Editing and producing a medical book
Editing a medical book brings contributors’ chapters into a coherent volume and carries the manuscript through production, publication and maintenance.
Work and responsibilities
The volume editor needs to track each chapter and its components, report progress to the publisher, deal tactfully with contributors and persist until the book is complete. Chapters become outdated while awaiting attention, so manuscripts arriving together can require evening and weekend work.
The work has three demanding phases, separated by quieter periods: recruiting authors, editing incoming manuscripts and proofreading. Manuscript editing is the busiest phase because facts must be verified and changes negotiated; proofreading cannot simply be delegated. A development editor may help with author communication, manuscript management and errors in language or facts, but the volume editor’s effort and commitment determine the book’s quality.
Contributor recruitment and agreements
Contributors should have relevant subject expertise; selection should favour reliability over brilliance and look for enthusiasm. Recruitment is easier for established books, while a signed publication contract is especially important when inviting contributors to a new one. Authors of review articles can be invited to write on their favourite topics: for two new interdisciplinary books, this approach achieved acceptance above 60% on the first round.
Negotiation can be ended when an invitee begins haggling over deadlines or other terms.
Initial direct telephone contact can be followed by a letter and written agreement, with subsequent communication by email. The editor can work through one lead author per chapter, leaving that author to recruit and manage coauthors.
A short editor–author agreement can anticipate disagreements, although it may not be a legal document; the publisher subsequently sends a formal contract addressing copyright assignment. One such agreement covers six points:
- Chapter topic and title.
- Page allocation.
- Submission deadline.
- Permission for coauthors, with only one complimentary book per chapter.
- Royalties or payment, including an explicit statement when no cash payment is offered.
- Full contact information: email and mailing addresses and all telephone numbers, including the prospective author’s home number.
The lead author signs the agreement, receives a copy and is the editor’s sole contact for that agreement; the editor retains a copy. Under this arrangement, the lead author receives the chapter’s complimentary book and coauthors usually do not receive copies.
Payment arrangements differ: a 2018 account offered no cash payment for chapters, while 2007 guidance described a fee or royalty share and usually a book copy, with financial and contractual advice from the publisher.
Briefing and progress
Contributors need clear written and verbal guidance on chapter length, writing style, reference and figure counts, the book’s overall structure and the authors of other chapters. A detailed chapter outline with headings should be agreed with the editor. The publisher needs each contributor’s contact details, assignment and schedule, and contributors should be clearly acknowledged in the published book.
A typical allowance suggested in 2007 was three to six months per chapter: shorter periods could deter authors, while longer ones could encourage low priority or forgetfulness. An edited book advances at the pace of its slowest contributor, so regular contact is needed to monitor progress. Reminders can be sent about every six weeks, covering headings, permissions, submission and the number of chapters already received.
Chapter editing and missing material
At least one chapter author commonly fails to deliver on schedule. At the deadline, the two main problems are chapters needing improvement and chapters missing entirely. Changes that might affect a chapter’s meaning must be negotiated with its author, often through one or two exchanges. Once all chapters arrive, moving, deleting and rewriting material can reduce repetition and give the book a consistent approach and emphasis; several months should be allowed for this work in the publisher’s schedule.
Late-manuscript notices can be prepared in advance: a series of three can begin two weeks after the deadline and end with a firm date after which a chapter will be excluded. A missing chapter may require an extended deadline, a replacement author, the editor writing it or its removal, with firm decisions to avoid excessive delay.
Whether a chapter is expendable depends on the book: eclectic collections can appear without some planned chapters, while a sequential specialty textbook with no expendable chapter requires every contribution to be received or created at short notice. One editor allowed for about 7% attrition in eclectic books and, for an indispensable weight-control chapter in a health-promotion book, wrote a replacement with an associate editor in about ten days.
For a book written jointly by a small team rather than separate chapter contributors, the structure and division of labour should be agreed in advance, whether authors write whole chapters or parts; the result still needs a coherent style and voice.
Production and publication
All chapters and appendix material should be submitted together to the development editor or publisher, with a copy of everything retained. The publisher’s submission instructions should be followed; in 2007 these often specified a printed copy and wordprocessed files on disk, usually one file per chapter. A 2007 estimate for scientific, technical and medical books allowed three to twelve months from manuscript delivery to publication, including four to eight weeks for printing and binding.
Production follows these stages:
- Verification. An editorial assistant checks completeness and signed permissions; missing forms may halt progress. A development or desk editor checks conformity with the publishing agreement, and peer review may lead to requested changes or additions before acceptance.
- Production editor. The project passes to the person responsible for taking the manuscript through to the finished book. The publisher usually identifies the people and timing for each stage; many service providers work freelance or under contract.
- Copyediting. Grammar and syntax are corrected without changing meaning, and font and layout decisions are made. Unless camera-ready pages have been commissioned, copyediting also checks consistency of spelling, abbreviations and headings, reference completeness and accuracy, and preparation of text, tables and figures for typesetting; permissions may also be checked. Changes beyond the publisher’s style guide often involve discussion with the author.
- Author review. The editor and contributors often review copyediting changes and answer questions about facts or intended meaning.
- Marketing questionnaire. At about this stage, the editor may be asked for key features, intended audiences and the best illustrations. Answers should be prepared carefully because marketing staff may reuse the wording on booksellers’ sites.
- Galley proofs. These are set in print without page divisions and reviewed for errors; the publisher may omit this stage, especially for a manuscript needing few corrections or queries.
- Page proofs. Typeset pages receive final review. The 2018 approach confines changes to correcting errors, with alterations potentially charged to the editor; the 2007 guidance allows essential corrections of omissions or errors and improvements to layout, while warning that changes can be costly, delay production or introduce errors. Each contributor should read their chapter, but the volume editor should check every word. A separate proofreader usually checks proofs, copyediting changes and author corrections before the typesetter’s final adjustments. Any index is constructed and typeset at this stage.
- Printing and binding. The cover may be produced during this period, and the editor should ask to review its artwork for errors.
- Publication. The book is released, the publisher sends review copies to major journals and author copies arrive.
Marketing plans are prepared several months before publication, with author input welcomed within a finite budget; advertising, direct mail, websites and email can alert bookstores, libraries and readers.
Maintenance
Reviews take time because copies must reach journals, be assigned and reviewed, and then await publication. An errata file can collect spelling errors and minor factual mistakes for possible correction in the next printing, while a separate file collects ideas for a second edition. A 2018 estimate gave medical textbooks and reference books a useful life of about four years and edited books a two-year production period, leaving two years after publication to collect ideas before beginning the next edition.
The volume editor should thank contributors by letter, include reviews when available and verify that every lead author receives a book copy.