This edition brings advice to authors fully into the age of the Internet, the World Wide Web, and the electronic book and journal. Although many technological, economic, and professional issues about electronic publishing remain unresolved, confusion is beginning to give way to clarity. The last chapter of this book, which is entirely new, is meant to describe current practices and, perhaps more important, to encourage authors to explore technology not only as a way of communicating knowledge but also as a way of generating it.

The rest of the book brings readers up to date on the processes of finding a publisher, producing journal articles, working with journal and book publishers, and preparing a manuscript. I have also evaluated the economic impact of electronic publishing.

In preparing this edition, I have benefited from discussions with book and journal editors, documentary and textual editors, historians of the book, and my colleagues and students at Arizona State University. Contemplating the possible “death of the book” has clarified the value of print and the meaning of books and reading in our lives. The medium is not the message, but it shapes the message and the impact of its delivery. I hope this edition will help authors convey their messages effectively by choosing the appropriate media and using them wisely.