If there’s one topic that is perennially mystifying to prospective authors, it’s how they should be interacting with acquiring editors on the way to getting their scholarly books published. Whenever I receive questions via email from authors, this is almost always what they want to know about.
Part of the reason the topic can be so confusing is that every editor is an individual with their own preferences and communication rhythms. It also feels very high-stakes: get an editor on your side and you have a shot at getting your book published; alienate them in some way or fail to make the case that your project is exciting and publishable and your opportunity could be lost.
I wish it didn’t feel like this. I wish I could say that you don’t have to worry so much about impressing an editor or saying exactly the right thing. I mean, I do think there’s a lot of latitude here — most editors are not interested in perfection or in authors who have everything figured out before even approaching them.
But at the same time, it’s really hard to know in advance whether they’ll like your project, or what you could say to make your book sound more appealing to this particular person, or whether you might be doing something to turn them off in a way that makes them reluctant to work with you. Of course, I try to give as many tips as possible in The Book Proposal Book and in my programs, but it’s always going to be a bit of an unknown.
It’s true that forming connections with acquisitions editors is a good idea. For one thing, a human connection can help a lot when it’s time to submit your proposal for formal consideration. No editor is going to publish your book just because they’ve met and liked you (they’ve got to see the book as a fit for their press, above all), but they may respond to you more speedily. They may also give you a bit more leeway in the early stages of evaluating your proposal if they’re on the fence about what you submit in writing. That is, if you’ve already established a personal connection, they might be more willing to make time to talk with you about how to improve the proposal/project versus rejecting it out of hand.
But omg, as an introvert with a fair amount of social anxiety, there’s not much that makes my blood run colder than the idea of initiating a chat with a stranger to talk about my work. Especially in a situation where the impression I make (or fail to make) could have a substantial impact on my publishing goals and possibly even career plans.
If the advice to make connections with acquisitions editors similarly strikes fear into your heart, here’s my secret tip for taking some of the performance anxiety out of these “casual” conversations: Frame your initial chat with an editor not as you trying to impress them, but rather as you evaluating them to see if they seem like someone you’d want to partner with on your book.
This framing is an internal mindset thing, not necessarily something you’ll actually say to an editor when you invite them to have a conversation. You’re not going to say “I’d like to speak with you so I can see if I like you and think you’d be a good person to work with on my book.” You’re going to say, “I’d love to have a conversation with you to learn more about your press and the process of publishing a book with you.” And then you can treat the conversation as just that—a learning experience, or even a “fact-finding mission” if being more purposeful about it in your head helps you follow through on it.
Once you’re having the conversation—sometimes these things take place at disciplinary conferences, but this year you’re more likely to be setting up a brief Zoom meeting with an editor—you’ll probably have to talk about your project a little. But at the conversations stage, you don’t need to have anything fully fleshed out or ready to present formally.
You can explain your topic, your approach and argument (if you’ve figured them out yet), your research objects and sources, and that’s probably good enough. It’s ok to be honest about the stage you’re at and to say that you don’t yet know the answers to some of the questions they might have about your project.
You can even spend the bulk of your time with the editor asking them questions, which will hopefully help you feel less like a deer in headlights and have the added bonus of allowing you to gather practical information that will be super helpful when it’s time to actually submit a proposal. And not only can asking questions help you gather the information you need to decide whether a press is the right partner for your book or not, but they can actually help you make a good impression with an editor.
Editors want you to ask them questions about how the publishing process works at their press. They don’t know what you don’t know, so you’re actually helping them do their job when you ask them questions. And when you ask thoughtful questions, you demonstrate that you’re an engaged author who’s ready to put in the preparation to make your book a success. That’s exactly the kind of person an editor wants to work with.
I’m going to give you a bunch of questions and topics you can discuss with an acquisitions editor in an informal conversation. Some of these might be obvious to you already, and some may be things you didn’t realize you could or should find out before committing to an editor or publisher. Every author is different and has different needs, so you can focus on the items that feel most relevant to your situation.
Download my PDF cheat sheet of questions to ask acquisitions editors here.
It might help to think of the potential questions you could ask as falling into four main categories: really general questions about scholarly publishing; general questions about how things work at their press; specific questions about how things would work for your book at their press; questions about this particular editor’s interests and expertise. Now let me explain these a bit more and give you some examples in each category.
Really general questions about scholarly publishing
Examples:
What goes in a scholarly book proposal?
What are the differences between a dissertation and a book?
What’s the difference between scholarly and trade publishing?
How does the peer review process work?
Recognize that a given editor’s answers may reflect their own particular experiences and preferences with scholarly publishing which may not be universal across editors and presses.
General questions about how things work at their press
Examples:
What kinds of promotion does the press typically engage in for their books?
What formats do they publish scholarly books in? How likely is it that your book would be published in paperback, ebook, audiobook, etc.?
How many copies do they typically expect to sell in each format?
What’s a typical price point for their books?
Do they support digital or open access publishing of any kind?
