Gain Access Getting Into Print: The Decision-Making Process In Scholarly Publishing Depicted By Walter W. Powell File Format Digital Version

is a rather outdated book in many ways, However, there are almost no books on the basics of the publishing industry in terms of what goes on in a traditional publishing house.

This one deals mostly with scholarly publishing, and is really a comparative case analysis with lots of academicsounding references.
But if you skip over all of that, you will find some nice little nuggets of information about how editors work, how books are chosen, what the challenges are for editors and authors, and what objections might be for a publishing house in choosing a particular title.

Authors will get little insider peeks, and those who are interested in working in the publishing industry might glean some idea of what to expect.
However, as I said, it's rather dated talking about entrylevel earningk a year yes, salaries are low, but not that low! and the reference to 'computer tape', but look for the parts that deal with the editors' decisionmaking process.

One other caveat, too this is scholarly publishing, so the emphasis is not on sales, it's on subject.
These days, prospective authors will find most publishing houses to be much interested in what their marketing plan is going to be than this book would indicate.

Worth a look, so I'm glad that my library system had it through interlibrary loan, Based on extensive fieldwork at two wellknown 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 observationsand the many candid remarks of publishers and their staffsrecreate the workaday world of publishing,

Throughout, the sociology of organizations and of culture 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 review of actual correspondence, from outside letters proposing projects to internal "kill" letters of rejection, suggests that editors and authors at times form their own quasiorganization 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 culture.
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 decisionmaking in other kinds of organizations.
"Edward Tenner, Los Angeles Times Book

"Getting Into Print is an unusually outstanding ethnographic study in that it reflects the evocative richness of detail associated with the ethnographic approach while simultaneously maintaining a clearheaded, analytical distance from the subject that allows for a meaningful theoretical contribution.
Powell is an astute ethnographer who presents a vital and compelling 'insider's view' of the decisionmaking process in scholarly publishing, making this book fascinating reading for all those involved in the 'publishorperish' syndrome.
"Barbara Levitt, American Journal of Sociology,