if you don’t feel it. Saying that, be realistic about your confidence and don’t make empty promises. In the initial stages of the first postgraduate book I fielded several questions about a publisher for the book. I understood this concern—why should somebody invest their time in my project if there is no guarantee of a result? My belief in the project was, however, contagious. ‘Find a publisher?’ I confidently responded, ‘Of course we will, this project will sell itself.’ The caveat to confident responses is that they must be based on reality. Being confident means believing in yourself and your project, and never lying or ‘stringing people along’. Building a book When the period of accepting abstracts has elapsed, with your co-editors sort out the abstracts you want. Use those abstracts to create a detailed outline of the book. With your decisions you will have created a table of contents. Publishers love that—you will be giving 6 them a blue print when you submit a proposal, not a concept. You will also be demonstrating to any prospective publisher that you are organised and serious—that you can deliver what they require, when they require it. After the decision to accept abstracts, email all those accepted and provide them with writing guidelines and timeline. Writing guidelines re-iterate the purpose of the book and give the contributors an idea of the type of tone and content you desire. This a very important document so draft it well. The clearer you are, even in formatting their chapters, the smoother the process of editing their chapters will be. What you are expecting from your contributors are well written and drafted chapters, so encourage them write and proof well. In this acceptance email tell them when you are submitting a proposal to a publisher. You don’t have to say to whom, I didn’t do that with the NZ volume as I didn’t want any contributors contacting the publisher, and I wanted to play it safe in case a contributor had a personal connection of some sorts with the publisher. During this period, encourage contributors to start writing and not wait for the formal book deal. Some will want to wait, that’s fair enough and up to them. Tell your contributors when you have the acceptance from a publisher in a good news, ‘full speed ahead’ email to all. Create two email lists: one list with names and email address, the other with all contributor emails which can be cut and pasted onto the ‘send to’ bar. Or you can be clever and have your group email already set up. I found that by having a list on a separate document I could manage the list easily when emails changed. Also, email all those you don’t choose for inclusion in your book. Be very professional and courteous. You never know when you will be working with them in future. In my ‘rejection’ emails I encourage those individuals to write up their concept and seek to have it published elsewhere, or even to develop their idea into a book in its own right. Once you have your contributors and chapter topics, create a list that you can use when you need to contact them or require a response. This can act as a very visual tick list, a way to keep track of who has responded, given you what you needed, etc. To replay that record, it is all about being organised. 7 As you start to see the shape of your book when abstracts are coming in begin searching for the publisher that would best suit your book. Investigate other titles by them— you can do this by surfing their web page. When you find the publisher you think is a great fit, contact the publisher and say you have a great idea for a submission. Ask what the process for submission of a proposal is at their publishing company. Their website might provide that template, but contacting them also acts to introduce you to them, and you get a name to respond to. As the project progresses the relationship between you and the publisher will be very important. Work diligently in producing a very good book proposal. If the publisher does not have a proposal guide or framework, try borrowing one from elsewhere so you are sure all bases are covered. It is like a job application—you have to do it well if you want to be considered. Producing a book There will come a time when you have your publisher and your contributors are writing. All you may hear at this time is a clock ticking, but you have your pre-agreed timeline to follow. Send out a reminder before the first deadline (chapter drafts). You will hopefully get a few chapters before the deadline date. When the deadline is reached you will be busy. Will every chapter cross your desk? That means that every chapter returned by a contributor will be personally read and edited by you. I had to do that in the NZ volume as I didn’t have help at that stage. It was a great process, and allowed me total control of the tone of the book (I believe I was honest about my ‘Ahab’ tendencies) but it was also a great deal of work. I track marked and commented throughout each chapter and sent them back to the contributors to keep working on them. Some were very well written; others needed a great deal of attention. While it allowed me to ensure a consistent voice in the book, to make sure all the contributors wrote the way I wanted (in their own voice, of course), it taught me balance. My primary priority at this time was writing up my own thesis! 