If you’ve never engaged in academic writing or had any research articles published, the daily production of high-quality manuscripts can seem like a magical feat. What exactly is the process by which a rough draft is transformed into a prize-winning academic paper that scholars read and reference every day? The publishing process is rather complex, and for the inexperienced, it feels like a black box. However, it’s just like any manufacturing process that results in the production of goods around us. Let’s pull aside the curtains and examine everything involved in turning a researcher’s idea into an impactful academic article you read.
What are the publishing stages?
Let’s start with a fast overview of the main stages of publishing. What is the first step of the publishing process? How long does it take to publish a book?
The publishing process comprises:
- Acquisitions
- Editing
- Structural editing
- Content editing
- Technical editing
- Design and typesetting
- Proofreading
- Printing
- Sales
- Marketing
- Publicity
As a matter of fact, publishing is a detailed and multi-layered process; therefore, it is followed by at least one year’s work. On the other hand, the waiting period can be shortened if you have an associative relationship with a publisher or publishing company and some pre-made interest in your work. Perhaps first-time authors will have fewer chances to get even to the first step, which is acquisitions, if they are not established. However, once you have successfully published and sold your first book, you will minimize the publishing process for your next project.
Preliminary Steps: Purchasing and Editing
The initial processes in publishing are acquisition and editing. Acquisition has differing ways, but generally, writers send either a draft of their manuscript or a proposal to many different publishers. If a publisher expresses interest in your work, then the acquisitions team will call you for a meeting to potentially buy it. The editorial team is no longer the only one in the acquisitions group. It encompasses the teams from the sales, marketing, and publicity departments to examine the amount of the book to be sold during the launching stage. If they are impressed by your idea or your writing, they may promise to publish it. Nevertheless, bear in mind that every single major publishing house will typically not read an unsolicited manuscript. This is the exact reason why most authors who want to be published soon apply for these publication support services or agents to help them get their book to the right publishers.
If you have drafted a contract, either by your own hand or with the assistance of publication support services, and signed the contract, your book will embark on the editing process. As shown above, the editing and proofreading process can be broadly summarized in three steps: structural, content, and technical editing. The structural editing refers to how your book is organized and whether it makes sense. The publishing house editors or the in-house publication support service department will share the suggestions for big changes and you will be asked to either accept or reject them. Among the other things that publishers do before publishing your manuscript, content editing is one of them. This not only checks the book for any factual errors but also clubbed with flow, transitions, wording, etc. The work of an editor is to check twice for the sake of stylistic uniformity and content perfection.
It is critical to note that at times you can receive some critiques or suggestions from the editors, which could seem complicated or disagreeable given their vast experience in this domain. Besides the fact that you have some selected choices, the editor actually has more power when you sign the contract. Be flexible and keep in mind the development of the market. After taking the major changes into consideration, a technical editor will check your work to see if it is devoid of grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors. Once you have gone through the edits and approved of them, this phase of the publishing process is over.
Next Steps: Design, Typesetting, Printing, and Proofreading.
In this case, either the publisher or their in-house publication support services will help you so that your book, when printed, looks presentable. You will select a cover design and a font, and someone will format your book for you so that it looks amazing. The test print will be made and then carefully looked at in order to see if there are any hidden errors that were not caught by the editing process. After you have worked with the publisher and have a nice draft of your book printed, the next step to take is to continue with the rest of the publishing process.
Final Steps: Sales, Marketing, and Publicity
Even the best books need promotion and publicity to ensure they fall into the hands of readers who will appreciate them. Major publishers and publication support services do marketing and publicity for even new books, which guarantees high sales figures. Your book will not be an exclusion. Today, marketing involves numerous techniques. Perhaps your book will be advertised in a newspaper or journal, but you might be asked to market the book on podcasts, in interviews, and amongst famous authors as well, in order to get your name and the book out to the public. Through the publishers’ team, you will fully enjoy the publishers’ assistance as they work with their numerous book sellers, who are there by the end of the day to buy your book. Not so long from the moment of sending the files to the publisher, your book will come into being and will soon be available in stores.
The steps to online journal publication are slightly different from those to book publishing because of some other significant factors that are to be taken into account. When a newspaper exists as an online journal only, these operations, such as marketing, sales, and PR, can be done by itself. Also, internet magazines do not have to create prints for their designs and typesetting. Relatively all online magazines guarantee editorial assistance during the process of publication. You should know that you might have to reach out for online journal publication support if you are submitting a manuscript but the research solutions should be aimed at helping academicians. Whether the book or the article you are writing comes out first, getting familiar with the steps of publishing and gripping the nerves about what to expect is half the way to success.
