first-time authors

Royalties and Advances in Scholarly Publishing

Royalties and advances against royalties are payments that publishers make to authors. This post explains how royalty and advance payments are calculated and disbursed. It also offers some key points for scholarly writers to consider when negotiating book contracts.

Out-Of-Pocket Costs for Academic Book Authors

Sometimes there are out-of-pocket costs associated with publishing your academic book. An author may want to invest in hiring an indexer, a copy editor, a developmental editor, a proofreader, someone to assist with image permissions, or a publicist. Even if you take on most of the work yourself, you may incur some costs. This post breaks down some of them so you can plan and budget accordingly.

10 Steps to an Effective Book Proposal

Writing a scholarly book proposal can be intimidating. Here is a breakdown (plus a free downloadable checklist) of the 10 steps involved in putting together an effective book proposal to submit to university presses and other scholarly publishers.

Should You Publish Your Book in a Series?

Many authors wonder whether they should consider publishing their scholarly book as part of a series at a university press. This post includes information that can help authors decide whether a series is the right fit for their next book.

The Essential Building Blocks of an Academic Book Proposal

Do you know what the essential building blocks of a scholarly book proposal are and why they’re there? Here is a quick guide to the key components with explanations of their functions and intended audiences.

Pep Talks for Nervous Academic Authors

The academic book publishing process can feel daunting and mysterious. It’s ok to feel nervous about it. Here are some helpful thoughts to ease your nerves and keep in mind after you submit your book proposal or book manuscript to scholarly publishers.

Do You Really Have to Give Book Talks? Reassurance for Introverts

What are your goals for publishing an academic book? Will giving a book talk or planning a whole book tour help you achieve them? This post helps you evaluate the option of giving book talks and advises on how to keep your decision consistent with your goals.

When A Press Approaches You About Publishing Your book and Wants to Move Quickly

How quickly should you move when a press expresses interest in your dissertation project? Here are some things to consider before signing the contract right away.

The Easiest Way to Get Your Academic Book Proposal Rejected and How to Avoid It

Fit plays a major role in the evaluation of a book proposal. Here are some ways to discover if your academic book manuscript will match up with your list of presses before you send out your book proposal.

Promoting Your Academic Book

After an academic author submits the final manuscript, there’s still promotion to think about. This post breaks down what I did to promote The Book Proposal Book and offers tips on how you can collaborate with your press's publicity team to make sure your book reaches its intended readers.

How to Get Usable Peer Feedback on Your Academic Book Proposal

Not every scholarly writer has access to a developmental editor, but a colleague could be just as helpful. Here are some questions to help you guide your peers towards giving you effective feedback on your academic book proposal.

How to Tailor Your Academic Book Proposal for Different Publishers: What to Change for Each Press to Press and What You Can Leave Alone

Can you submit the same academic book proposal to different publishers? This post discusses what to change from press to press and what you can keep the same in each version of your academic book proposal.

Don't Be TOO Timely: Why "ripped from the headlines" isn't the best pitch strategy for scholarly books

Scholarly books rarely have the most timely hooks...for good reason. This post discusses how relying on recent headlines can hurt your academic book proposal and some other ways you can use current events to your advantage when it comes time to promote your book.

How One Author Revised Her Dissertation into an Academic Book

What does it take to turn your dissertation into a book manuscript? Where do you find support? The author of Fighting Visibility shares her experience as a first-time author and how she got her academic book published.

When and How to Follow Up with a Publisher in the Covid Era

An incredible amount of uncertainty and waiting come with publishing an academic book. Here are some scenarios to run through to help you decide how to follow up on an earlier conversation with an acquisitions editor.

Are You Sure You Know What a "Trade Publisher" Is? Let's Clear It Up

Different kinds of publishers prioritize different kinds of texts. Books by academics are published by university presses, commercial academic presses, and sometimes trade presses. So where should you send your book proposal? Here is a breakdown of where your academic book manuscript might fit and might not.

How to Negotiate a Book Contract Offer from a Publisher

You receive an offer to publish your academic book manuscript. Now what happens? Here are some points a scholarly author should keep in mind as they review a contract or publishing agreement when it's offered by a publisher, along with some tips about items you may be able to negotiate for.

The Dreaded Copy Edits

Unless you are a copyeditor, it’s difficult to know what it is they do and how they read a text. It’s also easy to feel as if the copy edits on your manuscript are a personal attack. This post gives you the inside scoop on the function of a copyeditor and why they probably aren’t out to radically change your manuscript or undermine your work.

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