Customer Reviews

Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Books (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)

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William Germano became an expert in scholarly book publishing as editor in chief of Columbia University Press. Today, he is vice president and publishing director of Routledge. This book summarizes the most important lessons of a life in editorial development.

Germano explains book development from two perspectives. As an editor and publisher, he explains what a book must do for the press that releases it. He helps aspiring authors - and editors - to understand their role in the process of creating and developing the book a publisher will produce.

Germano's easygoing, informative style reminds me of the old-fashioned editors and publishers I have known. This is an overview of working with books intended for a scholarly or scientific audience. It is a systematic guidebook to the publishing process. It explains what publishers do, how a manuscript must be prepared, how to select a publisher, and how to propose a book. Then it explains how to work with publisher or editor from proposal to finished product.

First-time authors and editors will find this a valuable resource that helps beginners to avoid common mistakes. Seasoned authors will find value in the concise, well structured tour of the publishing process.

Book review published in Design Research News, Volume 6, Number 7, Jul 2001 ISSN 1473-3862.

Having read a number of books on publishing in the past several months, I was delighted to stumble upon "Getting It Published." Although it isn't directly related to my current career path - presently, I'm self-publishing a general trade nonfiction book, as opposed to a scholarly tome - I found Germano's advice to be helpful, thoughtful, and eloquent nonetheless.

In welcome contrast to the many publishing books that are aimed at more general audiences, "Getting It Published" does not dumb itself down for the lowest common denominator. Germano's writing is witty, enjoyable, and informed - it's as though you're receiving guidance from your academic advisor rather than reading a how-to book written by some faceless, self-proclaimed publishing "guru." It should come as no surprise that Germano is the VP and publishing director at Routledge. His wealth of insight is remarkable - he covers the process of publishing scholarly work from beginning to end. From writing the manuscript, to crafting a successful proposal, signing a contract, and seeing the work through to publication, Germano doesn't miss a beat. He even covers the not-so-little details, like copyrights, permissions, quotations, artwork, and cover design. His discussion of the various publishing houses and their tasks ("What do publishers do?") was most informative.

"Getting It Published" is a must-have for those new to scholarly publishing. Newbies to the world of publishing who aren't looking to publish scholarly work won't be disappointed, either - there's plenty of useful information in here for everyone. It also serves as a much-needed break from all those awful "For Dummies" books and "Idiot's Guides" that seem to saturate the publishing market!

The former editorial director of the Columbia University Press lays it all out for aspiring non-fiction authors. From finding a publishing house to choosing a title for your work Germano provides solid advice which the would-be writer should ignore at his or her peril. His advice certainly made me re-think the working title "Get Over the Schmuck: Bereavement for Dummies" when submitting my motivational guide to coping with loss, and it paid dividends. An indispensible guide.

This is a great end-to-end book on the publishing business for scholars and trade publication authors. It gives an excellent overview of the business, talks about the ins and outs of contracts and provides a lot of useful inside information.

This book is relatively short, but it is organized well and packed with useful "to the point" tips. It also introduces the vocabulary one needs to understand and negotiate publishing a book or other work.

As the title suggests, this is a serious book, but it is an easy an enjoyable read. The author is very credible and you can trust the information contained within.

I learned about this book from a fairly well known author and editor. He thought it was the single best resource on the topic. I own at least 5-6 other books on this subject and this is probably my favorite too.

Gives consistent and straight-forward advice, with a few bits of practical inspiration. There are no real trade secrets here, and Germano makes some points that are certainly arguable, but these qualities may be why this guide will remain current and useful for some time.