Modern technology means that small publishers can flourish as well as large ones – and we are certainly in the former category. Being lawyers ourselves means that we are at home with legal concepts and language, and we have successfully produced a number of specialised legal texts. The books we have published to date are mostly on aspects of property law, but our expertise is equally applicable to other legal subjects.
We believe that the key to success lies in a constructive and sympathetic relationship between author and publisher. Writing well is hard work, and it deserves an equal effort on the part of the publisher in order to turn that writing into a book. While some tasks are obviously for the publisher there is plenty of scope for flexibility in the relationship: an author may wish to be involved in design or indexing, for example, and we are happy to ajust working methods to suit the author.
We are interested in hearing from the authors of finished legal texts, or from those with a project in mind. We’re happy to discuss possibilities on a confidential, without-prejudice basis. As publishers we are probably best suited to texts which are not too long, and which deal with specialised aspects of the law of England and Wales, but we are happy to range more widely if the project seems interesting and worthwhile. for contact detaiuls, see our Contact us page.
Central to the work we do is book-producing software. We use Adobe FrameMaker, because this is the best software for technical books. It is very good at handling the layout of pages, and generating tables (of contents and legal authorities) indexes, cross-references, and so on. It also copes well with diagrams and illustrations, and can produce features such as running headers. For examples, see the sample pages from our current titles. Putting the title of the chapter at the top of each page, or every other page, makes it easier for the reader to find his or her way around the book. Again, numbering paragraphs, and setting up cross-references so that they identify particular paragraphs, not just pages, assists navigation. FrameMaker is not particular expensive – it costs about £900 – but learning to use it efficiently involves a major investmentof time and effort, so that…..
…. legal authors are unlikely to want to use it for writing. Word-processing programs such as Word and Word Perfect can be used, but much better are text-organising programs such as Scrivener (Apple Mac only) or Ulysses (Apple or PC). These programs, which have limited but perfectly adequate word-processing features, are specially designed to help writers keep control of voluminous research materials, and to cope with the messy business of drafting and re-arranging text. In our experience they work well and are a vital tool for authors.
We can accept files in any standard format. Once imported into FrameMaker, they can be marked up and used to generate the other files which form the book, starting with a table of contents and ending with an index. Page size, fonts, spacing, margins, etc etc are all adjustable. We tend to favour using both side-notes, for cross-references, and footnotes for references to legislation and case law, but this is a ultimately a matter for discussion and agreement with the author. What is important is to devise a layout which shows the text to best advantage and helps the reader.
The title page will need a copyright notice, and acknowledgments in relation to the use of Crown and other copyright material; an ISBN; and the name and address of the printer should appear on the first leaf, in comformity with the Newspapers, Printers and Reading Rooms Repeal Act of 1869.
“Printing” means digital printing; that is, producing copies on a machine which functions something like a giant photocopier. Digital printing is the most economical method for up to about 500 copies, after which traditional litho printing is more cost-effective.