Writing and publishing books

[Sun_Worshiper]

Book writing veterans, how did you navigate the book writing/publishing process? Any tips for newbies?

I'm sure any advice would be appreciated by forumites, so feel free to share tips on converting your dissertation to a book, getting a book contract early in your career, etc. However, I'd also appreciate any advice more tailored to my situation. I'm a recently tenured associate in a field where one can go either the book or article route. I went the article route as an assistant and have published 15 or so peer reviewed articles. Now I'm thinking about taking on a book project, which will build on the foundations of an article that I hope will be accepted and published in the next several months. I'm thinking that the article can be a proof of concept for the book that a publisher will look favorably on.

So my questions are:
(1) Any tips on making the transition from an article-writing frame of mind to one for book writing?
(2) How much of the book would you recommend writing before approaching the publisher? Mostly the UPs request a proposal and maybe a sample chapter, but would it be wise to have written more before submitting the proposal?
(3) Do you recommend sending in the proposal cold, or trying to schmooze ahead of time with acquisition editors?

[jerseyjay]

I am a historian, which is both a book and article field, but most universities still require a book for tenure. I have published two books--one based on my dissertation, which got me a tenure-track job, and another book, which got me tenure.

Based on your question, it seems that there are two important things to note. First, you already have tenure. Second, you are not publishing a revised version of your dissertation.

This means that, on the one hand, you do not have an absolute time limit to get the book done. It also means, on the other hand, that you do not have a rough draft (in the form of your dissertation) that is already done.

I guess one question is, why are you writing this book--and to what extent will it be your main research focus for the next period, or do you plan to also work on other projects? (A related question is, what kind of school do you work for, and how much time do you have.)

My overarching advice is to read a bunch of books in your field and see how they are structured.

So my questions are:
(1) Any tips on making the transition from an article-writing frame of mind to one for book writing?

I usually conceive of a broader project and then try to break it down into several chapters. One or two of the chapters could be stand alone articles, but in general you don't want to publish too much of your book as articles because then it is less likely to get a contract.

I have expanded an article into a book. Or rather, I expanded the article into about 60 per cent of the book by expanding sections of it. Then the other 40 per cent of the book comprised an introduction that set the book in context, a conclusion, and several chapters that looked at the issue from different angles.

(2) How much of the book would you recommend writing before approaching the publisher? Mostly the UPs request a proposal and maybe a sample chapter, but would it be wise to have written more before submitting the proposal?

This depends in part on what you are trying to do. That is, do you need a contract in hand for tenure? Probably not, given you already have tenure.

The benefit of having a book already written in draft form is that it speeds things up if a publisher is interested. The downside, besides having to write the entire draft before submission is if the editor or reviewers suggest reframing your project, this would require massive rewriting.

I am currently working on a book project. I have no rush, and I have drawn up an outline of about 7 chapters. Two of them have already been published as articles. I have written about three more. I think I am going to send what I have off to a publisher soon.

In any case, I would only send a press what they ask for. If you have a good chunk--or all--of the m.s. written, then you should note that in your proposal, but still send them the one or two chapters requested. They will ask for more if they want to see it.

(3) Do you recommend sending in the proposal cold, or trying to schmooze ahead of time with acquisition editors?

I think it is always easier to have already built up a relationship with an editor, and find one who is interested about your project. That said, it is not necessary to have spoken to an editor, and you can still get a contract by sending in a proposal cold--but you can also get ignored.Of course you want to approach those presses who seem to publish books that overlap with yours (in terms of field, area, etc.) Sending a proposal cold to a press that doesn't publish in the area you are interested in is probably a waste of time.

For my last book (my second), I did both. That is, I contacted the relevant editor at a press I thought would be a good fit for various reasons, who seemed interested. Some time after that I followed the instructions and sent in a chapter and proposal etc. I also sent it four other presses (which I noted in the proposal itself). Of the five presses: Three ignored me, one (which was my first publisher, but which I did not think was a good fit for this project) offered me a contract, and two (including the one I approached) asked for permission to send it out for peer review, which meant temporarily withdrawing it from the other presses. I chose the press I had approached.