8 During this time, use your co-editors and share this work out. If your book has sections, perhaps you can take charge of different sections. I actually think this would make a better book—it lets each co-editor focus on a section and make it really good, and builds a ‘section team’ between each co-editors and those contributors. Quality control How will check your own work? What kind of secondary review will you have? Each chapter will have passed by the desk of the editors, each chapter will have had feedback, may even passed by the desk of an editor several times. There still remains an issue of quality control. Who will review the reviewers? One possibility is a section swap among co-editors. Each co-editor can swap sections and review the work presented. In the NZ volume we organised the contributors themselves into pairs and swapped chapters. This worked well in some cases—some were experienced at the process, but some were novice and the process was not so robust. You could even ask if there are any contributors who would like to act as reviewers, and give them some guidelines. When you are ready, put the chapters together into a whole book format, with a table of contents. Send the draft to whomever will be writing the foreword. Give this person a few weeks to write it. That should be built into your time line, and they can be writing that while your contributors are tightening up their chapters. Choose the person to write your forward wisely. You will have your reasons for that choice, at least you should have your reasons, whether that be your own career advancement, product placement, or honouring a friend and colleague. When you have all the chapters and forward, write a preface and back of book blurb. Pass these amongst your co-editors and let them co-edit and co-write. This is a group effort. At the same time, email contributors to ask for 75 word bios in third person (for ‘about the authors’ section). Then copy edit. Print the book off in whole, and use only a red pen. If you have ever copy edited an entire book you will understand this advice: Use your team, share the work. Type the edits into chapters (using tracking/commenting) and return the chapters to 9 contributors to fix and consider all the edits. This is tedious work, so manage it well. It is also vitally important work. I discovered this was practice for editing my own thesis when the time came—word by word and line by line. If it is possible and you live near your co-editors (in our electric age this is not necessary) then make an event of it. It might be hard work, but that is no reason not to enjoy it. Sending the book away When is a book ready to submit to a publisher? When it is tight. Publishers have a copy editor who will be extremely thorough, but it eases the process if they are given something you are happy with. I think my first publisher really liked working with my team. I visited him in his office during a trip to ‘the city’ and enjoyed a nice chat. I looked at his white board, his ‘to do’ list regarding the many projects he oversaw, and I asked him, “We are an easy one for you, aren’t we?” By being organised, and by being robust regarding your quality, you will be an ‘easy one’ for the publisher. That can be interpreted as being someone they may be happy working with again. What details might be missing, as at this stage you will be considering details. Cover art? Now may be the time to use any contacts with artists. If your book is by and for graduate students with disabilities, as an example, then why not have cover art representing that audience, by that audience? The publisher will appreciate you doing this kind of work, but be aware that they know how to make a book and have final say about how things will go together. Maintain good communication with contributors during this time. Communication is a balancing act—keeping momentum and enthusiasm. I wrote a chapter for a book during my first year of study and heard from the editors twice in two years. I still don’t know when that book will be out. I didn’t want to be that kind of editor in my own project. It doesn’t take much effort to send an email to all your contributors to let them know where things are at. And during this time, while the book is out of your hands and in those of the real pros, keep sweet with the publisher. But maintain the integrity of your project. Major issues may 10 not arise, and be prepared to be flexible, but be an advocate for your contributors and your book. Final thoughts Reading through my words I can’t help but think about all the details that may not have made it to text, or all the situations that might arise that I haven’t mentioned. Ultimately, that wouldn’t just be impossible, but maybe even undesirable. What I have presented is a possibility, as well as a challenge. Think bigger. I was hesitant when my friend Tariq first asked about my plans, and I also tried to explain to him why such a question was difficult to answer. I knew that there were doors that might open that I could not even see during those early days of my study; doors that I didn’t even know existed. While I had notions of what I might do with my qualification, I was going to keep an open mind to what might present itself. I think it is just as important to keep an open mind as to what you might be able to accomplish during your studies. Like publish a book. 11