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Guidelines for the Series Options for TeachingGoals of the SeriesThe principal objective of the wide-ranging series Options for Teaching is to collect within each volume different points of view on an issue or topic related to teaching language and literature. Whereas volumes in the MLA series Approaches to Teaching World Literature primarily concern specific literary works and writers, Options for Teaching offers more broadly based books devoted to teaching literature. Published Options volumes have treated such areas as children’s literature, environmental literature, literature and medicine, and the African novel. Other typical series books concern the teaching of theory, oral traditions, genres, periods and movements, and interdisciplinarity.Each Options for Teaching volume seeks to be a sourcebook of material, information, and ideas for nonspecialists as well as specialists, inexperienced as well as experienced teachers, graduate students as well as senior professors. An Options volume commonly begins with an introduction by the editor or editorial team that gives a rationale for the book, a conceptual framing of its topic, and contexts for the essays (see Appendix B, Preparation of the Introduction to Books in the Series Options for Teaching). One or more essays present an overview of the book’s subject—relevant history, important scholarship, major issues, and so forth. The balance of the book comprises essays reflecting diverse points of view, experiences, or teaching approaches. Volumes are broadly representative in the range of contributors; in the philosophies, methodologies, and critical orientations presented; and in the types of schools, students, and courses considered. Editors are responsible for addressing all major issues and approaches relevant to the subject. At the volume’s end there is a section devoted to resources for teachers of the volume’s subject. ProposalPersons interested in editing a volume in the series should write to the office of scholarly communication (scholcomm@mla.org) stating their interest and outlining their qualifications for the task. Letters of inquiry should include a curriculum vitae of no more than five pages for each prospective editor. If a title seems desirable for the series and the prospective editor or editorial team appropriate for the task, a staff editor will invite a formal proposal. The proposal should address such questions as the need for the volume, its rationale and goals, and relevant professional, scholarly, and pedagogical issues. Although the final content of a volume depends to some extent on essay proposals received and on readers’ comments and suggestions, the proposal for the volume should indicate projected essay topics and a tentative organizational plan. In preparing the proposal, the prospective editor or editorial team should consult published series volumes. The staff editor normally asks at least two specialists to serve as consultant readers of the proposal. On the basis of their evaluations, the staff editor either returns the proposal for revision or presents it to the Publications Committee for preliminary action. By approving a proposal, the committee invites submission of a full prospectus for evaluation, including annotated table of contents. ProspectusWhen a proposal has been approved, a notice appears in the MLA Newsletter and on the MLA Web site announcing preparation of the book and inviting interested MLA members to submit essay proposals. The volume editor or editorial team places similar notices in other appropriate venues and plays an active role in seeking and selecting prospective authors. After deciding which proposed essays should be included in the volume, the volume editor or editorial team submits to the MLA a full prospectus, including an annotated table of contents and a rationale for the selections (see Appendix A, Preparation of the Prospectus). The MLA staff editor shares this material with a number of consultant readers; once the readers’ reports have been received, the staff editor discusses them with the volume editor or editorial team to decide on a final table of contents. Note that essays appearing in Options volumes must not have been previously published, although on occasion they may include material adapted from an earlier publication by the contributor. The prospectus is an important intermediate stage in the development of books in the series. Advice from consultant readers helps ensure that no essential topics have been omitted from the table of contents and, conversely, that contributions do not overlap. Editors, therefore, are reminded not to invite contributors to submit their essays until the prospectus and annotated table of contents have been approved by the MLA staff. ManuscriptOnce the MLA staff has approved the prospectus, the volume editor or editorial team invites contributors to submit their essays. To avoid confusion, editors should send with each invitation to a projected contributor guidelines specifying the nature of and intended audience for the volume, the length of the essay desired, the style and format to be followed, the deadline for submission of essays, and so on. Contributors should be informed that the volume editor or editorial team and the MLA reserve the right to reject or request revision of essays that do not conform to the guidelines or that fall below the quality expected from contributors. In preparing manuscripts, editors and contributors should follow MLA style as outlined in the most recent edition of the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing: