Author's Guide 

This guide has been assembled to help you through the process of preparing your manuscript for publication. What we'll be covering here are the most common issues that arise for authors and editors. If, after reading this, you find yourself with questions about what you've seen (or about things we've left out) contact your editor or editorial assistant. They will be able to give you advice suited to the particulars of your project.

A few important things to keep in mind early on...

• If you will be reproducing copyrighted material in your book, you will need to turn in the necessary permissions at the same time that you turn in your completed manuscript. Getting permissions can take months, and delays with permissions can mean delays for your book, so start the process EARLY (after discussing it with your editor).
  
  
• If your book contains material from interviews you've conducted, you will need your interviewees to sign an Interview Release Form (Word doc). Getting them to sign the form at the time of the interview will save you from having to go back later.
  
  
• The University of Michigan Press uses The Chicago Manual of Style (latest edition, www.chicagomanualofstyle.org) and Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (latest edition, www.merriam-webster.com) for style, capitalization, spelling, and hyphenation guides. If you'd like to follow a different disciplinary style manual, please let us know.
  
  
• We ask that you make every effort to use bias-free and gender-neutral language.

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Before you begin preparing your manuscript, check to make sure that its length does not exceed the length stipulated in your contract. When doing your word count, be sure to count all parts of the text manuscript, including notes, bibliography, and appendixes. If your manuscript is over its limit, your editor will likely return it to you for cutting.

• All text must be double-spaced, including quoted material, notes, captions, reference lists, and bibliographies.
  
  
• Please use Times New Roman or a similar serif font for all elements of your manuscript.
  
  
• Avoid using different fonts and font sizes and styles.
  
  
• Use a single method to insert accented letters, diacritics, or special characters selected from built-in character sets whenever possible. Let your acquisitions editor know if you used special programs or graphics.
  
  
• Leave a 1 1/2 inch margin on the left and a 1 inch margin on the top, right, and bottom.
  
  
• Paginate the manuscript consecutively from beginning to end, starting with the Arabic number "1" on the half title page (the page containing only the title).
  
  
• Do not use Roman numerals for the front matter.
  
  
• Page numbers should appear in the top right corner of each page.
  
  
• Do not insert headers or footers (e.g., for chapter names or numbers or dates).
  
  
• Type headings in upper/lower case. Do not use all capitals to indicate heads or subheads; the book designer will determine the final style. Type headings that are equivalent in importance in the same style.
  
  
• Make the different head levels in the text easy to follow by using consistent, simple formatting. For example:
  
  
  • 1st level head (chapter titles) is centered
  • 2nd level head (first subhead) flush left followed by an extra line space above and below
  • 3rd level head (second level subhead) flush left without an extra line space below
    
    
• Use the tag \ls\ on a single line to represent a space break, i.e., to let us know you want/need additional space between two paragraphs to indicate a break in thought, and you do not intend to use a subhead.
  
  
• Use the tab key rather than the space bar to align tabular material.
  
  
• Turn off your program's automatic hyphenation option.
  
  
• Do not use custom spacing or add typographic ornaments to your text. It's natural to want to beautify your final manuscript, but any such formatting has to be removed before the project can enter copyediting or production.
  
  
• Make sure there is no hidden text in the final version of the manuscript (including comments embedded in your software's "tracking changes" feature). All such text will be removed unread.
  
  
• To insert notes, use your software's built-in endnotes feature, being sure not to reset any of the default options. All formatting (including determining size and style) will be performed by the typesetter.
  
  
• In edited collections, notes will appear in the published book at the end of each essay.
  
  
• In all other books, the notes will appear at the end of the book. Toward that end, the separate chapter notes will eventually need to be moved into a single "notes" file. If you are able to move the notes yourself, we encourage you to do so. Otherwise, you may leave them at the end of the chapter, and your editor's assistant will move them for you.
  
  
• Text callouts for notes should be superscript Arabic numbers, starting with 1 in each chapter. Be sure to set them in Times New Roman, size 12.
  
  
• If your book has tables or figures, indicate their placement in the text by using consecutively numbered placement callouts set off by backwards slashes: \Insert Fig 1 about here \ or \Insert Table 1 about here\. The callouts should appear after the paragraph in which the table or figure is referenced. Callouts should never appear in the middle of a paragraph.
  
  
• The Press will need one clean copy of your manuscript and an identical version saved on an electronic storage medium (disk, CD, etc.) The content of the printed manuscript and the disk versions must match exactly. Label the disk with your name, the title of the book, and the software program and version used (preferably WordPerfect or Microsoft Word) and platform (Mac, Windows), and be sure to add the date when the disk was made. Doing so helps us manage multiple versions of manuscript and files prepared at different times. See Naming Your Files.
  
