Acquisitions editor reached out

[paddington_bear]

Hello!

An acquisitions editor from a university press emailed me, indicating that she saw the title of a paper I'm presenting at an upcoming conference and said that she was wondering if my paper would be appropriate for their catalog. I know that these emails are probably sent out all the time so I'm not thinking that this is really anything. But after I emailed her back to say that my paper isn't really part of a bigger project at this point, she said that she'd be happy to set up a virtual conversation "to talk about [my] ideas for a future project."  I've never received an email like this nor have I been reached out to. Will the acquisition editor be asking me questions? What should I be asking her? Again, I hadn't really thought of this paper as part of a bigger project - I'm not opposed to it, of course - but maybe I should think of one before we virtually meet?

[Hibush]

The conversation may be very exploratory, but it seems like a good opportunity to learn how a publisher sees your line of inquiry. You will undoubtedly learn something, inlucding perhaps how your work is important in the broader scheme of things.

[Parasaurolophus]

This happened to me a few years ago. Nothing much happened at the meeting--she just asked for a sense of what the project was and who might want it, and spent most of the meeting outlining the press's proposal process.

I never ended up pursuing it (or that press). I get the impression that such meetings are a nickel for six. It seems to mostly come from lower-ranked presses.

[Sun_Worshiper]

If it was a UP, I'd have the meeting. No harm and you never know what it could lead to.

[dinomom]

I was approached by an editor at a conference in a similar situation - my project wasn't initially intended to be anything more than a conference paper. In the end though, after scrapping a different book project, I returned to this one and saw what the editor had seen (which was that it did in fact have coherence as a book project). I wouldn't say it is a top ranked press, but it is a very respectable one in my subfield and the book got me tenure. Sure, perhaps I could have shopped it around, but ultimately having an editor who was very committed to the project has served me well.

[jerseyjay]

Historian here. Several years ago I presented at the AHA. One university press editor emailed me about my presentation and wanted to discuss a possible book. I met with them and talked about my plans for expanding the presentation into a monograph. Since I was working on another book at the time, nothing came of it, especially since Covid happened and threw a spanner in my research trips. (I may still reach out to the editor if I ever do expand it into a book.) This was for a series for a press that I do not really consider top of the line, but it is a university press.

Also at the same AHA, several presses approached me and my copanelists about an edited volume based on the panel. One was a well-known non-university press that often publishes academic books but is not particularly prestigious. The other is a pretty respectable university press. We decided to do the edited collection with the university press.

My advice is to meet with the editor. Give an overview of what your project is and what the time frame is. At the least you will get a sense of interest and practice your spiel. If the press is not one that you were thinking of approaching, you might want to ask them why you should consider that press. I am not sure if they actually offer contracts at these meetings, but I would probably not want to commit in any case. But a meeting could be useful.

If it is a conference where there are many publishers (like the AHA) you can also approach publishers that you think might be a good fit and see if they might be interested. Again, you might not get a formal contract out of it, but you would at least see if there is interest and make possible connections when you actually are ready to shop the project around.

[Wahoo Redux]

Some presses----Lexington, for example----are looking to expand their footprint.  There is no reason to talk to the editor with a particular agenda in mind.  Just chat.  See what they have to say. 

Best of luck with the project.

[paddington_bear]

Thanks for all of the responses! I scheduled a meeting for Tuesday.

[Wahoo Redux]

Thanks for all of the responses! I scheduled a meeting for Tuesday.

Best of luck!!  I hope it ends up in a book!!!!

[paddington_bear]

Update....Meeting went well (I thought). If the editor's job was to make it seem like she/the press is interested in my work, she succeeded. I might be encouraged enough to actually try to think of this is a larger project.

[Wahoo Redux]

Update....Meeting went well (I thought). If the editor's job was to make it seem like she/the press is interested in my work, she succeeded. I might be encouraged enough to actually try to think of this is a larger project.

W00T!!!  Go hit the keyboard and make us proud!!!

[paddington_bear]

Update....Meeting went well (I thought). If the editor's job was to make it seem like she/the press is interested in my work, she succeeded. I might be encouraged enough to actually try to think of this is a larger project.

W00T!!!  Go hit the keyboard and make us proud!!!

My sabbatical in spring 2024 might come in handy! And I just remembered earlier today that I might have another chapter in a near-draft form since I had submitted an article to a journal a few years ago but it wasn't accepted. So at least I have two ideas on paper now.