SocietyNow

Author guidelines

Writing style

Keep your writing style open and engaging, free of jargon, and provide plenty of examples. Long passages with multiple notes and complex academic jargon will be alienating for the non-academic reader. This does not mean you need to create a 'for dummies' version of your work, rather, highlight the most important points of your research/analyses, keep sentences short where possible, and provide clear examples.  

Introductions

At the beginning of each chapter give the reader a brief outline of what you are going to cover in the chapter. If you are continuing an argument or analysis from a previous chapter, this is a good place to restate that in a sentence or two. This sets up the readers' expectations right at the beginning of the chapter.

Subheadings throughout the chapter

Breaking up the writing into distinct topics with subheads allows the reader to follow you on key points and transitions. Using these throughout the manuscript helps emphasise the organisation and flow of your ideas to your reader.

Make use of narrative and example

You can illustrate your writing through narrative or storytelling, guiding the reader on a journey through the topic. Try to provide a sense of forward movement to your argument and thematic exploration, give the reader a reason to go on to the next page. Think also about great books you've read, what kept you reading? How did the author break down and present their research to help the reader understand the topic? Most of all, write a book that you would want to read for pleasure.  

Notes and references

We recommend minimal use of notes within the chapters. SocietyNow books offer academic expertise, and it is important that they are built on a foundation of rigorous research. But to make the work readable and engaging for a non-academic audience it's important to keep in-text references to a minimum, as these can disturb the reader's flow. Use footnotes where needed and create a detailed bibliography to feature at the back of the book to cite each work used.

Chapter summaries

Creating a summary at the end of each chapter to highlight the most important points or takeaways is a great way to emphasise focus at the end of the chapter. It is also a helpful transition to the next chapter, especially if the reader takes a break from one chapter to the next.

Manuscript length

Keep your chapters, and the full manuscript, short. You'll have discussed this with your editor at the proposal stage but remember to keep to the agreed manuscript length and try to think about how to write each section as succinctly and clearly as possible. Most readers will go through the book in short snippets of time. Keeping chapters short will keep your readers engaged as they go through the entire book.