  
• Please gather all figure captions into a double-spaced list and save the list in a separate file named "captions."
  
  
• Be sure the contents and chapter titles are identical.
  
  
• The manuscript should be printed single-sided on 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper; for overseas authors, ISO A4 paper is also acceptable.
  
  
• If your manuscript consists of primarily previously published material, consult your editor about how it should be prepared.
  
  
• Secure pages with a rubber band; do not bind manuscripts in any way, three-hole-punch, attach pages to one another, or insert blank pages.
  
  
• All components of the manuscript must be submitted at the same time as the text, including permissions, photographs, captions, figures, and other illustrative material. Copyediting will not begin on your book until we have everything we need.
  
  

If you anticipate needing to make further corrections, updates, or additions to the manuscript, please make them before sending the manuscript to the Press. Waiting to make extensive corrections could seriously delay your book's publication and result in your being charged for expensive alterations.

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Naming Your Files 

When saving your files to CD or disk, please observe the following naming conventions:

For front matter, all material should be saved in one file named "front matter."

For the main text, each chapter (or, for edited collections, each essay) should be saved in a separate file. Give each file a descriptive name that clearly identifies the order in which the chapter or essay will appear in the book.

For back matter, each item should be saved separately, named so as to indicate its contents.

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Placement of Items in the Manuscript (Humanities) 

Number manuscript pages consecutively in the following order:

Front Matter

Page 1: Half Title Page (with title only)
Page 2: Title Page (with title and subtitle and author name)
Dedication or epigraph (if any)
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments (if not part of the preface)
Contents
List of illustrations (usually not necessary)
List of tables (usually not necessary)
List of abbreviations or chronology (usually not necessary)

Body

Text

Back Matter

Appendix(es) (if any)
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography/References
Tables
Captions
Copies of figures/illustrations/photographs (one per page)
Copies of maps (one per page)

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Placement of Items in the Manuscript (Social Sciences) 

Number manuscript pages consecutively in the following order:

Front Matter

Page 1: Half Title Page (with title only)
Page 2: Title Page (with title and subtitle and author name)
Dedication or epigraph (if any)
Contents
List of illustrations (usually not necessary)
List of tables (usually not necessary)
List of abbreviations or chronology (usually not necessary)
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments (if not part of the preface)

Body

Text

Back Matter

Appendix(es) (if any)
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography/References
Tables
Captions
Copies of figures/illustrations/photographs (one per page)
Copies of maps (one per page)

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Placement of Items in an Edited Collection (Humanities) 

Number manuscript pages consecutively in the following order:

Front Matter

Page 1: Half Title Page (with title only)
Page 2: Title Page (with title and subtitle and editor name)
Dedication or epigraph, if any
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments (if not part of the preface)
Contents
List of illustrations (usually not necessary)
List of tables (usually not necessary)
List of abbreviations or chronology (usually not necessary)

For Each Chapter

Text
Appendix(es)
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Tables
Captions
Photocopies of figures/illustrations/photographs (one per page)
Photocopies of maps (one per page)

Back Matter

List of contributors

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Placement of Items in an Edited Collection (Social Sciences) 

Number manuscript pages consecutively in the following order:

Front Matter

Page 1: Half Title Page (with title only)
Page 2: Title Page (with title and subtitle and editor name)
Dedication or epigraph, if any
Contents
List of illustrations (usually not necessary)
List of tables (usually not necessary)
List of abbreviations or chronology (usually not necessary)
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments (if not part of the preface)

For Each Chapter

Text
Appendix(es)
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Tables
Captions
Photocopies of figures/illustrations/photographs (one per page)
Photocopies of maps (one per page)

Back Matter

List of contributors

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Information for Editors of Edited Collections 

If you are the editor of a volume featuring contributions from a number of authors, you will be responsible for ensuring that all of the material listed in the Placement of Items section (Humanities or Social Sciences) is provided to the Press. You will also need to make sure that all the authors have prepared their essays following our Manuscript Preparation guidelines. As volume editor, you will also need to instruct your contributors to use a consistent reference style, if appropriate. Please be aware that our copy editors will not convert MLA style documentation to Chicago, or vice versa.

You can find further information about your role during the copyediting process here.

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Preparing Illustrations 

For detailed information about the requirements for reproducing artwork in your book, please consult the Digital Art Requirements for Submission guide (pdf) created by the Association of American University Presses.

Web Images

Photos, drawings, charts, graphs, and maps copied from Web pages are typically at too low a resolution to be of print publication quality. It's often necessary to go to the source of the image to get a copy of sufficient resolution.

