Academic Publishing

 Katha is a leading publisher of translations in India . It is, today, also emerging as a strong presence in academic publishing, with considerable strengths in translation and cultural studies.

At Katha, we are currently enhancing our publishing activity in the following ways:

• Enhancing the profile of our scholarly publishing in order to offer the best and most interesting scholarship/writings, from India and outside on Indian literature and film studies, especially designed and written for students in universities and colleges in India where bhasha literatures are studied, using major literary criticism and critical theories.
• Restructuring our college publishing initiative to focus on and deliver books for the needs of students in small-town colleges, and for inter-disciplinary work.

We are keen to receive proposals for books on subjects in the Humanities, specifically Indian literature, translation studies, culture studies and women's studies.

Guidelines for Proposals

Preparing your proposal To tell us more about your book we need to know the working title, your reasons for writing, what the book will cover, the expected readership and information about you and other authors or contributors.

Content We need to know as much as possible about the proposed structure and content of the book, the subject area and the way you will present the content. Some important questions that we take into consideration are:

• Why do you think a book needs to be written on your proposed topic?
• What themes, concepts and ideas will you develop that will make it different from any already in the market?
• If you have already prepared one or more sample chapters, you could send it to us for reviewing.

Readership Please tell us the readership you have in mind for the book. Please be specific and realistic in identifying your readership as we would want the book to be as widely read as possible.

About the authors/editors Please give a brief account of each author or editor's present academic interests and position or professional affiliation. If the book is an edited volume, please also provide the names and affiliations of each contributor, together with an indication of whether or not they have agreed to contribute to the volume, at least in principle.

Your initial proposal should include:

• Tentative title
• General overall account of content of book, list of chapters and indication of content of each chapter
• Intended completion date

Selection

• The proposal is first reviewed to see if it fits our editorial mission. This will be done by our in-house editor.
• It may also be sent to one or two external reviewers.
• Once the proposal is accepted a Katha editor will work along with you see the book to the final stages.

GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

• Over the years we have developed an editorial style typical to Katha, which helps us ensure consistency in all our books.
• We prefer shorter sentences, lucid writing, as little technical words as possible, without sacrificing on the quality of the writing or on the content. We prefer language that is clear, sharp and concise.

Submission of Final Manuscript

• It is vital that your manuscript is in sound editorial shape when you submit it to Katha. This means that all copy-editing should be complete following the Katha style sheet. In case you have not been sent one, please do request your editor for a copy.
• All facts should be checked, all spellings checked for accuracy and consistency throughout the book, and all bhasha words footnoted and explained as fully as possible.
• Katha respects you as the subject expert. Katha does not take responsibility for accuracy of facts and dates, completing footnotes and bibliographies. And while our editors will do everything possible to ensure that incorrect matter is not printed, the final responsibility will lie with you as the editor of the volume.
• Katha places emphasis on readability, that is, use of language which is grammatically correct and reader-friendly, even as it expresses complex ideas Please do keep spellings consistent throughout; the structure of your manuscript (chapters, heading and subheadings) should be clear.
• Please follow The Chicago Manual of Style, fourteenth edition. Chicago – London (The University of Chicago Press) latest version.
• We do not accept typescripts that are not accompanied by a soft copy. We prefer this as it not only speeds up the typesetting process, but also ensures that the text you have keyed in correctly remains so. We encourage you to send your manuscript in a disk along with a typewritten manuscript (typescript). 

In submitting electronic files of your typescript, please observe the following:

• Save your files in Microsoft Word format unless we have given you other specific advice.
• Label all disks with your name, the book title, the programme used and the date.
• Make certain that the disks and the double-spaced hard copy that you send to us are the final version and are identical. Keep an exact back-up copy on disk or on your computer and, a complete, paginated hard copy for easy reference during copy-editing.
• Number your pages in one sequence throughout the typescript.
• Make sure that special characters are clear. If your computer cannot reproduce an accent or special character, please write it clearly on the hard copy. We prefer minimum use of diacritical, as far as possible.
• If your book contains tables, please avoid using complex commands for laying out their content.

