How early is too early to submit a book proposal to a publisher?

[adel9216]

So long as you keep tabs on the diss, I  see no real problem with you writing the proposal and the book.  How much you need to do upfront and by certain deadlines and on what kind of timescale are very dependent on field, type of book, publisher, etc. I see no harm in at least writing a proposal, writing down some ideas for the rest, and having a conversation with publishers when you can. If this is a textbook or intended mainly as a subfield primer, collaborating with a more senior person at some point will likely help.

Polly's comments might be good as general advice and might certainly be insightful for academics and non academic alike, but as specific advice, who knows. We are giving you fair warning, but aside from that, telling you a bit about the pleasure and perils of book prep. and "shopping" to publishers seems apropos to your question.

I have zero problem with your warning and the ones most of you have given me. To be honest, I genuinely appreciate your advice, honesty, and the feedback you all give me whenever I lurk around here, it truly helps and complements the advice I receive IRL from advisors, colleagues, professors.

What I am not okay with is the manner in which polly_mer speaks to me and have been speaking to me for months. She pretends to not understand what I am saying but she does.

I don't have an issue with the heart/core of what she is saying. I have an issue with the condescending tone she's using to speak with me, and the assumptions she makes about me.

Regardless of how "experienced" someone is, and even if some tendencies can be drawn after having encountered a lot of young scholars (btw, I have my own experiences to, even if they're mostly outside of academia), you cannot just project copy-paste everything you've seen before on someone. Especially if you've never met them. We're all our own individuals at the end of the day and what you might assume about someone may turn out to be absolutely untrue. Especially if it's based off a few writings of a complete stranger on an Internet forum.

Modesty is key here, and one thing I have told myself is that I never, ever, ever, want to be the type of academic who comes across as a know-it-all and that treats graduate students like idiots/subordinates without any knowledge, experience or expertise about their own lives and how they best work. I've made it this far, I think I do know what my strengths and weaknesses are in terms of managing my time and priorities more than anyone else on this planet.

I asked a very specific question here, that most of you have answered respectfully, even at times when you wanted to give me a warning. And that's fair. I asked the question, because I feel most of you know what you are talking about. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked the question first hand.

polly_mar just wants to lecture me about how to live my life. And nobody is going to tell me how to live my life and I will never let anyone speak to me in the way she does.

[adel9216]

In other words, I would love to see more people have a life like mine and I am here to provide advice on how to best achieve that.

I don't think I've seen many people ask for that advice, Polly, and it sure doesn't seem like that's what you are doing with this Sparklepony crap.

It seems like you want to put academia down and are rooting for its dissolution, and you want to attack those of us who support academia and are looking for a future in it.

Maybe stop giving advice.

It's not even advice that she is giving, because she is always responding to the elements of a post that confirms her assumptions. Or she says things that I have been saying myself all along, as if we're in a disagreement on certain points, when we're saying the exact same thing...

It feels like she just wants to crush young scholars' spirit and hope. That doesn't work for me, because I am stronger than that and I do know my worth and potential as a researcher and as a human being, while being open to receiving criticism and getting better at what I do. I truly know it has nothing to do with me. So maybe that is what cutting her off guard about me.

Honestly, it just feels like she is bitter for some reason that has nothing to do with me and is just lashing it out on me, because I am "an easy target" (but I am not). I truly do not understand it.. But I feel sorry and have empathy for her. Life is way too short to be this frustrated 24/7. I prefer to be positive and enjoy life, and recognize that every human being is the expert of their own lives. Most people do know what's best for them deep down.

[polly_mer]

Let's summarize for the readers at home:

Successful graduate students focus on coursework, comps, and their dissertation.  Spending a lot of time on the internet insisting that other people are wrong does not advance those goals, even if the internet folks are WRONG!!!!.

Bright people who have lots of ideas often want to follow those ideas in grad school (oh, a conference; oh, a book chapter, oh, a course I could teach; oh, an internship for a semester/year at a different place; oh, I've been asked to be a reviewer; oh, I could organize a special journal issue; oh, I could organize a special panel; oh, I could write this book that fills a gap in the field; oh, I could organize a multidisciplinary seminar).

Grad students should consult with their advisors as well as mentors who have little to no stake in what the grad student does on the extent to which any of those individually as well as all the activities collectively should be followed.  Again, the focus should be on courses, comps, and dissertation.  It's easy to say yes and end up with the opportunity costs for focusing on something that isn't courses, comps, and dissertation.  That's a standard trap for the excellent graduate students who really are junior scholars and ready to do many of these activities.

The occasional vacation day or break is good.  My best advice is to not spend that precious break time yelling at the internet when one has family, friends, hobbies, and even just pleasure reading to do.  And that's my break for the day done so I have to go back to real work.  I hope someone reading this post remembers:
* coursework
* comps
* dissertation

[adel9216]

I am not yelling.

[adel9216]

You like to lecture people, but you're not even following your own advice. Lead by example, that would be step 1.

And by the way, what I do with my vacation time is not your business or your prerogative. I do whatever I want, when I want, and I may ask all the questions I want to ask in the world, even if it bothers the hell out of you. I owe you nothing.

Many of the things you've mentionned are stuff that I have been able to do successfully this year while maintaning straight As in my courses and focusing on my degree. So there is no issue at this point, and you know it, and maybe that's what's bothering you so much.

[polly_mer]

I am not yelling.

Great!

How is studying for those comps coming?

Or, what's in the Netflix queue so you can do something relaxing?

