Welcome Prentice Hall and Merrill authors and reviewers

• A commitment to publishing quality content for courses at all academic levels, from large introductory courses to smaller courses offered to upper-level undergraduate and graduate students.
• Unparalleled editorial expertise and resources.
• A commitment to strong, focused marketing of the books we publish through every viable distribution channel.
• A belief in the central importance of the field sales representative, whose regular and personal visits to college campuses make it possible to serve the needs of instructors with the greatest possible effectiveness and responsiveness.

Why Prentice Hall is the world's leading college publisher

• Small company focus, large company resources
  At all levels, Prentice Hall is structured to be close to our customers, from smaller territories for our field staff (so relationships can be maximized and result in sales and better service) to the editors' ability to make autonomous decisions about their publishing program (providing an author with a close, responsive working relationship with the person responsible for bringing him/her into our publishing family).
• Our energy and commitment to excellence
  We have a reputation and a standard for being the best, being the most innovative, having the best quality of products, and in fostering the closest relationships with our customers.
• The best people
  We have the top editorial, marketing, sales and management talent in the industry. We have developed the careers of many of the top people in publishing today. We are supported from the highest levels in our ability to create and nurture an environment where employees at all levels feel they have an influence on product quality, sales and service. We are, and will continue to be, the place to be in the industry.
• Our pioneering spirit with new technologies
  We have led the industry in delivering online content since our first “Companion Websites” in 1996. With over 300 Websites, hundreds of successful media products developed internally, and numerous successful alliances with media and distributed learning companies, we have a strong philosophy that technology is developed for integrated educational programs which link textbooks, media, and Websites to fit the needs of learners and instructors.

The growth of Prentice Hall has always been predicated on working with benchmark authors in their respective fields and on unparalleled investment in sales and marketing. Prentice Hall has had the largest, best-trained sales force in the industry for decades, retaining people in all areas of the US, on every continent, and in most countries throughout the world. The myriads of market channels we promote our materials in include: international, trade/retail, mail-order, governmental, and library sales. Of equal importance is our continual investment in sophisticated, state of the art electronic production systems and new media product development.

As a prominent company in Pearson Education's publishing arm, Prentice Hall enjoys the financial support and investment in new media technologies that have made Pearson Education the largest most progressive media company in the world. At Prentice Hall, the value of content and intellectual property is preeminent and we plan to repurpose that content through any medium the consumer demands, whether it is in traditional book or new media digital formats. Few educational publishing companies are as well equipped as Prentice Hall to meet the changes that technology is bringing to the information business.

The following guides are intended for authors of Prentice Hall textbooks. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you may download it here.

General Author Guide
For higher education authors, this general guide provides in-depth information on how to submit a proposal, an overview of the Prentice Hall production environment, and compositor's guidelines.
PDF (218k)

Technical Author Guide #1
For computer science and engineering authors NOT providing us with camera-ready copy, this guide features comprehensive coverage of the full workflow cycle involved in publishing a technical manuscript.
PDF (229k)

Technical Author Guide #2
For computer science and engineering authors providing us with camera-ready copy, this guide features comprehensive coverage of the full workflow cycle involved in publishing a technical manuscript.
PDF (211k)

Non-Technical Author Guide #1
For PTR (Professional Technical Reference) authors NOT providing us with camera-ready copy, this guide covers the entire workflow cycle, from submissions of your manuscript to final revisions and publication.
PDF (134k)

Non-Technical Author Guide #2
For PTR (Professional Technical Reference) authors providing us with camera-ready copy, this guide covers the entire workflow cycle, from submissions of your manuscript to final revisions and publication.
PDF (115k)

If you are interested in becoming a pre- or post-publication reviewer, please contact your local Prentice Hall representative.

With a greater focus on market orientation and an underpinning philosophy and structure, which allows each editor to make quick, flexible decisions, our editors are positioned uniquely to drive the success of every title (sales and quality of product).

Many elements must come together for the successful publishing of new educational products, but none is more critical than the role played by the publisher?s editorial staff. Prentice Hall has a long and proud editorial tradition that extends back to the very beginning of the college publishing industry.

