Questions About Book Proposals

Hi everyone -- I just have a quick (but rather broad) set of questions that I was hoping some of you might (nudge to Mark Alfano;) have some insight on.

• When exactly in one's career is it a good idea to pursue publishing a book?
• What's the process of putting a book proposal together like? 

I know these are rather broad questions, but I was just wondering. I've often been told that some of my papers are so ambitious that they would work better as chapters of a book, and I'm apt to agree (note: I've tried -- and am still trying -- to publish less ambitious versions of some of these papers as journal articles, but it's been very hard to strike the right balance! Less ambitious versions of the papers are often rejected for "not doing enough", and more ambitious versions rejected for "attempting too much"). Anyway, I'm not at all sure that I'm at the stage where it would make sense to pursue a book, but then again, I'm not at all sure that it wouldn't make sense, either.  Any thoughts? I expect there are many readers of this blog who might benefit from any insights people might have!

Comments

[Mark Alfano]

Probably wise not to try to publish a book until you have a tenure-stream appointment. From what I've seen, acquisitions editors don't take you seriously until that point.

As far as process goes, for your first book, you'll almost certainly need the full manuscript, not just a proposal and a sample chapter. In addition, you'll want to talk to the relevant editors -- preferably in person -- rather than just submitting over the transom. (That's why they go to the APAs, by the way; they're not there to sell books.)

[Mark Alfano]

On 1: after you have a tenure-stream appointment.

On 2: For your first book, you need the whole manuscript, not just a sample chapter or two. And don't submit over-the-transom. Talk to the relevant editor at the APA.

[Marcus Arvan]

Hi Mark: thanks for the advice -- good to know! A few quick questions: you just published a book, but you also just received your first tenure-stream job, right? Did you submit your book proposal only after getting the job? If so, that's *seriously* impressive that you got a book together so quickly? Was it a revised copy of your dissertation?

[Lisa]

Hi Marcus, I've just gone through the process, and it worked well for me (the book will be published in April). I did it early in my career, i.e. it's a revised version of my PhD thesis, because in the parts of Europe I work in they expect you to have a book out early. I sent in (by email) five out of seven chapters and a book proposal, and my examiners sent in recommendations. As to the book proposal, I looked at the websites of a few publishers about the kind of information they want, and I asked colleagues who already had book contracts if I could see their proposals. I also gave them my book proposal to read and took on board their feedback. This is something I'd really recommend, and also to get advice from colleagues about which editors are good to work with - there seem to be massive differences there. In the case of an edited volume, a colleague recommended a publisher and a specific editor to me (and me to the editor), and I got the contract there as well. So it's really worth talking to different people about your plans to get a sense of what might or might not work with which publisher.

[Marcus Arvan]

Also, Mark: I had no idea that editors went to the APA, let alone for that reason!

[Mark Alfano]

(Sorry for double-posting. I thought my first attempt hadn't gone through.)

I submitted my book proposal after receiving a nice post-doc (at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study), but I think I would have had a much easier time getting the manuscript reviewed if I'd waited a year, till I was on the tenure-stream. The manuscript was a (much-)revised version of my Ph.D. thesis, so I already had a lot of material ready-to-hand.

[Marcus Arvan]

Lisa: cool, and thanks -- that's some very helpful advice!

[elisa freschi]

1. Working in Europe, I share Lisa's experience: in Europe (and you are likely to want to try to work here, sonner or later, I suppose) you are *EXPECTED* to have written at least one book in order to get a tenure-track position.

2. Whenever I had a book to be published, I addressed several publishing houses, and sent them a book proposal and the TOC. At this early stage, they did not ask me any sample chapter (not to speak about the whole manuscript), since reading a chapter is much more time-consuming for them than reading a book proposal.
I do not share Mark's experience, since I always addressed publishing houses per email or through their websites and went to meet them in person only at a later stage (in the case of Fritz Lang, Frankfurt a.M. etc.) or never at all (in the case of Brill, Leiden or of a volume which I edited and will be published as a separate issue of the Journal of Indian Philosophy, Springer). As expectable, I got a few rejections, but this is part of the game, I suppose, and they were far enough as to tell me why the book had been rejected.
I would not fear not being "famous" enough to address a publishing house with a book proposal, but in case you do, you might ask your former supervisor(s) to write an endorsement to your book, which you will then add to your book-proposal. I did it once and it probably worked.

3. More in general: it might be because I work in Europe, but I think that books do have an added value in them. They allow you to develop your thought in a way which has more depth, broadth and structure. Plus, writing one is a very interesting journey, one which teaches you a lot (also about yourself). I would certainly recommend it to anyone who wishes to work in the academia.

[andy stephenson]

For what it's worth, I know of a case where a person without a tenure-stream appointment has been taken seriously by acquisitions editors, in this case from none other than OUP. He did however have a near-complete manuscript, based on his PhD thesis, and *very* good recommendations. The point is that I think that the right kind of recommendations might well be good enough to get you to the review process / the attention of an editor, even if you are junior.
Whether it's worth the work involved is another question. I'm inclined to think it depends on your field and what your luck's been like publishing in good journals. If things are going well in the latter respect, then it seems to me that there's no particular benefit in rushing things.

[Clayton Littlejohn]

It seems that the answer to Q1 depends upon whether you're in Europe or not. In the American market/system, I think the standard advice is that you should have some of the material out in print and should be in a tenure track job or have tenure. (There are certainly exceptions to this, but these are guidelines. I can't recall, now, but I believe that I started pitching my book while I was still contingent faculty. I had been contingent faculty for three or four years, so I could build on publications built up over that time and was in a similar position as many tenure track people in terms of CV, years since I finished off PhD, and the like. Having the book contract did help on the market, I think, but I'm not quite sure what impact it would have had if I had the book straight out of graduate school.) Why wait? In part because you'll need to get interest in the project and some publishers will want you to have put things into print to drum up interest and don't want to publish dissertations.

As for Q2, you'll sometimes find that publishers will contact you if you have a handful of papers out on the same topic. If so, they might ask you about any projects or set up a meeting at the APA. If you're pro-active, you can approach them. In my experience, they want to see a CV, a proposal, and at least part of the manuscript. (I think Cambridge University Press wanted to look at half before they would decide on whether to offer a contract. If you want to know what a proposal looks like, it helps to ask around to see what proposals others have put together. I don't think you should be afraid to ask colleagues. I was lucky enough to have a colleague who had just finished one that let me look at his as a model. I've uploaded one to dropbox if you want to see an example: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bh0v5yeb5s44wyv/Book%20Proposal%20CUP%20Sept%202010.pdf?m.)

One thing to bear in mind is that it takes a lot of work to put the package together to get a book deal. You should ask whether you have a sufficient cushion of research to dedicate your time to that instead of writing up new papers. Also, be careful not to undertake this too early. Once you get the contract and a deadline, there will be some pressure to finish things off. Deadlines can sap a lot of the fun of writing and force you to make hasty moves in finishing things off.

Check Leiter threads on this, I think there have been a few.

[Marcus Arvan]

Thanks, Clayton -- that's really helpful!