You are not the first to insist that I'm wrong in your specific case.  Words will not convince me in the same way that you finishing a dissertation and getting a job in your field (have you decided which of the standard paths you're going to take yet?) will.

[Cheerful]

I am not yelling.

I don't understand your ongoing angst about a poster.  Why be so miserable over a series of Internet posts?  Why not just ignore posts from certain people and not reply to those?

[adel9216]

I am not yelling.

Great!

How is studying for those comps coming?

Or, what's in the Netflix queue so you can do something relaxing?

You are not the first to insist that I'm wrong in your specific case.  Words will not convince me in the same way that you finishing a dissertation and getting a job in your field (have you decided which of the standard paths you're going to take yet?) will.

Comps have not started for your information. You don't even know the format of my exam, so you're speaking in the air without even knowing what you're talking about.

I have done already a lot of preparation prior to the start of comps (which most students in my department don't usually do). I am more than ready and confident that I will pass because I will do everything I am supposed to do to pass. Nobody is worried about me down here.

I have been able to manage successfully a lot of different tasks pretty much my entire life, and it doesn't feel very different from that at this stage. You just don't know the way I work. 

But you do not know that, because you're not with me 24/7 and you do not see me work when I am not on this forum (which is most of the time).

[adel9216]

I am not yelling.

I don't understand your ongoing angst about a poster.  Why be so miserable over a series of Internet posts?  Why not just ignore posts from certain people and not reply to those?

I don't know who you are speaking to, but I am not miserable, far from it...she's been harassing me for months, and I have been ignoring her most of the time.

[polly_mer]

I am not yelling.

Great!

How is studying for those comps coming?

Or, what's in the Netflix queue so you can do something relaxing?

You are not the first to insist that I'm wrong in your specific case.  Words will not convince me in the same way that you finishing a dissertation and getting a job in your field (have you decided which of the standard paths you're going to take yet?) will.

Comps have not started for your information. You don't even know the format of my exam, so you're speaking in the air without even knowing what you're talking about.

I have done already a lot of preparation prior to the start of comps (which most students in my department don't usually do). I am more than ready and confident that I will pass because I will do everything I am supposed to do to pass. Nobody is worried about me down here.

But you do not know that, because you're not with me 24/7 and you do not see me work when I am not on this forum (which is most of the time).

I do remember that you asked questions about comps this summer and how to prepare because you are memorable. 

I would be less worried about you if you wrote something like "Studying for comps is going well and I'm going to be ready" instead of asserting that you will pass and implying that I am wrong for asking how studying is going.

[adel9216]

I am not yelling.

Great!

How is studying for those comps coming?

Or, what's in the Netflix queue so you can do something relaxing?

You are not the first to insist that I'm wrong in your specific case.  Words will not convince me in the same way that you finishing a dissertation and getting a job in your field (have you decided which of the standard paths you're going to take yet?) will.

Perfect. Mark my words. ;-) You clearly have zero idea who you are speaking to. You are so wrong about me, if only you knew.

[adel9216]

I am not yelling.

Great!

How is studying for those comps coming?

Or, what's in the Netflix queue so you can do something relaxing?

You are not the first to insist that I'm wrong in your specific case.  Words will not convince me in the same way that you finishing a dissertation and getting a job in your field (have you decided which of the standard paths you're going to take yet?) will.

Comps have not started for your information. You don't even know the format of my exam, so you're speaking in the air without even knowing what you're talking about.

I have done already a lot of preparation prior to the start of comps (which most students in my department don't usually do). I am more than ready and confident that I will pass because I will do everything I am supposed to do to pass. Nobody is worried about me down here.

But you do not know that, because you're not with me 24/7 and you do not see me work when I am not on this forum (which is most of the time).

I do remember that you asked questions about comps this summer and how to prepare because you are memorable. 

I would be less worried about you if you wrote something like "Studying for comps is going well and I'm going to be ready" instead of asserting that you will pass and implying that I am wrong for asking how studying is going.

Yes, because comps have not even started...so there's no intense studying that has begun... *rolleyes*, only preparation at this stage (and my post was part of that preparation phase)...

[polly_mer]

Perfect. Mark my words. ;-) You clearly have zero idea who you are speaking to.

Nor do you, nor do you.

<on preview>

Rolling your eyes doesn't convince me that you are somehow unique among all the very bright people I have known.

And now I am going to do something else since this was all of my free time for today.

[adel9216]

Perfect. Mark my words. ;-) You clearly have zero idea who you are speaking to.

Nor do you, nor do you.

<on preview>

Rolling your eyes doesn't convince me that you are somehow unique among all the very bright people I have known.

And now I am going to do something else since this was all of my free time for today.

I don't need to convince you. My success will speak for itself. And when you'll see that, it will save you time and energy. Because you clearly do not realize how wrong you are.

I can't wait ;-) You'll be speechless.

Beubye!

[polly_mer]

For the graduate students playing along at home, my morning reading of new posts brought up:

Question on the comprehensive exam and getting started planning advice: https://thefora.org/index.php?topic=1197.msg24761#msg24761

Book chapter: https://thefora.org/index.php?topic=1283.msg28177#msg28177

Media appearances: https://thefora.org/index.php?topic=811.msg28133#msg28133

Only one of these is advised for first year graduate students who want to finish their dissertation and then have academic careers.

Two of these are reasonable for people who plan to leave grad school without a PhD to have a pretty good career doing something in their field of expertise, but not as a faculty member.

It is an exercise to the reader to allocate the activities into their respective categories.