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The value of academic publishing
The Indian publishing industry was born primarily out of the need of the British
colonialists to provide an English education to their children. Today this
industry has expanded to the extent that India is counted among the top seven
publishing nations (www.education.nic.in), and according to the Federation of
Indian Publishers there are about 11,000 publishers producing nearly 60,000
titles in a year (www.nbtindia.org.in).
Apart from being profitable and seemingly recession-proof, academic publishing
is at the heart of literacy and knowledge in that it contributes significantly
to the intellectual capital of the country in a variety of ways:
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By disseminating information and showcasing a variety of
opinions
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By facilitating research as a publishing platform for
research scholars
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Contributing to pedagogy by producing instructional
material for teachers
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By recording the knowledge-base being created by human
civilisation.
Amongst the reputed academic publishers in India, SAGE Publications Inc, which
was set up in 1965 by Sara Miller McCune in a one-room office in New York with a
start-up capital of $500, has today established itself globally as a quality
scholarly, educational and professional publisher.
The technological challenge
When I joined SAGE in December 2006, I was both amazed and amused to enter an
editorial office in which editors were furiously scribbling on paper manuscripts
with sharpened pencils. Hardly was there a computer to be seen and the few that
were scattered around the office were lying unused. Why I was amazed was that it
had been close to a decade since I had computerized my editorial department at a
leading national newspaper daily, and it had not occurred to me that book
editors would still be operating with paperpencils.
I was soon to find out that not only was this the established way of working,
but that it was regarded to be the only viable way. So while I set about
ordering computers for both the editorial and production departments, with the
support of the CEO & MD of SAGE India, Vivek Mehra, I also began coaxing
exasperated editors who came to me saying, “There is no way you can edit a
350-page manuscript on a soft copy. You will lose out of detail and quality will
be comprised” or “Our eyes will get spoilt” or “The editing will take an
enormous amount of time since we are not used to the keyboard.”
That was four years ago. Today all the editors and proof readers work on soft
copies, toggling between track changes, the word search function, the spell
check function and short-cut keys for tagging. The work has become faster, more
accurate and we save on paper! Another bonus is that editors can more easily
check for plagiarism by either using tracking software or conducting simple
Google searches.
It was music to my ears when my most recently appointed line manager, a young
lady who heads the design unit, came to me and said “I need a Mac. It is
impossible for me as a designer to produce quality designs without this.” And so
today Apple’s high-end personal computer adorns the editorial department!
It is becoming increasingly important for editorial teams today to be
computersavvy, more so as large publishing houses are developing internal
software to aid the tracking of production work and also to facilitate
inter-departmental data flow.
Being aware of the latest technological advancements in the publishing field is
also imperative. For example, with the journal publishing industry moving
rapidly to an online first system, in which research papers are uploaded on the
world wide web as soon as they are print-ready, publishing houses are having to
gear up their work processes to meet such demands. Mentoring a robust and
computer-literate team becomes essential in order to meet such challenges
head-on.
Editors are also instrumental in sensitizing authors to the advantages of
technology, from receiving proofs via e-mails rather than snail mail, and also
receiving pdf versions of their published articles rather than the traditional
offprints.
Profile of an Editor
If you thought that excellent language skills, an aptitude to keep up-to-date
with the latest nuances of language, in-depth general knowledge, and an MPhil or
Phd were the only requirements for editors in an academic publishing house,
think again.
Over the years the profile of an editor has certainly undergone a metamorphosis
of sorts. Whereas youngsters, about a decade ago, used to enter this industry
more out of default, we as employers are now on the lookout for candidates with
specialized backgrounds, including MBAs, in order to manage the book list for
professionals which covers vast subject areas including HR, finance and
marketing.
As more specialized teams are groomed, ranging from copy editing, to quality
control to rewriting teams, there is a requirement for editors who are also
managers; for candidates who see publishing as a career with a definite growth
path, rather than simply as a job. Like most professions today, an editor cannot
be an ‘armchair’ worker; rather he or she has to keep providing value-addition
in order to climb the ladder of success.
Candidates high on interpersonal skills and multitasking abilities and who are
adaptable in their approach are definitely prized. Market needs keep changing
and our teams need to be robust enough to produce a book in lightning speed if
necessary (we recently produced Malini Chib’s book One Little Finger in a
record-breaking one month); or adapt to changing departmental processes for
example, the beginning of our working relationship with Chinese authors is
likely to merit greater language interventions than what we are accustomed to.
Implementing best practices
Hiring a team with the requisite skills is one thing, but to keep a team of
knowledge workers constantly motivated and enthused is quite another challenge.
To hear a new team member say, “I have been here for a year and I can’t believe
how the time has just whizzed by” is endearing.
For me the winning formula has been to recruit the right people, provide sound
training and then give complete ownership of certain functional areas to each
team member. Just as an infant learns to walk only after a few falls, one needs
to place enough trust in one’s team to make allowances for a few stumbles.
Working with hundreds of editors over the years has taught me the valuable
lesson that editors are organisational workers that definitely need space for
their creativity to bloom.
Ensuring that members of the editorial team are constantly engaged and also
vesting authority in senior team members works like magic. For example,
decision-making authority divested in a quality control team set up in the books
team has proved to be most effective, with this team having learnt over time to
make seasoned judgements in an egalitarian fashion.
Producing books and journals of international quality and working with renowned
authors is challenging work and one in which editors take considerable pride. In
terms of best HR practices, we at SAGE continuously strive to maintain a
workplace where employees can express their talent and skills, both as
individuals and through cooperative teamwork, in furthering our mission as a
premier international educational and professional publisher.
The author-editor relationship
A book is said to be as good as its author and editor. How important the role of
an editor is can be gleaned from this unedited version of a book dedication:
“I am truly grateful to all my students, whom I have thoroughly enjoyed!”
Managing authors, who are the lifeblood of a publishing house, is a skill that
editors acquire as they are mentored. Our editors work very closely with their
authors on the production of a manuscript and are quite often able to anticipate
problems even before they occur.
In the six months that it takes to produce a book, or three months for a journal
issue, the editors are more often than not able to bowl over their authors. We
receive a deluge of messages from authors, such as: “You have all been prompt,
professional, precise, and overall terrific. The finished product looks great.”
For me such an accolade is the best indicator that our team of hand-picked
editors has all the appropriate skills sets and aptitude for an editorial
department poised with readiness for the 21st century.
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