Writing for the UKCP/Karnac book series
In 2005, UKCP combined forces with Karnac Books, a specialist in psychotherapy and mental health publishing, to develop a joint imprint. Here are the five stages of getting your book published within the UKCP/Karnac series.
Stage 1: Formulating the book idea and pulling it together
First and most important: decide on the theme for your book. The confirmed title may come later but it's useful to choose a draft title at this stage.
You will first need to contact the UKCP office. You will be registered on the UKCP authors database and given a book series number to use on all your paper work. You will also be given a list of all the paperwork you need to send. This includes:
- a short biography (maximum one page)
- a chapter outline (chapter titles and summaries of the contents of each chapter)
- a sample of your writing (preferably a chapter from the intended book, otherwise something similar)
- a raison d'être or intention and purpose of the book (maximum one page)
- a 300-400 word summary and overall description
- the readership the book is aimed at - general public, introductory, student, professional - or projected audience
- a review of competing literature, where your proposed book would fit and how it might be different and add to the literature (maximum one page)
- your contact details: your phone numbers, email and full postal address. Should your submission be accepted, we also need to know how much time you will need for writing the book.
Please always include your book series number at the beginning of any computer file names and in the header area on each of your documents. I know it's horrible being a number but, given that we have nearly 100 book submissions, this number helps us not to get in a muddle.
So to conclude stage 1: please send all your paperwork to UKCP.
Stage 1 contact:
Stage 2: The Independent Assessment
Once all your paperwork is in, it will be forwarded to Pippa Weitz. Together with members of the Editorial Board, she will choose an independent assessor. Usually this is a member of UKCP with writing and publishing experience; just occasionally we ask someone outside UKCP for a second opinion.
Once the assessment is complete, it goes to the Editorial Board for a decision on whether to accept the book, reject it or suggest that your proposal needs more work.
Rejection: if your book is rejected, I write and break the bad news. This does not need to be the end of the story, there can be all sorts of reasons for rejecting your work which may have nothing to do with the quality. It may simply not be suitable for the UKCP series which generally, but not exclusively, promotes publications addressed at professionals.
What you can do: rewrite the proposal, join our UKCP authors' on-line forum and get support and new ideas; come to one of our writers' workshops.
Needs more work: this is very common, perhaps because an author has not adequately considered the other literature available, or the target readership. Also, the process is new for first-time-authors and, however good your idea, you may just need some help on style.
What you can do: rewrite the proposal, join our UKCP authors' on-line forum and get support and new ideas; come to one of our writers' workshops. We are working on introducing mentors for this group of budding authors.
Acceptance: well, this is fantastic as it's no mean feat to get this far! I issue you two copies of a letter of agreement between UKCP and yourself along with a copy of the contract between UKCP and Karnac. You need to sign the letters and return one copy to me. And you start writing!
There are two issues to think about at this stage. First, you will need to provide permissions to quote from other people's materials. Details about this are in the notes for authors that we send along with your contract.
The second issue is confidentiality. This is fundamental to the work of psychotherapy. You will need to address how you are going to deal with this. You could use fictitious examples (although clients may imagine themselves to be that person). Or you may decide to change identifying details and obtain clients' permissions.
Stage 2 contact: Pippa Weitz,
Stage 3: Writing your book
Once your letter of agreement is signed, you and your book will be placed into Karnac Books' scheduling system.
You will now be working with Oliver Rathbone at Karnac. You will be provided with Karnac's Instructions to Authors and should prepare your manuscript in accordance with this.
Some people have already formulated their book in detail when they apply, others have to start from scratch. There is no fixed time for writing a book, that's up to you. However, when you confirm how much time you need to do the work please allow enough time to truly complete it, this is because if you run late in submitting your manuscript it messes up the entire publishing schedule. Even at an early stage there is a lot of behind the scenes work at Karnac, particularly marketing as Karnac markets worldwide, especially in Australia and the USA.
Karnac will ask for your help for marketing ideas as there is no one who knows your market like you do! Your book will have an ISBN number assigned at this stage.
Stage 3 contact: Oliver Rathbone
Stage 4: The Book Production Process
Once your manuscript is complete, it starts its journey through the schedules. This takes about a year to 18 months.
You need to send your manuscript to Karnac for the attention of Oliver. Usually this is by email unless there are drawings or other items that need explanation.
Around six months before the publication date your manuscript will be assessed to make sure it complies with the Karnac Instructions for Authors. Our editors then go through the manuscript and raise any other issues, such as missing references.
You will then receive first page proofs which you will need to go through and let Karnac know if there are any mistakes or corrections. However, at this stage you cannot make any additions or changes to your manuscript. The editors then incorporate your changes and your book is sent for printing.
At the same time Karnac will be working on the book cover and the detailed marketing of the book.
Things that can hold up production:
- not being able to read your emailed files which should be submitted in Word format
- not having got all the permissions and copyrights
Stage 4 contact: Oliver Rathbone
Stage 5: Publication
When your book is printed we can publish it - that means launch it! Karnac and UKCP work together to ensure the highest profile for your new publication.
Stage 5 contacts:
Oliver Rathbone
Philippa Weitz
UK Council for Psychotherapy | Registered Charity No. 1058545 | Company No. 3258939 Registered in England