Formatting Guidelines

• We cannot normally accept a disk and typescript where any part of the text, for example, a chapter, is missing.
• Please use the same-size type throughout the entire typescript including quotations, notes, references, and bibliography. Ideally, this should be 11 or 12 point, with double spacing.
• Please leave minimum margins of 1.5 inches on all four sides as margin.. The copy-editor will need this space for annotations. 
• Use only a single space after each punctuation mark including full stops. Use a space before opening quotes but not before any other punctuation mark. 
• Use a single return at the end of a paragraph. If an extra empty line space is needed to indicate transitions, please use one extra return for and indicate transition with a -------- or ***.
• Please place all commas and full stops before closing inverted commas. All semi-colons and colons come after.
• For punctuation dashes please use a double hyphen — with a space before and after.
• We use double quotation marks.

Language Guidelines

• Use (British) spellings conforming to the Concise Oxford Dictionary but retain American spelling if part of name or title. Katha uses American spellings in some cases, like in the use of z instead of s. For example, “organize,” and not “organise,” and “organization” instead of “organisation.”
• Be careful of using your word-processing software's “spell checker” (this may use an American dictionary).
• Bhasha Terms and Words: Use the international term if there is one. Otherwise, approximate the spoken word. Footnote every word/phrase you have italicized.
• Please remember Katha never italicizes words from the Indian languages. We also reserve the right to use or not use the footnote as provided, based on the house style.

Permissions 

We request the author or editor of a volume of essays to get permission to reproduce any copyright material from the copyright holder. 

Quotation Guidelines 

Quotations should be kept to a minimum and lengthy quotations should be avoided. This is required also because copyright permissions are difficult to get.

• Copy the exact punctuation of the original. Enclose inline quotations within double quotes (for quotes within quotes, use single quotation marks). Extract quotations over 4 lines long. Reference all quotations, MLA format.
• As a general rule, quotations of more than about sixty words should be set off from the main text
• Quotations of prose passages from a bhasha should be given in English, using preferably your own translation.

Notes, References/Bibliography Guidelines 

We use endnotes. All references must be cited in Modern MLA format. The editor of the volume is responsible for standardization of reference information in the endnotes. Discussions carried out in the endnotes should be made crisp.

• Generally notes should be kept brief. Source references should be given with as little additional matter as possible.
• Notes should be numbered throughout each chapter in an unbroken sequence.
• Op. cit., loc. cit. and idem should not be used as forms of reference, but ibid. may be used.

References/Bibliography 

Your typescript should include a bibliography and should generally contain all the sources cited in the text and notes and any other important titles that you think should be included.

• In the case of multi-author volumes, the volume editor(s) will be responsible for collating all the contributors' bibliographies into a general bibliography at the end of the volume, editing for consistency and overlap as appropriate.
• Full references to books should include the following information in the specified order: author's or editor's first name(s) or initials; author's or editor's surname; complete title (including subtitle, if any); compiler or translator, if any; series title, if any; edition, if not the original; number of volumes, if applicable; place of publication; publisher's name; date of publication; volume number (preferably in roman numbers), if applicable; page number(s).
• Full references to journal articles should include the following information in the specified order: author's first name(s) or initials; author's surname; title of the article (in inverted commas); title of the journal; volume number (in arabic numbers); date of volume; page number(s), if available (without p. or pp.).
• References to manuscript material (including unpublished theses or dissertations) should include the following information in the specified order: author's first name(s) or initials; author's surname; title of document (in inverted commas); volume or batch number, where applicable; name of collection, if known; folio number, or call number, if known; depositary and where located (or academic institution with date for PhD theses and dissertations).
• Forthcoming works should be included in the reference list only if they have been accepted for publication. They should be listed as 'in press' and updated when you see the proofs. Works that have not been accepted for publication should not be in the reference list - they should be cited in the text as unpublished data or personal communications.
• It is the author's responsibility to ensure that any external websites mentioned in the book are correct and active.
• In between signing your contract and delivering your typescript you should stay in touch with your editor. It is particularly important that you let her know if your plans for the book change or if you foresee problems in fulfilling any of the terms of your contract, such as additions, deletions or delivery date. Your editor will be happy to help with any problems which may arise as you work on the typescript.
• Having read, approved, and accepted your typescript (after a final review by advisers or a series editor if necessary) for publication, your academic editor will schedule it for publishing and inform you about the editing schedule.
• Katha would be happy to take responsibility to A. check for (a) consistency in matters of capitalization, spelling, and hyphenation; (b) grammatical correctness; (c) correlation of notes with the text (Not accuracy of facts); (d) other style matters, in accordance with Katha's style sheet. B. Clarify, reorganize, or suggest other ways to present the material. Ideally, you as author/editor would have already done this, but often, the Katha editor will need to edit for substance. In any extensive reworking of the material, the author or editor is given an opportunity to see the changes made.

