Journal Publishing Behind the Scenes: Systems, KPIs, and the Illusion of Progress
Divya Jyoti Munjal
Please introduce yourself to our readers.
I am Divya Jyoti Munjal, an independent publishing professional and author with more than 22 years of experience in corporate publishing. Of those 22+ years, I spent more than 13 years in journal publishing, working across production, publishing operations, author and editor support, quality, workflows, and vendor management.
My published books include Journal Publishing Behind the Scenes: Systems, KPIs, and the Illusion of Progress; Building the Copy Editor’s Mindset: Theory and Rules for Early-Career Editors; and Pause & Grow: A 90-Day Reflection Journal. While the first two books draw on my publishing experience, Pause & Grow reflects my interest in reflection, learning, and personal growth.
My experience of working closely with publishing processes and dealing with everyday operational challenges has shaped much of my professional writing. I am particularly interested in what happens behind established workflows: where processes work well, where gaps emerge, and how seemingly small decisions can affect both publishing teams and authors.
What inspired you to write this book?
During my years in academic publishing, I noticed that a publishing process could appear to be working well on paper. Turnaround times might be within target, tasks might be completed, and KPIs might look positive. Yet authors could still experience uncertainty, poor communication, delays, or frustration. That gap stayed with me.
I had also dealt with many operational issues in journal publishing and had seen how problems could repeat when teams focused on completing individual tasks without examining the wider process.
Journal Publishing Behind the Scenes grew from those experiences. I wanted to look beyond dashboards and workflows and explore what meaningful progress in journal publishing actually looks like.
Please tell us about your book. What is it about, and who is it written for?
Journal Publishing Behind the Scenes explores the systems, workflows, teams, measurements, and everyday decisions that shape journal publishing and the author experience.
The book looks at areas such as communication, KPIs and surveys, task completion versus outcome ownership, cross-functional working, author experience, operational frameworks, feedback loops, and continuous improvement. It also examines what I call the “illusion of progress”: situations where measurable activity may suggest that things are improving even when underlying problems remain.
The book is written for journal publishing professionals, managers, production and editorial teams, independent publishing professionals, and those who want to understand how scholarly publishing works behind the scenes.
What was the most enjoyable or the most challenging part of writing this book?
One of the most challenging parts was deciding how to turn years of operational experience into something useful without making the book simply a collection of workplace experiences.
I wanted readers to recognize familiar problems and also understand why those problems keep occurring. That meant connecting everyday situations with larger questions about communication, ownership, measurements, workflows, and author experience.
The most rewarding part was seeing those different elements come together. Issues that can appear unrelated when they occur individually often reveal a pattern when we look at the publishing system as a whole.
What do you hope readers will take away after reading your book?
I hope readers begin to look beyond whether a task has simply been completed and consider the outcome it was meant to achieve.
A workflow can be efficient and still create a poor experience. A KPI can be green and still hide a recurring problem. A team can complete its part of the process, but the author experiences the journal as one disconnected system.
If the book encourages publishing professionals to notice these gaps, question repeated problems, and make practical improvements to the way work is managed, communicated, and experienced, it has achieved its purpose.
Where can readers purchase your book?
Book website: https://divyamunjal.com/journal-publishing-behind-the-scenes/
Paperback in India (Pothi): https://store.pothi.com/book/divya-jyoti-munjal-journal-publishing-behind-scenes/
Paperback in India (Amazon): https://amzn.in/d/093DVM76
Paperback International (Amazon): https://mybook.to/r1Los
Kindle eBook (Amazon): https://mybook.to/clEp
Google Play eBook: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=vYfzEQAAQBAJ