Digital Photographs

As with the Internet, consumer-grade digital cameras cannot always produce images of acceptable technical quality. For that reason, we prefer prints, slides, or transparencies from film cameras or digital photographs taken by professional photographers.

If photos from a consumer-grade digital camera are your only option, be sure to get one with 5 or more megapixels of resolution. (This will allow for an image size of approximately 5 in. x 7 in. at 300 pixels per inch.) Use the highest quality setting (minimum compression setting). Depending on the camera, this highest setting may be "fine," "high quality," or "uncompressed."

High resolution in and of itself does not guarantee high quality photos. The image sensors and the lens in digital cameras vary widely in quality, which can dramatically affect final photo quality.

Be careful: some digital cameras feature "interpolation" or resampling to artificially increase the resolution of the image. Be aware that interpolation cannot add detail that was never there.

Digital cameras often use the JPEG file format to store images. This format discards some visual information in order to make the file sizes smaller. Choose the TIFF file format if available on your camera.

Do not perform any alterations to your photos.

• Do not crop the image
• Do not resize the image
• Do not make any color corrections
• Do not make brightness, contrast, or sharpness changes
• Do not convert from color to back-and-white even if your photos will be printed in black-and-white

When in doubt, submit samples to your editor for evaluation.

When submitting your artwork...

Do NOT embed tables and figures in the text files. That is, they should NOT appear with the text.

Collect tables in a separate file named Tables and collect figures in a different file named Figures.

If you will be submitting illustrations on disk, clearly label each disk with the software and hardware used to create the artwork, adding your name, the title of the book, and the date.

If you will be submitting original artwork for us to scan (e.g., photographs or line art), please label them to designate which image is which. Do not write on the original art or use paperclips. Sticky notes affixed to the back of the art are often a good solution. Make a photocopy of all of the artwork (illustrations, charts, etc.) and clearly identify each piece on the photocopy.

A special note about artwork for volume editors...

For edited collections, volume editors should assemble all art for the volume and submit it with the final manuscript. Do not have your contributors send materials to the Press. If you are unsure about the quality of art you receive, or have questions about how to instruct your contributors, please contact your editor's assistant. Once you've collected all of the artwork, place photocopies of each item at the end of the essay in which it is to appear and number them, starting with 1 at each new essay.

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Permissions and Acknowlegments 

It is your responsibility to obtain permission to use copyrighted material, such as artwork (including figures and tables not of your own making), prose, poetry, lyrics, music, diaries, letters, and maps. Given the complexities of copyright law, we are limited here to mentioning just some of the most common issues you're likely to confront.

As of this writing (2008), any work published after 1923 should be presumed to be in copyright. Anything published prior to 1923 is in the public domain and can be used freely (with proper attribution). As of 1978, copyright remains in effect for the length of the author's life, plus 75 years. In most instances, you can assume that material copyrighted in countries outside of the US will fall under the same rules as material copyrighted within the U.S.

Lolly Gasaway's on-line chart (www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm) is a helpful resource for determining when works pass into the public domain.

A great resource for more detailed information on copyright and fair use issues is the Web site maintained by the Stanford University libraries at http://fairuse.stanford.edu/.

Whenever possible, we encourage authors incorporating copyrighted material into their own work to keep within the bounds of fair use (giving proper acknowledgment to the source). The fair use doctrine of the copyright code permits limited reproduction of copyrighted material for noncommercial purposes, including such uses as "criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research."

The copyright code (§ 107) establishes four factors to be used in determining whether a particular case qualifies as fair use:

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

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Whom to Contact for Permission 

When seeking permission for published work, it's usually safest to start with the publisher. When in doubt, you can try searching the Library of Congress online database of copyright records (only for works published since 1978): www.copyright.gov/search/

For music, you can also use the databases maintained by BMI (www.bmi.com/) and ASCAP (www.ascap.com/ace/)

For fine art and photographs, it's generally best to start with the museum that owns the artwork or with the artist's estate. Stock photographs are generally the property of their respective image bank.

For personal photographs, you'll need permission from the photographer. If individuals appear in the photograph who are not public figures, you will need their permission as well.

For unpublished letters and diaries (and similar material), you will need permission from the author or the author's estate.

If you are reprinting an essay of your own that has been previously published in a periodical (including academic journals), either in its current form or in an earlier version, you must obtain written permission from the publisher (most publishers will grant this material free of charge and without hesitation). If you retained copyright to the work, we ask for some verification of this, either a note from the publisher or a copy of your original agreement. Be aware that even if you did retain copyright, the periodical may request acknowledgment in the credit line.

