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The second and final part in our guide to publishing a first monograph
In part one of this primer, published in the previous edition of Research Fortnight, I focused on reimagining thesis material as a book project by writing a proposal for an academic press. Here, I’ll talk about what happens between sending off the proposal and the book’s publication.
While an author and a manuscript are obviously the main ingredients in producing a book, there are many other people and processes involved in its publication. As an author, you need to understand your relationship to them in order to work with them effectively and boost your book’s impact.
Proposal to contract
After you submit a proposal, the acquisitions editor will read it, and if he or she considers it promising, it will be sent out to two or three reviewers. This process should take three to six months. If the reviews are positive, the press may ask to see the whole manuscript before issuing a contract, or it may issue a contract on the basis of the proposal subject to a positive review of the manuscript when complete. Or, if the reviews are negative, it may say no thanks. That’s hard to hear, but if you have reached the review stage, at least you have some feedback and can reshape your work accordingly before approaching a different press.
You can consider the book ‘under contract’ once the acquisitions editor has informed you the press will publish it, although the actual contract usually takes some weeks to arrive in your inbox.
In among a thicket of legalese, the contract will specify the book’s length, the expected delivery date and royalties—often 10 per cent of the purchase price, but sometimes less, or even nothing at all. There is little room for negotiation on an academic book contract, but I was able to bump up the royalties a little for one book and to guarantee a paperback edition for another. It’s worth asking, as long as you are polite about it. The expected delivery date can usually be extended, and there is often wriggle room on length. Just communicate with your editor in good time.
Nips and tucks
Once your manuscript is complete, whether that takes a few more weeks or a few more years, it will be sent to at least one reader for review. Even if the book is already under contract, it is possible but not common for the press to decide not to publish it at this stage. More likely, there will be some changes requested or criticisms to address.
Along with incorporating reviewers’ suggestions, you should thoroughly edit your text and check all of your references before submitting your final draft. This will take a month or longer, which can feel like an insufferable delay but is really a small price to pay for a polished book.
At the time of delivery, your publisher will send you a marketing questionnaire. This is an extremely important but often overlooked step that will determine who buys your book and how they read it. Expect what you write here to appear on your book’s back cover, on flyers and on booksellers’ websites. Also pay attention to the chapter abstracts and keyword lists that you will be asked to write. These need not take long to compose, but they do have to be accurate, comprehensive, and interesting to help readers find and navigate your work.
Delivery to publication
Soon after you deliver your text, a production manager will be in touch with a list of deadlines, the most important of which is approval of copy edits, usually in three to six months’ time. Examine all the changes carefully and make sure you are happy with everything in the book at this stage. The next thing you will see is typeset proofs, at which point changes will be very unwelcome and may cost you money.
Unless your contract specifies that the press will index the book, you will do this or arrange to have it done at the proofs stage. I do my own indexing because my books contain foreign and technical terms that can trip up a non-expert, but I know scholars who prefer to pay a professional. Like the marketing questionnaire and the chapter abstracts, this is a seemingly minor thing that determines how your audience will access your work, so whatever you choose, make sure it is usable.
A few months after proofs and indexing, a box from your publisher will arrive with the author copies of your book. Celebrate this moment, not least because you may be seriously underwhelmed by the rest of the world’s reaction. Books are slow burners. It can take months, or even years, to see your book reviewed or cited anywhere.
By the time you begin to notice your book’s impact, you will probably be engrossed in your next project and the transition from thesis to book will feel like a distant memory. Hopefully it will be a happy one.
This is an extract from an article in Research Professional’s Funding Insight service. To subscribe contact sales@researchresearch.com