[Parasaurolophus]

I just finished my first, and am starting my second. For the first, the press approached me about writing it, so I started with zero content and worked to a deadline. It was kind of stressful, to be honest. For this second one, I'll pitch it to a press once I have a draft of more or less the whole thing ready, just to save myself the trouble.

I found it useful to treat the book as a series of articles on the same topic; I know how to write articles, so it made each chapter much more approachable. I also found it really helpful to have all the chapters planned out ahead of time. I changed things a little as I was writing, but it's just so much easier to write to a plan. I recently hammered out the plan for Book 2, and it's a huge relief!

The standard advice in my field is to start by schmoozing, but I think you're just as well off emailing a cold inquiry first--i.e. would you be interested in seeing a proposal about a book on x, arguing y. I think the schmoozing advice is best pitched at new scholars.

[Hegemony]

If you approach a press with only part of the book done, the most they will give you is an "advance contract," which means you can't offer the book to anyone else unless the first press has turned it down, but meanwhile they are free to reject it when you turn the complete MS in. It's really sort of a reassurance contract more than anything more helpful.

After you get the advance contract, if you do, then you will have told them that you will finish the book within X amount of time, and then it will actually take twice or three times as long. Then by the time you turn in the MS, the editor will have changed and you will start from scratch.

These days I just wait till I have finished the whole MS before I approach presses.

Be sure to follow their guidelines in preparing the proposal package, which is a whole writing feat in itself.

Publishing a book is fun, though — lots of room and you get to fill it with your own opinions!

[Morden]

I've written two books now, and edited one collection of essays. For the first book, we made contact with one of the series editors at a conference; she expressed interest so we emailed in more details--not a full prospectus. They had a few suggestions, and then we put together the prospectus, including two chapters. Then we wrote the rest of the book, and submitted it before receiving a contract. (Very similar process for the edited collection--which makes sense since it was the same university press). If that's your route, I would recommend being really honest with yourself and the press about when you can have the whole manuscript ready.
The second book was very different--we made email contact and then sent in a proposal. No sample chapters, but we did have a letter of recommendation from someone who had published with that press before saying that it was a useful project and we were good people to do it. Then we got an advance contract (they have the right to refuse if they don't like the finished version). Then we wrote the book--changing the scope and organization significantly along the way. The editor didn't care; we'll see what the reviewers say.

[darkstarrynight]

I am hoping to get some advice within this topic. My book proposal pitched through an organization's publication board was approved, and I got the word today that I can move forward. However, I learned that authors are not allowed compensation. I asked if I could request to be reasonably compensated for multiple years of writing as a solo author, and the managing editor asked for what my numbers are before hu goes to the executive director. "who will likely say no." If they say no then I have to decide whether or not to publish with this organization (and their publisher, a major one I could go to on my own) for no compensation but big reach, or go to a publisher directly. Hu asked me to provide numbers. My last book was coauthored and I was added to the contract after it was negotiated by the other two authors, so I get 1% of sales which is a joke. I was thinking 10% would be an appropriate ask for a solo authored book. Does anyone have a general percentage range for solo authored academic books to earn from book sales? Thank you!

[Hegemony]

I read that single-authored academic books sometimes earn their authors 10% of the cover price, and I am surprised, nay, astounded, to hear it. And I suspect that those figures are entirely bogus. I have published two single-authored academic books and three edited academic books. I think I've gotten about $60 over the years from the first book, and maybe $25 for the second. Look at the print run for the average academic monograph — it's not unusual for it to be as low as 250 copies. And if you're paid at all, you may maybe 15 cents per copy. For one of the edited volumes, each contributor got $100, but the poor editor gets nothing (except glory, of course).

Academic books are not about making money; they're about getting you promotions that make you money.