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Requesting Permission 

We ask that you always make your permission request using our standard Permission Request Form (Word doc). If the copyright-holding entity insists on using its own form, you'll need to make sure they've granted you all the rights you'll need for your book. In most cases, that means "nonexclusive world rights in all languages and for all future editions, including electronic editions." If the copyright holder you've approached doesn't hold all the rights you need, you may need to approach a second copyright holder. For instance, a publisher might be able to grant only North American rights, because another publisher holds the rights to the material for the rest of the territories of the world.

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Contributors' Agreements and Permissions 

Editors of volumes by various contributors must collect and submit Contributors Agreements (Word doc) signed by each contributor to the volume. This form verifies that the author is the sole copyright owner of his/her original contribution and transfers copyright to the Press; if the work has been previously published, we must have written permission from the publisher to reprint.

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Credits and Acknowledgments 

Pay close attention to the language specified in your permissions agreements regarding credit to use the copyrighted material and use this exact language in your acknowledgments, notes, and/or captions. Check this language for accuracy when you receive your copyedited manuscript.

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Checklists 

Please complete the appropriate checklists in this section and send copies with your manuscript.

Checklist for Manuscripts 

Download checklist (word doc)

	All text is double-spaced, including block quotations, notes, reference lists, captions, and bibliographies
	Margins are 1 1/2 inch on the left and a 1 inch on the top, right, and bottom
	Pages are numbered consecutively throughout the manuscript, starting with page 1 on the half title page
	A contents page and any other prefatory material has been supplied
	Notes are in the appropriate place
	All manuscript components are in the correct order
	All illustration files and original artwork are clearly labeled, and copies appear at the end of the manuscript
	Text placeholders in the manuscript show approximately where each illustration should appear
	A list of captions for any illustrations is supplied
	A statement for acknowledgments and permissions (if necessary) has been prepared
	CD or disk containing all typed text and illustrations is included, along with one single-sided copy of the manuscript
	Permissions have been cleared and forms are enclosed (if necessary)
	Interview Release Forms have been completed (if necessary)
	Author Information Form has been completed

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Checklist for Edited Collections 

Download checklist (word doc)

	All text is double-spaced, including block quotations, notes, reference lists, captions, and bibliographies
	Margins are 1 1/2 inch on the left and a 1 inch on the top, right, and bottom
	Pages are numbered consecutively throughout the manuscript, starting with page 1 on the title page
	A contents page and any other prefatory material has been supplied
	Notes are at the end of each chapter
	All manuscript components are in the correct order
	All illustration files and original artwork are clearly labeled, and copies appear at the end of the manuscript
	Text placeholders in the manuscript show approximately where each illustration should appear
	A contributors section containing brief (1 paragraph) bio and affiliations is supplied
	A list of captions for any illustrations is supplied
	A statement for acknowledgments and permissions (if necessary) has been prepared
	A CD or disk containing all typed text and illustrations is included, along with one single-sided copy of the manuscript
	Permissions have been cleared and forms are enclosed (if necessary)
	Interview Release Forms have been completed (if necessary)
	Contributors' Agreements have been gathered and the originals sent the Press
	Author Information Form has been completed

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For Final Submission of Your Manuscript 

All authors print and include with ms

Printable version (word doc)

Date:

Title:

Author/Editor:

Type of computer used (Mac or PC):

Word-processing program used:

Number of CDs or disks:

Is there anything other than straight text in any part of your book, for example, scientific formulae, mathematical symbols, foreign-language accents or characters, icons?

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In-House Process: From Manuscript to Published Book 

Copyediting and Scheduling 

After you submit the final approved manuscript, your acquisitions editor and assistant will prepare it for the next stages in the production process. A copy of the manuscript and its accompanying CD or disk is transmitted to the copyediting department for editing, while a second copy of the manuscript, including all art materials, is transmitted to the production department for book design. A tentative production schedule for the book is set.

Once in the copyediting department, the manuscript is assigned to a copyediting coordinator, who will contact you and give you a basic schedule for the editing and proofing stages of the process. Copyediting is generally scheduled for four to eight weeks, depending on the length and complexity of the manuscript, the method of editing, and the Press's overall workload. The copy editor will edit for spelling, grammar, consistency, cross-referencing, sentence structure, and style, following the conventions of The Chicago Manual of Style (latest edition, www.chicagomanualofstyle.org). Style includes capitalization, punctuation, hyphenation, and treatment of numbers.

The edited manuscript will be sent to you to review, to answer any queries, and to return within two to three weeks. Do not erase or obliterate the editing marks on the manuscript. Short comments or answers to questions may be written in a separate note. If you make a change, such as in the spelling of a name, do so consistently throughout. The manuscript will not be reread when you return it, but it will be checked for your responses to questions. This is your last opportunity to make changes without charge. If you would like a copy of the edited manuscript for yourself, you should make one at this time.

