EDITING 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, in 2004 by Jeannette Mageo and the book series editorial board, and in 2008 by Rupert Stasch and the book 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-links between chapters: 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). 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.

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 thematic cross-connections between the chapters. 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 Book Series Editorial Board will invite submission of the full manuscript.

At the earliest stage possible, instruct volume contributors to follow Berghahn’s style guide, available at the following two URLs (in long and short versions, respectively):

http://www.berghahnbooks.com/downloads/house_style_US.pdf

http://www.berghahnbooks.com/downloads/style_contribUS.pdf

Note also that ASAO volumes should follow the “author-date” style of citing works, not the “short title” style that Berghahn also lists as an option.

If you are invited to submit your 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.

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 manuscript may be recommended to Berghahn (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 Book 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 and as a hard copy. The email version should present the manuscript as one document with cover page and table of contents.

PHASE 4: PRODUCTION

Once your volume has been recommended by the ASAO Book Series Board to Berghahn for publication, and Berghahn has agreed with the recommendation (based on examination of the reader’s reports and other supporting materials), the volume editors submit the final, corrected manuscript to Berghahn, and the volume editors work with Berghahn’s production team through the further stages of bringing the work to publication. It takes up to one year from this point of production to being available for distribution. Some specific aspects of the production process are described at the following “author info” page on Berghahn’s website, a bit down the page under the heading “PRODUCTION”:

http://www.berghahnbooks.com/index.php?pg=author_info

PHASE 5: DISTRIBUTION

Berghahn publishes the book initially in hardcover, and then a year later brings the book out in softcover. The Press handles distribution and advertising, including displays at the meetings. Some further information about publicity and distribution can be found at the same “author info” page at Berghahn’s website listed a moment ago, via the link “What to Expect when my Book is Published by Berghahn Books.”