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Publishing 101 The Basics on Getting Your Scholarly Book Published

Publishing 101 The Basics on Getting Your Scholarly Book Published. By Brian Halley Boston-based Acquisitions Editor for the University of Massachusetts Press. Role on Campus. Started as Acquisitions Editor at UMass Press in 2009, based at UMB with travel to Amherst

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Publishing 101 The Basics on Getting Your Scholarly Book Published

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  1. Publishing 101The Basics on Getting Your Scholarly Book Published By Brian Halley Boston-based Acquisitions Editor for the University of Massachusetts Press

  2. Role on Campus • Started as Acquisitions Editor at UMass Press in 2009, based at UMB with travel to Amherst • Acquire in US cultural history, environmental history/studies, urban studies, gender & sexuality, regional interest, plus series • Consult with faculty on book publishing

  3. Basic Steps Toward Publishing Your First Book • Ask your colleagues about how they published their books • Come to the publishing workshop • Read about how to publish your book • Sort through all the info gathered during the first three steps • Contact editors

  4. Starting with a dissertation

  5. Move from STUDENT to AUTHORITY Need to change perspective from student trying to impress committee to an author sharing knowledge, in a subject about which you are an expert.

  6. Revise, Revise, Revise Need a plan to: • Broaden • Expand a chapter / section • Clean out common dissertation elements not necessary for book manuscript, such as literature review

  7. How to revise • Do not expect editor to offer revision plan • Take advice from trusted source(s) – advisor, senior colleague • Be sure to have larger sense of book • See William Germano’sFrom Dissertation to Book and chapter 3 of Beth Luey’sRevising Your Dissertation, by managing ed of UC Press

  8. Do publisher research

  9. Check publisher websites • Some websites will list appropriate editors for different subject areas • Check out new books and backlist, see covers, formats, pricing, etc… • Most presses will say what they require for a proposal • Some even have forms to fill out

  10. Go To Conferences • Go to your field’s conference(s) and walk through exhibitor hall to check publishers • If there, press is invested in field on some level • Presses often send acquisition editors, especially to bigger conferences • Can get sense of lists by browsing books, taking catalogs • Seek out appropriate series at presses

  11. Use Your Colleagues • Talk to your colleagues about where they have published • Get in touch with dissertation advisors, if they have good publishing backgrounds • If anyone recommends press, see if they would be willing to recommend you to editor • This opens doors, gets editor’s attention

  12. Creating a proposal

  13. What You are Trying to Do • Help editor / reader visualize the full book, from start to finish. • Make your argument clear and how you’ll move from point A to point B. • Attempts to hide elements about which you are not sure will come to light. If you’re unsure, editor or reader will notice and question.

  14. Resource • Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Books by William Germano • Has some solid though slightly dated information about proposal, and about larger process • Example of dated: do NOT call editors on phone

  15. What to Include From UMass Press website: • a cover letter describing the content and focus of the book • a table of contents / chapter outline • the approximate length of the manuscript, measured in words, and number of illustrations • your sense of the potential audience for the work, including any courses for which the book might be adopted • your timetable for completing the manuscript if it is not already completed • information about your professional background and qualifications, including previous publications

  16. Sample chapters • Check website to see whether sample material is required with proposal • Consider what you need to put best foot forward • I recommend authors submit Intro and at least one sample chapter, to get better feedback from outside reader(s)

  17. What Happens to Proposal • Can send proposals to multiple presses, but mention in cover letter • If you hear from editor, ask how press proceeds • At UMass, I check proposals and then send for informal review, which faculty board never sees

  18. Advance Contract • Advance contracts typically still require thorough peer review process on the full manuscript before publication • Check with your chair to see what is required for tenure or promotion • Publisher may limit length of final manuscript or number of illustrations in contract

  19. Submitting a full manuscript

  20. Without a Contract • It is still helpful to have a proposal even with a full manuscript • Can send proposal and mention full mss available • Do not send full manuscript without invitation from editor. • Do not send to more than one press unless allowed by all presses.

  21. With Contract • Will need to meet delivery date set in contract for full manuscript • Incorporate any revisions you agreed to • Have list of possible readers ready to provide to editor, as needed • No immediate colleagues, no advisors

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