What distinguishes Prentice Hall today is the thoroughness with which its editorial staff implements the company?s market-oriented publishing philosophy. Prentice Hall editors have the expertise, authority, and publishing resources to ensure that every book they publish has the greatest possible chance of success in the marketplace. Because of its market-oriented philosophy, the Prentice Hall approach to editorial work differs in some important respects from the approaches taken at competing houses.

Among the most important differences are these:

• PH editors are market experts.
• PH editors are more specialized.
• PH editors have the authority to make decisions.
• PH editors have more resources at their disposal.
• PH editors have an on-going responsibility for the titles they publish.
• At PH, editorial development is market-oriented.
• PH has a large number of staff development editors and assistant editors.
• PH has an in-house market-research department.

Dedicated Specialists, Technology Experts

Production is a structured process during which a product is built from an author's content. The basic steps are as follows:

• Author creates content.
• Design and/or presentation of the content is created or revised.
• Finished elements of content are created, revised, or acquired (this includes type, art, photographs, and other forms of media content such as animations and video).
• The content is formatted or composed and then displayed as print or digital product.
• The composed product is then manufactured.
• Production coordinates quality assurance throughout the process.

Prentice Hall marketing managers are focused on fewer disciplines, allowing them to develop their expertise in their market, to be dedicated to motivating a large sales force, and to keep in close, informed contact with the customer

There are five primary marketing functions that are critical to the success of any textbook where we can offer competitive advantages:

• PH marketing managers are involved in product development from inception.
• PH marketing managers have more channels for communication.
• PH marketing managers have better sources of market identification.
• PH marketing managers motivate the largest sales staff in Higher Education publishing.
• Our strategic alliances drive sales by allowing us to partner with industry.

One of the biggest advantages PH can offer any author is the largest and most successful sales force in the industry.

Prentice Hall operates with the simple, focused conviction that we will not be beaten on the sales front. In the past 6 years PH has outperformed both the industry and our competition. In 4 of those 6 years, PH had double-digit increases, a monumental effort in times when some competitors had sales decreases. To ensure maximum penetration of any title in any market, we place more sales people on college campuses than any other publisher in the business.

In addition to our size, there are four primary ways that we offer a competitive advantage with our sales force:

• PH reps have the tightest geography of territories.
• PH reps are hired through a rigorous recruiting process.
• PH reps are provided with the best training and product education in the industry.
• PH reps have sophisticated systems for product and marketing information.

With technology revolutionizing every aspect of the publishing industry, it's important to work with a company that has:

1. The most experience with technology
2. The greatest scale of people and products focused on technology
3. The deepest pool of resources for research and development

What are the competitive advantages of Prentice Hall Technology?

• We Have A History Of Firsts In Technology
  In 1995, while most publishers were still trying to figure out CD technology, Prentice Hall was busy developing its first book-specific Websites. We now have over 500 Companion Websites across our four publishing divisions, numerous online courses, and several strategic alliances with leading distributed learning partners. Being the first (and having the most) is an advantage when considering that experience and scale really count in such a dynamic environment.
• We Constantly Consider Faculty A Partner
  We place a high value on technology itself, but it still is secondary to the quality of the content. Our Websites and other online content/courses are often designed or maintained by our authors or instructional design experts. We take the same care in developing online content to meet the teaching and learning needs of our customers as we do with our textbooks.We work with faculty to create technology that improves the educational experience from both faculty and students' perspectives.
• We Have Zero Tolerance For Complacency
  Whether it's using technology to design a new program that will help our sales force manage their sales and sampling, or a new way to extend the features of the book into an electronic environment so the text can be animated—we want others to follow our lead.
• We Believe In An Integrated Educational Program
  This means we don't create technology for technology's sake. CD-ROMs, Web-based content, and other new forms of media (depending on the market and course objectives) can extend the “message” and the features of the printed matter (textbooks and supplements) so that each medium plays an important role in helping students to learn and instructors to teach.
• We Don't Have A “One Size Fits All” Technology Solution
  Not every professor has the same goals with technology in their course. Therefore, we offer products ranging from simply exposing students to the Web, to full online courses and e-books. We have a wider spectrum of technology solutions than our competitors to help us drive the sales of our texts. Involvement in our technology will often lead to consumer loyalty: professors can start with our solutions today and continue to grow with us as they develop a need for more advanced tools in the future.