parenthetical references in the text refer the reader to a list of works cited at the end of the book, which the editor or editorial team compiles from individual works-cited lists supplied by the contributors. (In some volumes it may be more appropriate for each essay to retain its own works-cited list; this can be determined in consultation with the staff editor.) Content notes should be used sparingly; if they are included, they should appear as endnotes at the end of each essay. For further specific details about formatting a manuscript for submission, volume editors should consult Directions for Preparing Manuscripts. Editors should make sure contributors are aware of their responsibility to obtain permission to reproduce material beyond fair use. (See MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 2.2.13–14.) Contributors must assume the costs for such permissions, if any. In addition, it is the MLA’s policy that authors obtain permission from students to quote from their writing. The MLA staff will, on request, supply a form that contributors can use to obtain such permission. Editors of volumes on works in non-Latin scripts, such as Arabic or Chinese, will receive guidelines from the MLA staff on the appropriate use of the original script, transliteration, and translation in quotations, in-text references, and the works-cited list or lists. The editor or editorial team should convey these guidelines to contributors when inviting contributors to submit their essays. Before submitting the manuscript, the editor or editorial team should compile and insert just before the list of works cited a section, “Notes on Contributors,” which contains brief biographical information on each contributor. The MLA staff editor will provide the editor or editorial team with a form that can be used to request biographical information from contributors. The complete manuscript, including all material but the index, should not exceed 125,000 words (about 600 pages in Courier 12-point type, double-spaced). Following submission, the complete manuscript is sent to at least two consultant readers, and their evaluations determine whether the manuscript is returned for revision or presented, along with the readers’ reports, to the Publications Committee for publication decision. Production and PublicationAfter the committee approves a manuscript and the book publications staff has reviewed the final version of it, the manuscript is transmitted to the MLA’s editorial department for copyediting, design, and production. At that time, editors and contributors receive contracts. During production of the volume, editors and contributors are asked to review the relevant parts of the copyedited manuscript and one stage of proof. When page proof is available, the volume editor or editorial team prepares an index of names for the book (the index contains names only, not subjects—see Appendix C, Preparation of the Index). The editors of a volume receive royalties. Editors and contributors receive complimentary copies of the book and other benefits. To ensure that all volumes are consistent with the philosophy and objectives of the series, the MLA staff editors and the Publications Committee play an active advisory role in the preparation of each volume. The staff editor assigned to the volume is available to the volume editor or editorial team for consultation at all stages in the planning and writing of the volume. Appendix APreparation of the Prospectus 1. The selection of contributors is a crucial stage in the development of each volume. Careful and cautious planning at this point will invariably help avoid potential confusion or awkwardness at a later stage. 2. In selecting contributors, the volume editor or editorial team should strive to maintain a balance between innovative and traditional approaches and to include essays broadly representative in the range of contributors chosen; in the philosophies, methodologies, and critical orientations presented; and in the types of schools (two-year colleges, four-year colleges, universities), students (e.g., nonmajors, majors, traditional, nontraditional), and courses (e.g., required survey courses, specialized upper-division courses) considered. 3. Before inviting contributors to submit their essays, the volume editor or editorial team submits to the MLA staff editor a full prospectus, which includes the following components:
4. The staff editor reviews this material and sends it for evaluation to a number of consultant readers. The volume editor or editorial team and the staff editor review all readers’ comments and suggestions and jointly decide on any needed revisions. When a final table of contents is achieved, the volume editor or editorial team invites contributors to submit their essays and begins preparation of the manuscript. Appendix BPreparation of the Introduction to Books in the Series Options for Teaching Topics generally addressed in the introduction include the following:
Appendix CPreparation of the Index Parts of the book to index
Use the name by which a person is widely and professionally known: Eliot, T. S., not Eliot, Thomas Stearns; Raphael, not Raffaello Sanzio. A person known primarily by a pseudonym (Mark Twain, George Sand) should be listed under the pseudonym. Otherwise give the pseudonym and provide a cross-reference to the real name. An example: Ouida. See Ramée, Marie Louise de laFor guidelines to indexing in general, consult chapter 16 of The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.).
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