Book Contributor Guidelines
Completing the following proposal will help ASTD quickly evaluate if your proposed book is appropriate for our current or future publishing plans. Please answer the questions carefully and state clearly the purpose of your book, its intended audience, and how your book is different from other books on the market. It is also important to show how you intend to accomplish the goals you have set for your book by providing a detailed table of contents.
Title of the Proposed Work: Please provide the full title including any subtitles.
Single- or Multi-Authored Work: Please indicate if the proposed work is by a single author or is a collaborative work. Please supply complete contact information for each author:
Author(s):
Name
Title
Organization
Address
Phone, fax, email
Brief Description of the Work: What is your work about? Please provide a two- or three-sentence “sales pitch.” This description will help us in our evaluation process as we present the work to our internal and external reviewers.
Primary and Secondary Objectives of the Work: Please provide a one- or two-page description detailing what your book is about. Provide primary and secondary objectives for the work. For example, helping training managers make better outsourcing decisions might be a primary objective, while increasing bottom line efficiency and performance may be a secondary reason for the work.
Competition: Please provide a list of books that may be in direct and indirect competition with your work. Provide the following information about these competing products: title, author, publisher, price, publication date, a brief description of the contents, and how your book is different.
Author Qualifications: Briefly describe your qualifications to write the work. Include a comprehensive curriculum vitae or resume as an attachment. Also include a list of your previously published works.
Completion Date: Provide a realistic estimate of when your work will be ready for review.
Has the Work Been Sent to Other Publishers? If you plan to send your work to other publishers simultaneously, please list these other publishers.
Comprehensive Table of Contents: Include a comprehensive description of the contents you propose to include in each chapter.
Introduction to the Proposed Work: Include an introduction to your work.
Sample Chapter: Include a draft of at least one chapter of the work.
Manuscript and Style Format
ASTD prefers simplicity in the presentation of a manuscript. Excessive use of different formats and fonts present problems for our production professionals when it comes time to edit and code your manuscript and to lay out the pages and increase production time. You may submit a formatted version to distinguish among various levels of heads and to show where charts, graphs, illustrations, boxes, and so on should go. However, separate text files and graphic files when you submit the electronic files of your manuscript. Here are some other basic guidelines that will help us get your book published. Happy writing!
Style and Tone
Write in the active voice instead of the passive voice. For example, “an article was sent” is passive; “the writer sent an article” is active. The active voice clearly shows who (or what) is carrying out the action.
Avoid jargon and technical terms, but if you must use them, define them.
Spell out abbreviations at the first use.
Use gender-inclusive language (“he or she” rather than just “he”).
Write in a conversational tone of voice.
Your writing should be crisp and clear with the goal of conveying information to the reader. Don’t hide your point behind long complex sentences that the reader must read twice to digest. Remember, the goal is to keep the reader interested and moving forward through the book.
Permissions
It is the author’s responsibility to seek out proper permissions for copyrighted material. Make sure that all permissions are in hand before submitting your final manuscript.
Book Components
Use references for direct quotations from a source and for paraphrases of specific ideas and findings. No references are needed for widely known and unattributed information, such as the fact that the number of women entering management is increasing. Refer to sources in text in the form: Author name (year). For example, Everett M. Rogers (1995) laid the groundwork in this area.
Here are examples of ASTD’s preferred style for bibliography entries:
Individual Authors:
Rothwell, W., and H. Sredl. (1992). The ASTD Reference Guide to Professional Human Resource Development Roles and Competencies, 2d edition.
Amherst, MA: HRD Press.
Publisher as Author:
American Society for Training & Development. (1997). Trends That Affect Learning and Performance Improvement: A Report to the Members of the ASTD Benchmarking Forum, 3d edition. Alexandria, VA: Author.
Chapter in a Book:
Schwandt, D. (1995a). “Learning as an Organization: A Journey into Chaos.” In S. Chawla and J. Renesch, editors, Learning Organizations: Developing Cultures for Tomorrow’s Workplace. Portland, OR: Productivity Press.
Journal Articles:
Lado, A., and M. Wilson. (1994). “Human Resource Systems and Sustained Competitive Advantage: A Competency-Based Perspective.” Academy of Management Review, 19(4): 699-727.
Slocum, J., M. McGill, and D. Lei. (1994, Autumn). “The New Learning Strategy: Anytime, Anything, Anywhere.” Organizational Dynamics, 33-47.
Website:
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (1996, June). “Occupational Outlook Handbook: Roman Catholic Priests.” Available at http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos063.htm.
If you choose not to include references in your manuscript, please provide other helpful resources (such as bibliographic citations not used as source material, Web site URLs where applicable, and so on) in a section titled “Additional Resources.” Of course, you may include additional resources in addition to the references.
Format
Do not bold or italicize text.
Do not use different type fonts within the same manuscript.
Do not indent text except to begin a new paragraph. Use a hanging indent for the references.
Do not use tabs around or within text.
Do not capitalize text for emphasis or use quotation marks except around a direct quotation.
Provide double-spaced pages, 12-point type on 8.5 x 11 inch white paper.
Use one side of the paper only.
Use margins of at least 1.5 inches at the top, bottom, and sides.
Number all pages.
Use left justification with ragged-right margins.
If you use footnotes, do not imbed them into the text file document. Place a superscript numeral reference at the place in the text where the footnote is referenced, but place the actual footnote text with corresponding superscript numeral at the end of the particular chapter where the footnote is referenced.
Preparing Your Graphics
Use tables and figures only if they enhance reader understanding of the manuscript. Refer to figures and tables in text and explain their purpose, but do not repeat the information contained within the tables or figures.
Do not include more than five tables and five figures per chapter of your manuscript.
Do not imbed tables and figures within the text file document. Instead, make each table and figure its own file and label each table and figure file as in these examples:
ch1tab2.doc (this is the document name for chapter 1, table 2)
ch13tab4.doc (this is the document name for chapter 13, table 4)
ch4fig1.doc (this is the document name for chapter 4, figure 1)
ch10fig3.doc (this is the document name for chapter 10, figure 3).
Provide a printout of each table and figure on separate sheets of paper attached to the end of the hard copy of the chapter that features the tables and figures. Important: Within the text document, type a directional note for the editor to “place table 1 here” or “place figure 4 here” for each table and figure included in the chapter.
Technical Specifications
Send your manuscript on an IBM-compatible, 3.5-inch floppy disk or a CD-ROM that has been scanned for viruses.
Use Microsoft Word 7.0 (Windows 98 or better) for PCs and write the program used on the diskette or CD label.
.EPS and .TIF are acceptable file formats for figures.
For tables and figures, submit original electronic files together with any supporting electronic artwork (clip art).
Screen captures from the Internet must refer to the original URL. Provide hard copy for these also.
Screen captures should be saved as .JPG files and the .JPG files should be submitted on a disk with the manuscript.
Submit original PowerPoint documents.
Do not submit Excel documents.
Style Guides
ASTD uses the Chicago Manual of Style as its definitive guide for style. Most questions regarding language style or specific usage such as preferred abbreviations can be found in this publication.
Send Completed Materials to
Mark Morrow
Manager, Acquisitions and Development
ASTD Press
1640 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22313-2043
mmorrow@astd.org (E-mail)
703.683.9205 (Phone)
703.683.9591 (Fax)
