Help on the book process « Political Science Rumors

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Help on the book process

John

Could use some pointers as to going about the book process. I've read the stuff in PS but I still have some questions.

Some specifics. I'm at a place and in a sub-field where I don't NEED a book for tenure/promotion but advancement would pretty much be a slam dunk (with remaining body of work) with a respectable UP. I have a few book ideas which would be doable, novel and I think of interest to a wide enough readership. Problem is, I really have no idea about the process involved (and in particular how to evaluate the trade-offs). My concern is that I dump a ton of time into a book (time that I could have used to put out X number of articles) and that I can't get it published with a UP. I have a nice body of articles but am by no means a superstar or have the seniority to call up a UP and inform them I'd like to publish a book with them. So my questions:

1) I feel pretty silly asking, but given my situation how much do I have to have written/done when I go looking for a publisher? Prospectus? Prospectus and empirical work? Prospectus and some chapters? The whole book? Does it depend by publisher and, if so, how?

2) How detrimental is it to simply "cold-call" a press with a prospectus rather than looking for some personal recommendation or connection to the editor? Would the former or latter be the norm?

3) How high is the peer-review rejection rate at a good UP? 25%? 50%? 75%? Or if you have the editor on board are you pretty much golden barring uber-negative external feedback?

I know these questions are all pretty basic, but unfortunately colleagues in my current department (and my former advisers) either 1) don't publish books 2) publish in trade presses or 3) published in UPs too long ago for advice to be relevant. Thanks!

7 years ago # QUOTE 12 YEA 3 NAY !
America

I did 2) and had a contract within one month. Easy peasy.

7 years ago # QUOTE 1 YEA 5 NAY !
Brian

Write a prospectus (ask a friend or colleague who's published a book for an example), send it to publishers around the beginning of August, ask if they're free to meet during APSA. After that different publishers will handle it differently.

7 years ago # QUOTE 8 YEA 1 NAY !
Kam

Many UP's are wary of first time authors. And there is the problem of completing a manuscript with nothing firm in hand.

Here is the deal. If the editor thinks it is a good fit, then you have a solid chance of getting it published. What I would do is find a press that published books like the one you envision and then request a meeting at a conference.

7 years ago # QUOTE 5 YEA 1 NAY !
Sheri

1) Depends on the press, but the most likely positive scenario is that you will get an invitation to submit the manuscript for review, in which case you want to have the bulk of the manuscript already completed so it is ready to go. Otherwise, if you take too long the editor may forget about it and the opportunity may slip away. It is possible that you can get a contract solely based on the prospectus, in which case you can take as long as you want to complete the manuscript, but that is very rare, especially for first time authors.

2) Not detrimental at all. Go for it. You have to start somewhere. This method worked for me, although I did not publish at my first choice.

3) Getting to the review stage is a pretty strong signal. They do not want to waste their reviewers time on a book they have no intention of publishing. That said, they will pay close attention to a trusted reviewer, so a negative review can be deadly.

7 years ago # QUOTE 7 YEA 1 NAY !
John

^, ^^^ Thanks Sheri and Brian - very helpful.

^^ Kam - you say "Many UP's are wary of first time authors" - I've seen a variant of this sentiment in a number of different places - but what's the tactic to get around this? To go with a first book with a "good" trade press and then target a UP with a second book? Or, alternatively (and what I would be more interested in) - can a sufficient body of articles overcome the "first time author" bias (I'd have a two "top 10s" and a handful of top sub-field pieces)? Or would UP editors see book writing as simply too different from journal articles for this to be of sufficient merit?

7 years ago # QUOTE 1 YEA 0 NAY !
Baldwin

I concur with Brian and Sheri. Even for a highly ranked UP, you need to start with a prospectus to the editor. Based on this, s/he will agree to talk more or not. It's not till after this initial contact, and perhaps later, that you will need parts of the MS (at least in my experience). You certainly don't send a full MS to someone who hasn't requested it.

Ideally, there is someone who can introduce you to an editor -- an email from a colleague or former advisor?

If the editor is good, then s/he only sends out MSs for review that are likely to be published. If not, it's a huge amount of lost work for them. So, I would say, getting to the review stage is the biggest hurdle.

Talking at APSA is a mixed bag. Everyone and their mother is pitching their idea. If you can talk on the phone or by email before hand, this is much better. Then just a quick hello at APSA puts name with face.

7 years ago # QUOTE 7 YEA 1 NAY !
Kam

A (single-authored) article in a top journal is a good signal of quality, and if it is on a subject of interest to that press -- a good fit -- then a prospectus on that subject would be a way to get out of the "first time author" problem. If it's coauthored, or on a different subject, then it sends less of a signal to the editor.