Proofreading 

All authors or editors of books selected for publication will receive first page-proofs, which they are expected to read carefully, check against the original manuscript, correct, and return promptly, with additional information supplied if requested, and all queries answered. The same schedule holds for return of page proofs, which are sent for confirmation and to assist in compiling an index, traditionally the author's responsibility.

Some of the volumes might require an annotated bibliography or a select bibliography as well. It will be decided upon through discussion between the Katha Academic editor and the editor or author of the volume. No author's alterations may be made once pages are made up.

If your editor sends a list of queries with the copy-edited/tracked typescript, please consult with the contributors concerned and do everything possible to return their answers by the given deadline. If you intend to send individual chapters of the proofs to the contributors, you should clearly discuss with your academic editor a deadline for returning corrections to Katha. Give yourself enough time to collate their corrections on to a single set of proofs and return this marked set to your academic editor by the agreed deadline. If contributors fail to respond by the deadline, you will need to take responsibility for proof reading their chapters; it is therefore particularly important that the final edited text of their chapters is agreed with them and they know the guidelines sent you by Katha, before the typescript is submitted for production.

All editing done by the academic editor, Katha, will be tracked, as far as possible. And all corrections so made will be okayed by you as the Book Editor.

Some Precautions 

If you need to make minor alterations to the typescript which are not on the disk, please make sure these are clearly marked in the hard copy. This is vital if we are to ensure that your preferred wording is used. Where text changes are needed please do not obliterate the original text.

Please discuss any problems with your academic editor in the first place. There is no need to supply disks when sending a draft version of your typescript to your academic editor.

Other Matters

Publishing schedules. We will make every effort to publish your work within a reasonable time once a publishing agreement has been signed by all parties concerned. When we establish the publishing schedule — usually within nine to twelve months after receipt of the final manuscript and all its parts — delays in the return of galley proofs, page proofs, or the index can result in production delays and, usually, increased costs. When a manuscript has to be rescheduled because of such delays, publication also, of course, is delayed.

Royalties: If any problems or queries on your royalty account arise, please raise them in the first instance with your academic editor who will either answer the query or pass it to the relevant member of the accounts cell. Book order: It is usually best for you to deal with your editor for occasional book purchases at authors 'discount of 33.33% on the jacket price for the first 15 copies and at 25% for all extra copies ordered, rather than contacting our marketing cell direct. The marketing cell, KathaMela, will take full responsibility to market your book. With a wide and growing network, we strive to make your book as visible as possible. Of course all help from you will be most welcome, and we would appreciate all help from your end for accessing universities, colleges, academics in India and abroad. Your editor will also look into Foreign Rights issues, investigating possible foreign-language deals. She will inform you of any such deals we secure. Copyright clearance by the author. Katha requests you to take responsibility for clearing copyright permissions on copyrighted materials you might use in your book and you will accept the liability to meet any fees incurred from your royalty payments. This is over and above any amount Katha might have contracted to pay. Katha usually pays Rs 1000 to each essayist. Short essays are paid Rs 500 a piece. Permission should be cleared by the time the final typescript is delivered to your academic editor. On request, your academic editor will supply a sample letter to adapt when approaching the rights holder, who will commonly be the original publisher of the work acting on behalf of the author. Be sure to go to the original rights holder. You may have found the item in a book where it has already been reproduced with permission. Check the acknowledgements pages to make sure – much delay and frustration can be avoided in this way. 

Information Required From the Volume Editor: The editor of a given volume should provide the academic editor with the telephone numbers and mailing addresses of the contributors, so that cheques and books can be mailed to them.

Acknowledgements Personal thanks may be placed at the end of the Preface, but formal acknowledgements may be listed separately if there are many of them (e.g. acknowledging permission to reproduce copyright materials) or if there is no preface.

Where it has been necessary to obtain written copyright permissions, details should be listed in the Acknowledgements section of your book, in addition to a full citation in the text or notes. You should prepare this yourself (though many rights holders will supply the specific wording) and send it to your academic editor as soon as all the permissions have been received. You should send copies of all your correspondence about permissions at the same time.