Do they have a strong trade program? How do they decide whether to promote a given scholarly book as a crossover/trade title?
How long does peer review typically take at their press?
Do they peer review proposals and issue advance contracts, or do they require a full manuscript before they’ll proceed with review and making offers?
What kinds of writing samples do they accept with proposals? Would you need to submit actual draft chapters from your manuscript or would something previously published be ok?
Do they have any manuscript length guidelines they can share with you?
You can also ask questions to suss out the press’s general commitment toward anti-racism, accessibility, and other dimensions of social justice. One way to do this would be to ask whether the press has a code of conduct in place to address issues that might arise during the peer review, production, and promotion processes.
You might ask about the press’s efforts to recruit, support, and promote work by authors from underrepresented groups (you can be specific about the efforts and groups that particularly matter to you if you like).
The editor should be able to answer any of these questions readily. If they’re not able to answer, or they seem in any way unenthused about your posing these types of questions, take note, because that’s valuable information to have before moving forward with this press.
Specific questions about how things would work for your book at their press
Examples:
How do they see your book fitting with their publishing program? Are there any series they think would be appropriate for your book? What would be the benefits of publishing with those series?
What do they see as the major contribution or sales appeal of your book?
Does the editor have any initial ideas about format, packaging, and/or promotion that they could discuss with you?
How do they envision their press helping you reach your book’s core readership?
Are there any less obvious audiences they think your book might reach?
Do they think your book has crossover/trade potential? How would that affect the way they package and promote it?
Do they think an advance contract would be possible for your book? How soon could it be possible to issue a contract? (Know that some of the timeline will be out of their control, because it will depend on peer reviewers and possibly other factors.)
What types of peer reviewers do they think would be good to solicit for your manuscript? What fields and areas of expertise does the editor see as bringing the perspective needed to fairly evaluate your project?
Do they have any concerns about your project or suggestions they’d like to share with you before you formally submit a proposal?
I would wait to pose these kinds of questions until after you have a clear indication from the editor that they’re interested in your project and could see themselves moving forward with it. It’s probably best to stick to the more general questions until that point, so that you don’t come off as too presumptuous about the likelihood of publishing your book with them.
Questions about this particular editor’s interests and experience
If you’re looking for a good conversation starter with an editor (perhaps especially if your chat is spontaneous and you’ve never interacted with the person at all before), two good questions to lead with are “what kinds of books are you excited about acquiring right now?” and “what books have you been working on that you’re excited to bring out soon?”
You’ll be able to get a sense of what this editor’s interests are and possibly the directions their press is moving in. You may also be able to pick up on the vibe of how this editor thinks about their authors and books and what kinds of efforts their press puts into promotion.
You may also want to get a sense of how hands-on the editor tends to be with their authors. Do they regularly read drafts and give feedback? (Know that most scholarly acquisitions editors don’t have time to do this for most authors, so don’t necessarily write them off if they say they tend to be more hands-off.)
You can ask whether they’ve ever had a problem arise with an author or peer reviewer and how they handled it. Ask about specific types of problems if you have specific concerns. For example, you could ask whether they’ve ever received reader reports that seemed biased due to racism or sexism, whether they’ve found it difficult to get fair reviews of interdisciplinary projects in the past, whether they’ve had trouble with authors missing deadlines, etc. You can also what steps they took to make sure the author in question was treated equitably and respectfully.
I’ve given you a lot to think about and bring up with editors, but don’t feel that you need to ask all these questions in your first meeting with an editor (or ever, if some of the questions don’t feel relevant to your situation).
You don’t want a conversation with an editor to feel too much like a one-sided interrogation, so I’d probably suggest focusing on the few things that are most important to you—that is, your dealbreakers—and letting other matters come up as your relationship with the editor and press develops.
Keep in mind that once you sign a contract (even an advance contract) and commit to publishing your book with a specific press, you’re really committed. You don’t want to find out that your press or editor isn’t equipped to handle something that’s very important to you after the fact. So do get all your questions answered before you accept any offers or sign anything. It is definitely fine to have multiple conversations with an editor before you sign a contract with them, if that’s what it takes to make you certain you’ve found the right collaborator.
A good editor will want you to feel confident in working with their press. If they make you feel weird or ashamed for asking questions—especially if they make you feel like a specific thing that’s important to you is silly or not worth asking about—take that as a red flag that this may not be someone you want to spend the next few years of your life working with.
If, conversely, they engage with you and seem to genuinely care about your publishing experience, that’s a sign that you’ve potentially found a great editor to partner with on your book.
I made up a one-page PDF cheat sheet with some of these questions, which you can download here.
I hope you’ll stash a printout of this handout in your bag next time you’re able to go to an academic conference and chat with acquisitions editors. Or keep it next to your computer if you’re able to set up a Zoom chat with an editor you might be interested in working with (that’s totally something you can do). And I hope it’ll make the whole process just slightly less anxiety-provoking (if that’s possible).