The way most people get the first book is from a dissertation that is deemed high quality by people the press respects.

7 years ago # QUOTE 5 YEA 0 NAY !
Kam

And Baldwin is right. The problem, however, is the big shops get hundreds of these proposals a year. It's best to have a connection first.

7 years ago # QUOTE 2 YEA 1 NAY !
MartinQBlank
Rep: 18

1) Depends on the press, but the most likely positive scenario is that you will get an invitation to submit the manuscript for review, in which case you want to have the bulk of the manuscript already completed so it is ready to go. Otherwise, if you take too long the editor may forget about it and the opportunity may slip away. It is possible that you can get a contract solely based on the prospectus, in which case you can take as long as you want to complete the manuscript, but that is very rare, especially for first time authors.
2) Not detrimental at all. Go for it. You have to start somewhere. This method worked for me, although I did not publish at my first choice.
3) Getting to the review stage is a pretty strong signal. They do not want to waste their reviewers time on a book they have no intention of publishing. That said, they will pay close attention to a trusted reviewer, so a negative review can be deadly.

Entirely concur with above. Point one is particularly good advice...hardly any publisher will give a contract to a first-time author without at least most of the manuscript (figure, 75%) so its actually a bad strategy to approach them with less. There's also the danger that you'll over-promise when you can get it done, then look bad when it takes longer. I disagree with Baldwin, I've never had a problem cold-calling editors, even with my first book when I was a total unknown. Still, connections never hurt...

7 years ago # QUOTE 5 YEA 1 NAY !
Queen

All of the above is solid advice. Two things.

Meeting editors at smaller conferences is a way to get around the APSA overbooked editors issue.

You can help get around the first time author problem by having a chapter done to show (usually theory chapter). Presses differ in what they want, so don't sink too much time into the MS before talking to editors.

7 years ago # QUOTE 5 YEA 0 NAY !
Ziegler

Wow...actual helpful advice...on psr...

7 years ago # QUOTE 6 YEA 3 NAY !
Laurent

smaller (non-APSA) conference is very good point.

7 years ago # QUOTE 3 YEA 0 NAY !
Brian

One more thought on your book prospectus: The less established you are, the more complete and thorough the prospectus should be. Editors will be much more likely to take notice if you have detailed chapter breakdowns, a strong argument about what you're doing and why it matters, and if they can tell from your prospectus that you have already done a lot of work on this project and know where you're going with it.

Also, think about the readership. Make the editors' job easier by telling them who's likely to buy your book, and why.

7 years ago # QUOTE 4 YEA 1 NAY !
Tristand

Fantastic advice - thanks everyone!

I guess the consensus I hear is that beyond a strong prospectus I should have a decent chunk of the manuscript written (or ready to write at short notice - so have any data collected and prepped) before approaching (preferably with an introduction) editors - and if they agree to send it out they are probably inclined to publish.

7 years ago # QUOTE 0 YEA 1 NAY !
Baldwin

Baldwin here. Agree with Brian on the completeness of the prospectus. I asked recently-tenured colleagues and grad school colleagues a couple of years ahead of me for their prospectuses. They all got published in good UPs -- Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard. This was *very helpful* in crafting my own.

And yes for actual helpful advice; that's what this site should be about.

7 years ago # QUOTE 5 YEA 1 NAY !
Delia

Don't overestimate the number of publishers at most conference. At APSA I saw these UPs: CUP, OUP, PUP, Kansas, and that's about it. Then you had Routledge, Sage, Wiley, West, Liberty Fund, etc. I'm sure there were a couple more in each category, but not many. The truth is the vast majority of presses we publish in do not attend even MPSA, much less smaller conferences. Another thing to keep in mind when you hear about marketing your book. Almost no press will market your book, much less well. Ever thumbed through the OUP/CUP stuff? Most books, even recent ones, are not there. Routledge is probably the best at this, but what value it adds is unclear.

7 years ago # QUOTE 2 YEA 0 NAY !
America

"Almost no press will market your book, much less well. Ever thumbed through the OUP/CUP stuff? Most books, even recent ones, are not there. Routledge is probably the best at this, but what value it adds is unclear. "

Marketing is so tough and expensive on the internet...

7 years ago # QUOTE 2 YEA 4 NAY !
Stacia

One more thing...An excellent reference for these sorts of questions is Germano, Getting It Published.

7 years ago # QUOTE 1 YEA 1 NAY !

Help on the book process

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