Formatted Books: The Editor's Responsibilities

The Editor of an APS PRESS formatted book is responsible for refereeing and editing the papers, for ensuring the accuracy of the final copy, for collecting and forwarding to APS PRESS copyright transfer forms and letters of permission to reprint any previously copyrighted material, and for scheduling and meeting deadlines. Except for the cover, the title and copyright pages, and the index, your book must be complete and ready for production when it is submitted to APS PRESS.

The following checklist includes many of the editor’s responsibilities:

• Send suggestions for the book’s cover as soon as possible to APS PRESS. (The graphics staff at APS PRESS design the cover, but they prefer to work from suggestions from the book’s Editor.) If possible, include photos that might be used on the cover. Because the cover is used to promote sales of the book, and because the ads must be planned long before the book appears in print, the Editorial Office needs cover ideas early in the process. Also submit information about the cover (e.g., subject, artist or photographer, courtesy line, if any).
  
• Send each author a copy of Information for Authors and Editors of Formatted Books.
  
• Let each author know your requirement for the draft copy. For example, you might ask for drafts to be submitted electronically and/or printed double-spaced on 8.5” × 11” line-numbered paper.
  
• Let all authors know how long their manuscripts should be, either in draft or final form. Note that five full double-spaced 8.5” × 11” manuscript pages are roughly equivalent to four finished book pages containing type only. Figures and tables add to the final length.
  
• Collect the manuscripts, edit them as much as necessary, and send them to the senior editor. After the formal review, return them to the authors and set a specific due date for revisions to be returned to you.
  
• Check manuscripts to see that each author has credited the sources of all published materials, as explained in Information for Authors and Editors of Formatted Books. Check permission forms submitted by authors to see that permission has been obtained to reprint all previously published material. Remind authors, if necessary, until these are submitted. Send all permissions to APS PRESS with the final manuscripts.
  
• Collect copyright transfer forms from each author and forward them to APS PRESS with the final manuscript.
  
• Check the figures to be sure that authors have provided image files with the proper resolution and that each is in its own file (not embedded in the text file). If your book will not contain color images, be sure that all figures are provided in crisp, black-and-white format.
  
• Answer questions from authors and act as the authors’ liaison with APS PRESS.
  
• Prepare preface or foreword, if any.
  
• Prepare a title page; this page will be typeset at APS PRESS, but APS PRESS needs to know the exact title of the book and the preferred style of the name(s) of the editor(s) (full name or initials, for example). If affiliations are required, include those as well.
  
• Prepare the table of contents. Check the typed table of contents against the manuscripts to be sure that the titles and authors’ names on the first page of each chapter correspond exactly with those in the contents. APS PRESS will insert the page numbers.
  
• Send the completed manuscript to the senior editor.
  
• Send a list of all authors’ mailing addresses to APS PRESS if authors are to receive copies of the book.
  

Summary of Requirements for Final Submission

• Submit a text file containing text only. Do not embed tables or figures in the Word file.
• Submit a file containing captions and one containing tables.
• Submit each figure separately in a graphics file (.tif or .jpg) and properly named (Chapter10_Fig 5.tif, not Root_rot 2.tif).
• Submit paper copies of figures and a printout of the text, caption, and table files.
• Send copyright transfer forms and permissions to reprint.