The calculations are different if you're writing a textbook. If you write a textbook that fills a real need in the market, and have a good publisher who markets it well, you can make a ton of money. But even there a lot of luck is needed.

[Parasaurolophus]

FWIW, I'm getting 3.5% of hardback sales, 7% of eBook sales, and 8% of paperback sales. I don't anticipate that will add up to much.

[jerseyjay]

I have published two academic books (in history).

The first was with a respectable European academic (though not university) press in 2014. The book seems to have sold well for an academic book and was reviewed in several journals. I have yet to see a penny in royalties.

The second was with an American university press in 2021. I got about $200 in royalties so far, which I actually was happy about. It means that I am only $500 away from getting enough to cover the index.

To be sure, there are financial reasons to write an academic book: the first one got me a tenure track job that paid $20,000 more than the non-academic job I had; the last book got me tenure and a promotion which was worth several thousand dollars annually. It also made more known in my field so I can look for a better job, if I want. That said, nobody writes an academic book to become rich.

[Ruralguy]

I get 10% royalties on the actual sales price of the print or ebook (but ebooks are generally much cheaper).
Even so, I have sold fewer than 1000 copies, but hope to cross that line earlier with my second book.
Both books are meant for popular consumption, though they are rigorously researched.  This is one of those presses that has lots of pop culture books, but also academic books related to those subjects. My impression is that the popular ones sell about 1000 per year, but the academic books, probably 0.01-0.1 of that, if lucky.

[darkstarrynight]

I really appreciate everyone's input on my question. I definitely do not expect to get rich off of writing an academic book, but getting $40 in royalties a quarter for my previous book that is used as a textbook around the country is frustrating. I do understand your point, jerseyjay, about the job impacts from writing the book. I am not in a "book field" so while my department and college will think it is great that I am writing a book, I will be able to earn a future promotion without it. I mentioned reach because the organization has a massive membership and would heavily promote the work. Thus, it would be great for international reputation but then sales would be higher and I would not earn anything from my work financially. I am trying to figure out the balance of reputation and reward.

[Ruralguy]

Also, write whatever you can write before submitting the proposal. They may ask to see if, but even if they don't, there will be pressure to get things done, so probably better to start with more. In fact, for my second book, I don't even want to submit before its more than half done. You don't have to go that far. I am unaware of schmoozing really helping, but some presses would like to see a short pitch (basically just a paragraph by email) before asking for a full proposal. This is because they get many submissions that are not in the mission of the publisher, and so would rather reject much earlier in the process.

[Parasaurolophus]

Also, write whatever you can write before submitting the proposal. They may ask to see if, but even if they don't, there will be pressure to get things done, so probably better to start with more. In fact, for my second book, I don't even want to submit before its more than half done. You don't have to go that far. I am unaware of schmoozing really helping, but some presses would like to see a short pitch (basically just a paragraph by email) before asking for a full proposal. This is because they get many submissions that are not in the mission of the publisher, and so would rather reject much earlier in the process.

Yeah... I wrote to a deadline for my book, and while it helped ensure it all got done, it wasn't very pleasant. (The publisher approached me to contribute to a series, so the proposal went through before I had anything other than the sample chapter. Oof.)

For my next book, I'm not even pitching it until I have a full draft done.

[Wahoo Redux]

In English it is a good idea to have part of your book already peer-reviewed and published, which it sounds like you have. 

It's also a good idea to have a significant amount of the book written, if not a complete draft, before contacting an acquisitions editor.   If there is not a complete draft, know when you can finish it ("I aim to complete the manuscript by Fall of 2022" or whatever).

Be sure to follow their proposal protocol the publisher will send to you----sometimes even seasoned authors miss that one. 

Know how your book is unique and what other books have been published which will be "competitors" to your book.

Have some scholars in mind who could be reviewers; often publishers will want a suggestion for a reader. 

I'm sure it will be awesome.  Good luck.

[darkstarrynight]

Thank you all so much again for this advice. I truly appreciate all of you!