*This article is based on content previously published on \u201cLife as a scholar: Kyoto University and Beyond,\u201d which has since been discontinued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
KURA provides support for researchers looking to publish overseas and acquire a wider audience for their research. We asked Associate Professor Saito Yoshiomi to share his advice and knowledge on the topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* This text is not confirmed by the speaker yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saito Yoshiomi received a B.A. in Law (2000) and M.A. in Politics (2002) from Kobe University. He then acquired an M.A. in International Studies from the University of Warwick (2003) and a Ph.D. in Politics from Kobe University (2005). Saito became a COE Research Fellow in Kyoto University\u2019s Graduate School of Law in 2005 and a JSPS PD Research Fellow in 2008. After working as an associate professor in the College of Human and Social Sciences at Kanazawa University from 2009 to 2013, he assumed his current position. He specializes in diplomatic history and the history of international politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\uff3bWebsite\uff3d I had already published a book for a general audience<\/a> as part of Kodansha\u2019s M\u00e9tier series, and thought I\u2019d be able to acquire a broader set of readers if I added more academic content to it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s titled The Global Politics of Jazz in the Twentieth Century: Cultural Diplomacy and \u201cAmerican Music<\/a>.\u201d <\/em>It considers jazz music from the perspectives of political, diplomatic, and cultural history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book is mainly about the United States\u2019 Cold War \u201cjazz diplomacy,\u201d but it\u2019s also a political history of jazz spanning pre to post-Cold War times. As you might know, during the Cold War, jazz played the role of a \u201csonic weapon\u201d for the country to promote its freedom and democracy worldwide. For this reason, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, and other famous jazz musicians were sent around the world as \u201cjazz ambassadors.\u201d Their mission was to eliminate America\u2019s negative image associated with its racial problems. In my book, I make clear the contradictions inherent in this jazz diplomacy, as well as describe the development of the jazz scene outside the U.S., in places like Japan, Europe, and former Communist bloc countries. By doing so, I wanted to shed light on the effects of this state-deployed jazz diplomacy. Also, through a jazz-centered comparative political analysis, I was able to show how this music has been politically situated in different social contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Japanese version was originally published as part of Kodansha\u2019s M\u00e9tier series, so I had written it with a more general readership than scholarly monographs in mind. Since I wanted to publish an academic book in English, I added a lot of content.<\/strong> For example, in its Introduction, I discuss how the book is different from previous research, write about its academic originality, and highlight my new discoveries.<\/strong> However, I didn\u2019t really change the book\u2019s overall composition or arguments. I\u2019ll touch on this later, but when submitting an English-language book proposal, I also contacted my editor at Kodansha to get permission to translate it. When publishing a translation, it\u2019s the author\u2019s responsibility to secure permission from the Japanese version\u2019s publisher.<\/strong> Publishers probably handle this in different ways, but in my case, the editor reached out to the company\u2019s legal affairs division, and I was able to get approval relatively quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book came out from Routledge about a year and a half after I first talked with KURA about publishing it. My editor at Routledge<\/a> said this was fairly fast. Using a table<\/a>, I\u2019ve actually chronologically outlined the publication process. It appears that it was right around the time when KURA began providing overseas publishing support. I was introduced to an editor through KURA in July 2018. First, I sent a draft proposal. Two months later, after exchanging emails, I submitted an official one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my proposal, I included a tentative title, overview, table of contents, list of related books that have been already published, planned manuscript submission date, expected total word count, contact information, and so on.<\/strong> Typically proposals are not that long. Mine was seven pages. It appears that Routledge expects four to ten pages. Parallel with this, I acquired permission to translate my Japanese book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It took me two months to submit the official proposal, mainly because I had to create sample chapters. Authors are expected to attach two or three to their proposals.<\/strong> I sent Routledge the Introduction and Chapter 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The draft proposal is reviewed by the publisher to determine whether the book is worth publishing.<\/strong> Then, one submits an official proposal. After I did so, the peer-review<\/strong> process began. It usually takes about two months, but I received comments from my two reviewers in five weeks. The first reviewer\u2019s comments were relatively positive, but the second reviewer\u2019s were a bit critical. I sent back carefully written responses to both of them. Then, the book was referred to Routledge\u2019s publishing committee. It seems like they discussed whether it was publishable. I was ultimately presented with a contract around mid-October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It took me sixth months to submit a final manuscript. In my case, I worked on translating. Also, at this point, it\u2019s important to acquire permission to use copyrighted materials.