This book describes the various stages of book publishing and the people responsible for those stages. Its seventeen chapters discuss the following topics: the writer, the literary agent, the publishing house, the decision to publish, the editor, the illustrator, the copy editor, the designer, the jacket designer, the production supervisor, the compositor, the proofreader and the indexer, the printer, the color printer, the binder, from the warehouse to the bookstore, and from the bookstore to the reader. Numerous photographs and drawings are included, and a glossary follows the text. (RL)