Elsevier · Tollefsbol, T: Translational Epigenetics Series · General Information

General Information

Proposal
The first step in becoming a volume editor is creating a book proposal. You will work together with an Acquisitions Editor at Elsevier in order to create this proposal, and you will provide guidance on the entire process. After filling out the book proposal form, the proposal will be peer-reviewed, and you’ll have the opportunity to respond to comments and submit a revised proposal, if needed. Once the proposal is finished, it will be reviewed by Elsevier’s internal review board, who will decide if we will pursue a publishing relationship. If it is accepted, your acquisitions editor will draft a contract for the project, and you will begin to develop the project alongside an Editorial Project Manager.

Setting Up Your Book

  1.  Chapter Author Recruitment:  Having achieved approval of your proposal for a book within the Translational Epigenetics Series from the Acquisitions Editor, the next step is to recruit authors for the volume.  The contact for most editors at this point will now move to the Editorial Project Manager.
    • Many editors prefer to invite potential authors that they know, although most will also ultimately rely on PubMed for full recruitment of authors.  You can also find authors by searching for those that have previously written reviews on the topic (advanced PubMed search for reviews within the past 5 years) or by searching Google for recent conferences on a related topic.
    • Include a tentative Table of Contents (TOC) in the invitation letter and orient the invited chapter author to the book (see attached example—Invitation Letter). You may also want to write a sentence or two about the scope of the chapter so the author has an idea of the content you expect.
    • Generally it is best to have at least some international representation of authorship.
    • It may be useful in the initial invitation letter to ask for suggestions of other authors who are qualified in the event that the invited author must decline.
    • Provide a deadline of about 1 week in the invitation letter for a reply.  If this is open-ended, considerable time may be lost in waiting for a reply that may not arrive.
    • Set the initial due date for the first draft of the chapter about 3-4 months from the date of the invitation, and about 7-8 months before the final due date, when the completed volume must be submitted to Elsevier.
    • Multiple contributions and multiple authors are acceptable, and the editor may contribute a chapter, or more than one chapter, as well.  Generally, it is best for the editor to contribute the first chapter, which reviews the basics of the topic and covers the contents of the book (see attached example—Opening Chapter), although this is not required.  Postdocs and graduate students are acceptable as first- or middle-authors if a more senior author will also be contributing.
    • If authors for all chapters have not been recruited within about a month:
      • Circulate the TOC containing missing authors to authors who have already agreed to contribute and ask for suggestions of authors for those chapters.
      • Shorten the invitation time to 3-4 days rather than one week to allow more invitations if necessary. 
  2. Contact Elsevier with Tentative Contributors List:
    • Once all of the authors have consented to contribute to the volume, send a tentative List of Contributors to your Editorial Project Manager so that they can set up the EMSS website for your book and begin drafting contributor agreements (individual contracts for each chapter) and creating other documents necessary for your book’s development.
    • This list should be a modification of your prior TOC with the senior or corresponding author’s name, affiliation (e.g., University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA) and e-mail address under each corresponding chapter in the TOC.
    • Your Editorial Project Manager will likely request a short meeting by phone with you at this time to begin the development stage of the project and go over roles and responsibilities, deadlines, and some of the milestones you will need to meet.
      • Your Editorial Project Manager will be working with you from this point all the way through publication. It is vital to keep in consistent communication with one another and work as a team to communicate with authors, chase submissions, and resolve any problems or issues that come up along the way.
  3. Initial Guidance to Authors:
    • Send a confirmation of authorship e-mail to the consenting author (see attached example – Confirmation Letter), along with any preliminary information you wish the author to have at this point.
    • After you send the TOC with author information to the Editorial Project Manager, he or she will send the contributors an introductory email containing Author’s Guidelines (formatting and submission information), EMSS website information, permissions information, and a sample chapter from another volume in the series
    • If you haven’t already, work with your Editorial Project Manager to reach an agreement on an appropriate deadline for authors to submit their first draft. This should be about 5 months before the final, complete submission of the volume is due to Elsevier (the final deadline is in your contract).

    Book Development Best Practices

  4. Reviewing of Chapters:
    • Editors may elect to search PubMed for their specific topic and send invitations for reviewing the chapter to about 5 potential reviewers (see attached example—Request to Review).  Add about 5 invitations per week if necessary until about 3-4 reviewers have consented (all who have consented may not necessarily return a review or may return an unacceptable review).  Generally about 2-3 reviews are returned to authors.
    • Ask for suggestions for other reviewers in the invitation letter, as some may not have time to review but may know of a former trainee or others who would be qualified.
    • The editor of the volume may review chapters if desired and should review all submitted first-draft chapters for conformity to the Authors’ Guidelines before returning the reviews to the chapter authors.  The editor should also screen for required permissions submissions from the authors, etc.  Often the author will alert the editor that one or more figures or tables have been previously published in which case a permissions form will be necessary from the author before the chapter can be published.
  5. Replying to Authors with Reviews:
    • Contact authors within about 1-2 months of receiving their first draft with the reviews anonymously compiled (see attached example—Return of Reviews).
    • Allow about 1 month for the author to return the final revised draft to EMSS.  This could be extended to 60 or 90 days depending on the time schedule and how much time is remaining for the final submission date of the volume to Elsevier.
  6. Opening Chapter of the Book:
    • Once it is clear that all of the chapters are developing well, this is a good time for the editor to finish the first draft of the opening chapter (optional but recommended) covering the basics of the topic and summarizing the contents of the book (see attached example—Opening Chapter).  The opening chapter by the editor(s) should be treated as a regular chapter submission for the volume, and needs to be submitted via EMSS.

    Finalizing Material

  7. Proofing Final Chapter Drafts:
    • Proof the final drafts and give approval or request further changes using EMSS online or by e-mail.  Once you send the chapter back to Elsevier (see EMSS Guidelines), it is a final decision and those at Elsevier will begin proofing the chapter for spelling, grammar, formatting, etc.  Galley proofs will be sent by Elsevier to each author for final approval by the authors.
  8. Submitting on Time:  
    • It is best to prepare ahead for delays that inevitably occur. Make sure that you and your Editorial Project Manager keep each other informed of any delays, as you are jointly responsible for chasing material and adhering to the publication schedule.
    • Optimally, editors should aim to have 1-2 months remaining before the final submission date of all required items for their book, since it is not uncommon to receive requests for extensions or (more rarely) multiple extensions from authors.
  9. Ancillary Submission Materials:
    • There are a few ancillary items that are necessary to complete the book.
    • Editors likely will be contacted at some point during the preparation of the book to help choose a cover for the book.  Elsevier works with editors to develop the artwork for the book cover.
    • By the final due date, editors should send the following items by e-mail to the Editorial Project Manager:
      • Final Contributors List in alphabetical order with full contact information of all of the authors (including first- and middle-authors as well as senior or corresponding authors).  This information usually can be readily obtained from each of the submitted chapters.
      • Preface.
      • Key content features of the book.
      • Final TOC with complete authorship under each chapter.  Corresponding authors should be identified with an asterisk after their name.