<\/strong> For long passages, photographs, or lyrics taken from copyrighted works, you have to cite them properly and obtain approval for use. In my case, I decided to not use photographs and lyrics, and just got permission from surviving family members for letters written by musicians and so on. That was all by email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I first translated the book myself and then asked an Australian friend with a Ph.D. in the same field to edit it. We used Kyoto University\u2019s English editing rate. When I got an estimate from a company that does academic translation and editing, it was about \u00a5500,000 for 85,000 words. In the end, I asked my friend and used the university\u2019s research operations funding. While it came out to about \u00a5700,000 at Kyoto University\u2019s rate, I think it\u2019s best to have someone in a similar field do it, even if the price is a bit higher.<\/strong> Editing companies might take your field into account to an extent, but a fellow scholar will be familiar with terminological usage and how to correctly choose between subtly different words.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After I hired an editor, got the manuscript ready, and submitted it to the publisher, the publisher then began its own editing work. The manuscript that I sent them was basically complete, so this consisted of minor changes for stylistic consistency, as well as proper grammar and vocabulary usage.<\/strong> I also replied to questions about some unclear sentences when they came up. In June, three months after I had submitted my manuscript, I received a PDF of the uncorrected proof. At this point, I could only make minor changes. I corrected some important factual errors and the like. Then, the editor added my corrections, and I was sent a second proof. At this stage, it\u2019s necessary to create an index.<\/strong> I should have hired an assistant, but I did it on my own. It was quite cumbersome work, and, in the end, it took about ten days. I regretted it. In this way, my book was finished in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right. Even if you start counting from the time I talked with KURA, it\u2019s still really fast\u2014only a year and a half.<\/strong> While it depends on the field, often, a monograph in Japanese won\u2019t get international attention. I had always felt that this was a shame, and think that by publishing overseas, my international recognition in my field increased.<\/strong> The hurdles to publication were actually not as high as I expected, so I think it\u2019d be great if more people gave serious thought to overseas publishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *This interview-style article was written based on a July 6, 2020 seminar talk and its question-and-answer session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" *This article is based on content previously published on \u201cLife as a scholar: Kyoto University and Beyond,\u201d which has since been discontinued. KURA provides support for researchers looking to publish overseas and acquire a wider audience for their research. We asked Associate Professor Saito Yoshiomi to share his advice and knowledge on the topic. * This text is not confirmed by the speaker yet. Graduate School of Human and Environmental StudiesSAITO Yoshiomi, Associate Professor Saito Yoshiomi received a B.A. in Law (2000) and M.A. in Politics (2002) from Kobe University. He then acquired an M.A. in International Studies from the University of Warwick (2003) and a Ph.D. in Politics from\u2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","exclusive":false,"relatedArticles":[],"footnotes":""},"tags":[75],"class_list":["post-2260","blog","type-blog","status-publish","hentry","tag-next-generation-forum"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"
Graduate School Website<\/a>
Activity Database on Education and Research , Kyoto University<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat led you to consider publishing overseas?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Please tell us about this book.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s quite interesting. When translating your Japanese work, was there anything you were particularly mindful of?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Was it a long path to publication?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What does one write about in a book proposal?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What happens after submitting the book proposal?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
And then you began writing. How long did it take?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
I see. So copyright permissions are also the author\u2019s responsibility.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
English editing is a source of stress for non-native speakers looking to publish in English. What did you do about this?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What was the process after submitting your manuscript?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s only one month after submitting your proposal\u2014very quick.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Thank you for sharing your experience and so much detailed information.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n