Dr. Maureen Tam 28 February 2012 HOW THIS BOOK CAME TO BE Dr. Maureen Tam 28 February 2012

Thanks

Sharing of experience Writing and publishing a book is a daunting task and an incredible experience So many memories – happy, unhappy and painful

Origin of the book 5 papers from Inaugural 2009 Public Seminars in Elderly Learning Planned and organised by Prof. Richard Bagnall The other 5 chapters are additional invited chapters Added to the range of issues and perspectives focused on ageing and learning Richard wrote the Foreword for the book

Finding the publisher Prominent publisher – International Publishers Springer Included as Vol. 14 in book series “Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects” Prof. Rupert Maclean is Series Editor

Steps taken to publish the book Submitting a book proposal Issuance of a publishing contract Manuscript for external review Revision of manuscript for second (or more) review Submitting the final manuscript Development of a production timetable Copyediting and printing

1. Submitting a book proposal Highlight the theme, originality or uniqueness of the book Appeal to the academic community to which the book is targeted Include an annotated table of contents, an introduction and a few sample chapters Initial review by Series Editor and Springer’s development editor.

2. Issuance of a publishing contract The publishing contract was issued upon acceptance of the proposal Listing the terms and conditions, including copyright issues and the timeframe for writing, developing and publishing the book.

3. Manuscript for external review Given 6-9 months to finish the manuscript Internal review by editors before submission for external review Then sent manuscript to Springer for external review

4. Revision of manuscript for second (or more) review External review took 3-4 months Need to address reviewers’comments and suggestions for changes Most difficult, yet crucial part in the process Thought of giving up and quitting Greatest pain is to get other authors to revise Human nature to be defensive and uncooperative Revision took another 3 months before submission for the second/final review

5. Submitting the final manuscript Reviewers responded positively to the changes and revisions Next stage is editing and formatting to suit Springer’s house style and requirements Using Springer’s standard template Tedious and onerous task Cleaned up the manuscript for final submission

6. Development of a production timetable Springer assigned a copyeditor to take charge of final production and printing Agreed on a production timetable Continuous revision to the manuscript to answer queries raised by the copyeditor

7. Copyediting and printing Last stage of production Copyedited and proofread by copyeditor Checked and approved by authors Published the book in print form and on the web for wider dissemination

Concluding remarks The whole process took almost two years from early 2010 to October 2011 Book came out in November 2011 Has been a grueling and long journey, but a rewarding one at the end

Thanks again