If all reasonable efforts to trace a rights holder fail, please write a final letter indicating that you intend to move ahead in the absence of a reply by x date (at least a month ahead). You should then add the following paragraph to your Acknowledgements: Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publisher will be pleased to make the necessary corrections at the first opportunity. Please be sure to discuss this situation with your editor before resorting to this disclamatory paragraph. Remember that a copyright holder's silence does not imply consent.

Preliminary pages when printed, these are usually numbered continuously. This thus unfortunately does NOT allow last-minute changes without disturbing the pagination of the main text. We will order and number these pages for you. Some of the items listed below are in the end pages. Not every book contains all the items below, and some may contain items not mentioned here. However, the first four pages and the Contents are virtually standard.

A Preface (could be optional) ending with your name or initials as author/editor.

An Introduction, which may form part of the prelims or be included in the text. There is no definite rule about this, but broadly speaking if it is quite short and by its nature stands outside the text, it should be in the preliminary pages; if it is long it may be better treated as an introductory chapter to the text and numbered accordingly.

A List of Abbreviations or Acronyms used in the volume, is essential. But please avoid these as far as possible.

Notes on the Contributors. Please arrange these alphabetically and give a brief résumé of each contributor's details (academic affiliation, publications, research interests, etc.). Each entry can be up to six or seven sentences long. Your academic editor will supply you with examples if you wish. Katha will not be in a position to check these out for accuracy or up-to-date information, nor will Katha add/delete materials. If any name is left out, it will be the Book Editor's responsibility. Katha will be able to add these in the second printing at a nominal additional charge.

The biographical and book blurbs that you send to us are used as far as possible to prepare catalogue and sales copy as well as the jacket copy. Returning this information with your typescript enables sales copy to be provided in advance to booksellers and library suppliers to help ensure maximum sales. Unless otherwise requested by the marketing manager responsible for your book, please address any marketing enquiries or suggestions to your main contact, the academic editor.

Please keep us informed of any events or conferences with which you are involved and at which we may be able to promote or sell your book. As soon as copies of your book are available, the marketing department will arrange despatch of review and inspection copies as appropriate.

The CLASSROOM TEXTS SERIES

These books are normally commissioned, though Katha does invite ideas from mid-career academics and scholars. These books may be structured as follows:

Section I:

Editor's Introduction.

4 theoretical essays on the theme of the book (of about 4000 words each).

Section II: 4 stories from the KPS or any other KATHA publication.

Each story should be preceded by a photograph and the biographical details of the author.

Section III:

4-5 essays on the stories (each of about 2500 words) Each of the essays should be preferably divided into two sections: An analytical study of the text bringing out the cultural context, the thematic significance, etc.

Analysis of the text as a translation, looking into the translatability of the original text ensuing problems faced by the translator, the losses through translation, its cultural specificity through the usage of specific metaphors, idioms etc.

Section IV:

An annotated bibliography. Each essay writer (of section 1) is expected to provide an annotated bibliography of all books consulted.

Section V:

(For consideration: Separate publication to be undertaken later, if need be): A workbook of about 25 pages as a practical aid for teachers and students who are using the volume in the classroom.

GUIDELINES FOR THE ESSAY WRITERS:

Each essay should be of about 4000-5000 words. Referred criticism should be updated to include recent (2002) publications. An interface between the Western and the Indian critical perspectives to be built into the

essays. The essays should be proof read and edited and should be accompanied with a floppy as a WORD file. The contributions may be sent as email attachments also, but please check with your academic editor.

An annotated bibliography of all books consulted should be provided by each essay writer.

NOTE: The book editor takes the responsibility for the overall quality of the completed manuscript and for meeting the deadlines. And for all facts and figures in the essays. Katha will not be able to take responsibility for accuracy opf information provided.

SOME IMPORTANT CLARIFICATIONS

The finished book would be of about 200 pages, including the stories taken from earlier Katha publications. The editorial fee for each of these books would be Rs.10,000 + Rs. 2000 (contingency).

Each theoretical essay writer (i.e. the essays on the general title theme, preceding the stories) would be paid Rs.1000, and Rs. 750 would be paid for each of the analytical essays.

In the case of non-availability of an appropriate translated story from Katha publications, the selected story may be commissioned for translation. The writer and the translator will in that case get Rs.750/- each. Permissions from the writer may please be procured by the editor.