It is important to meet the deadline given to you. A delay of a few days may result in a loss of weeks in the typesetter's or printer's schedule. If you know in advance that you will be unavailable at a certain time, please let your editor know.

The edited manuscript is set directly into page proof. You will have a chance to read the proof. Generally, you should expect to receive page proof within two to three months from when you return the copyedited manuscript.

For editors of edited collections...

As volume editor, you must be prepared to resolve any questions raised by the copy editor and to contact contributors if you find it necessary. We will not be sending the copyedited essays to the individual contributors for review. You will ultimately be responsible for the factual accuracy, consistency, and good taste of the essays.

If you think it advisable, you may send the contributors the edited manuscript or the proof of their chapters, but you will be responsible for making sure they return the manuscript to you with their corrections in time for you to meet your deadline. We ask that you transfer the contributors' corrections onto your complete manuscript or set of proof and return it to the Press.

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Proofreading 

Read the page proof word for word. Answer any queries, and fill in any page numbers that are missing. Make all corrections in the margins, indicating with a caret in the text line where the correction is to go. Check cross-references and note numbers again.

If your book is to have an index, you will be sent two sets of page proof. Use the second set of proof for compiling the index. Return the proofread page proof with your typed index and corresponding disk. You may keep the second set of proof.

Please be aware that alterations on proof can be very expensive. See your contract for the terms of charges for making alterations on proof. (This does not include the correction of typesetters' errors.)

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Indexing 

Assuming you are responsible for producing the index for your book (consult your contract if you're not sure), it's a good idea to talk to your editor about it before you begin. Your editor may have preferences with regard to length or style that you'll want to keep in mind.

When it comes to assembling the index, we recommend you consult chapter 18 of the www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/, which is full of valuable guidance.

Another excellent resource is the American Society for Indexing www.asindexing.org.

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Jackets and Covers 

Jacket or cover copy is prepared early in the production of your manuscript, based on the promotional information you provide in your Author Information Form (Word doc). Your ideas regarding the design of the jacket (for hardbound books) and cover (for paperbound books), including suggestions of art, are welcome at the time you submit your manuscript to your editor. While we appreciate your input and take your ideas seriously, our professionally trained designers and marketing staff have the final authority on jacket/cover designs and text.

The design is done separately from the text design and is finalized among Press staff at the last stage of production.

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Promotion and Advertising 

A marketing campaign for your book begins in advance of publication. The marketing department will use the information you provide to develop review lists, press releases, conference set-ups, targeted emails and electronic marketing, and opportunities for space advertising. This information is transferred via the Marketing Information Form, which provides the foundation of our efforts to target the best possible market opportunities for your book, so thorough answers on this document are essential. Please also continue to send us information such as new speaking events and possible sales leads as marketing efforts continue.

When the time comes, the marketing manager assigned to your book will send you the Marketing Information Form, usually via e-mail. You will see that it is broken up into questions about your own contacts, potential review publications, awards, exhibits, conferences, and Web marketing information. Please contact your marketing manager with any questions as you complete the form. Once this form is returned, your marketing manager will be checking in with you periodically to let you know how marketing efforts are progressing.

If you have a web site or blog, please contact the Press webmaster at ump.webmaster@umich.edu for web site guidelines.

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Page Proof to Completed Book 

After you have returned your page proof, it will be corrected by the typesetter and proofed by U of M Press staff until all errors are corrected. If your book has an index, it is edited, typeset, and proofread during this time. You will not be sent the index to proofread.

When everything is complete, the entire book is assembled, artwork and all, and sent to a printer. From this point it is generally two months until the bound books arrive at our warehouse.

An official publication date is set once bound books arrive in the warehouse; this date depends on a variety of factors, including our marketing plan for the book. During this time, books are sent to reviewers, complimentary copies are mailed, and books are put on deposit at the Library of Congress for copyright registration. Books are copyrighted in the name of the University of Michigan unless your contract specifies otherwise.

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Royalty Statements 

Royalties are calculated semiannually as of March 31 and September 30. Statements are generated in June and in December, respectively, and are mailed to the address we have on file for you. Therefore, to ensure you receive your royalty statements and payments, please notify your editor if your address changes after you sign your contract. Refer to your contract for specific royalty arrangements.

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Ordering Books 

Books can be ordered through our distributor using the contact information on the Press's Web site at www.press.umich.edu/ordering.jsp. Let the customer service representative know of your author discount as specified in your contract.

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