Getting into Print: The Decision-Making Process in Scholarly Publishing - Couverture souple

Powell, Walter W.

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0226677052 ISBN 13 : 9780226677057

Editeur : University of Chicago Press, 1988

Synopsis

Based on extensive fieldwork at two well-known commercial publishers of scholarly books, Walter W. Powell details the different ways in which both internal politics and external networks influence decisions about what should be published. Powell focuses on the work of acquisitions editors: how they decide which few manuscripts, out of hundreds, to sponsor for publication; how editorial autonomy is shaped, but never fully curbed, by unobtrusive controls; and how the search process fits into the social structure of the American academy. Powell's observations--and the many candid remarks of publishers and their staffs--recreate the workaday world of publishing.

Throughout, the sociology of organizations and of ture serves as Powell's interpretive framework. Powell shows how scholarly publishers help define what is "good" social science research and how the history and tradition of a publishing house contribute to the development of an organizational identity. Powell's rew of actual correspondence, from outside letters proposing projects to internal "kill" letters of rejection, suggests that editors and authors at times form their own quasi-organization with external allegiances and bonds beyond those of the publishing house.

"This is a welcome addition to the literature on the life of the organizations that produce our science and our ture. Powell's intimate look at two scholarly publishing companies has an insider's appreciation of the book business and an outsider's eye for questions the editors are not asking themselves."--Michael Schudson, University of California at San Diego

" Getting Into Print will long be the book about how academic editors choose the titles they sponsor. Even experienced editors and authors will find new insights here and revealing comparisons with decision-making in other kinds of organizations.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: University of Chicago Press
• Date d'édition: 1988
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0226677052
• ISBN 13: 9780226677057
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 292
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible