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Phillipa McGuinness, Humanities Publisher, UNSW Press, Graduate Research Institute in Social Sciences & Humanities, where? 17 May 2006 Books may emerge from the flicker of an idea that won’t go away, an urgency and passion that can only be expressed in 80,000 words, 3 years of hard slog over a PhD, or a sense of desperation at the end of a 5 year ARC-funded project. No matter what a book’s origins though, at some point it’s likely that someone will say ‘you should get that published—why don’t you put a book proposal together?’ I’m going to talk today about
2. how to do it most effectively 3. who to send it to Since I started what would become a publishing career and was employed as a publishing assistant my professional life has revolved around non-fiction book proposals. A large proportion of my time at work when I started was devoted to declining proposals and sadly it still is. Of course at the beginning I was dealing with many that probably weren't really contenders, but there were a lot of them. Now I expect there are even more because everyone seems to think they have a book in them! Over the years as I've risen up the publishing hierarchy I'm more likely to see proposals that on the face of it should be in with a reasonable chance. They're from academics, well-established writers or people who may not have written a book before but have published articles in academic journals, newspapers, magazines. Yet I'm also more likely to approach people directly and say 'how about a book about x?' Would you consider putting a book proposal together? Either way, like all my UNSW press editorial colleagues and no doubt publishers everywhere I express concern, and sometimes even panic, about the large numbers of new proposals sitting on my desk or in my email inbox waiting for a response. I probably get between five and ten a week and these don't nearly include everything coming into the building. Some go to our textbook publisher, some go to the other academic and general publisher, most go to our publishing assistant. I estimated that about 3 per cent of everything that came through our door was eventually offered a contract; she thought this was probably optimistic. There is a great divide between the largely commercially-driven world of publishing (UNSW press receives no subsidy from the university, a unique situation among Australian university presses, so every book we do must be financially viable so we can continue) and the view of publishing from the Academy. Put crudely, the difference is that we have readers and a book-buying market in mind and universities have DEST points in mind. (I am able to wear two hats talking about this because I am on the HCA College of Experts on the ARC.) I well understand the pressure to publish for the purposes of getting grants, promotions and indeed a job in the first instance. On the other hand I want to be initiating reprint forms rather than contemplating a warehouse full of unsold books and a spreadsheet with a truly dismal bottom line. Should I pursue publication? I assume that if you're sitting here you've already answered that question in the affirmative. But you should ask yourself Should I prepare a book proposal? It deserves serious consideration. Here are some ways you might think about it. (some of these questions take into account that you may be thinking about revising a PhD but they are broadly applicable.) Does my topic merit a book? Perhaps you and your career, as well as your area of research, will be best served by articles in specialist academic journals, an opinion piece in the newspaper, a more general article or opinion piece in Online Opinion or New Matilda or an essay in Meanjin, ABR, the Australian Humanities Review, Griffith Review or Heat. If they seem like ideal outlets to reach the audience you want and say what you want to say than that is perfectly acceptable. Even if colleagues ask when you're going to write your book remember that not everyone has a book in them. You also need to ask yourself 'how interesting is my topic really?' Is it so specialised that you've never really thought of it as a book, but now feel that maybe you should because of external pressure? A UK forum on publishing recently included a long discussion about academic monograph publishing—a shrinking category. It is pertinent for me to read a quote that reproduces what is a very familiar scenario
If you think your topic deserves a book, ask yourself: Do I really want to write one? If you're drawing from a thesis, remember and keep reminding yourself that a book is not a thesis. A substantial amount of work is required: expansion, contraction of survey material, removal of theoretical material, making it bolder and more opinionated, finding a voice, reaching out to a broad audience, writing without looking over your shoulder at your supervisor and peers. Writing for a real audience, as we shall see, demands time, commitment and passion. If it all seems too hard, if the thought of returning to your thesis topic, the one you've been immersed in for 3 or 5 or 10 years makes you feel sick, maybe that answers your question. It's a sign if you would rather be burning your notes than revisiting them. Sometimes it's better just to move on. Ask yourself: Do I like to write? This may sound glib. One would hope that people in the humanities would answer yes. But often after the experience of reading various books one can only conclude that the author finds writing torturous and wants to replicate the experience for their readers. Finally ask yourself: Can I cope with rejection? You must be prepared for disappointment. You may inspire a bidding war between publishers but chances are you will have to knock on quite a few doors. Sometimes the rejection letters you receive will engage with your work and offer valid reasons as to why the publishing house won't be able to proceed with your book. Sometimes you may even be given constructive advice, including external readers' reports, about what you need to do to make the book more marketable. But chances are you will receive a form letter of rejection that may be hurtful and even insulting. If you think you are resilient enough to cope with this, and take it as given that you'll have to knock on quite a few doors, that will help. But you may not get there in the end. How to prepare a book proposal Most publishers' websites will have a guide to preparing and submitting a proposal. You must do your research carefully. Expectations will vary and you don't want to sabotage your chances. Many publishers will have a form that they ask you to fill in. Some may not want it sent electronically, most will prefer that. Here is what I ask for which is pretty standard: A general rationale for the book. Why are you writing it and more to the point, why do you think someone would want to publish it. A first sentence that makes me want to read on is crucial. You must work to get the attention of your reader. If you can't do that in a proposal a publisher will doubt very much that you can do it in a book. Publishers make leaps of faith all the time, but we have our limits! The tone of the proposal should reflect the tone of the book. Be honest. If you're talking about a thesis say so. But if you can convince the publisher that you see the thesis as a starting point for the book and are committed to revising, your case will be stronger. A table of contents This can be as detailed as you want to make it but it is extremely useful to have an indication of what each chapter will cover, even in point form. It's helpful too to allocate a word length to each chapter. A detailed discussion of the market for the book I can't emphasise how important this is. When I read a proposal where someone has written that the audience for their book will be 'academics in English literature, Australian history, anthropology, Aboriginal studies, Pacific studies, postcolonial studies, media studies, ethnomusicology, etc etc + schools, professionals and general readers' I'm tempted to start writing my rejection note. Covering all bases isn't always reassuring. Before writing any piece, even, you need to think 'Who is my audience?' A book publisher will want to have a sense of what the author thinks the audience is before she makes her own assessment. If you've removed all the specialised language, developed a strong narrative and have spent months writing creatively and passionately with your next-door-neighbour in mind, as opposed to your head of department, you should be able to say that your book is for general readers with some confidence. However if you've removed the word 'thesis' and replaced it with 'book' and removed the literature review but not much else, your book is probably for academics. If your proposal is for a textbook, list specific courses, lecturers, student numbers. Be specific. If you think the main audience for your book will be members of a society to whom it must be sold direct, offer the details. What are comparable books? What is the competition? Be as specific as possible. If you want to do for your area what Inga Clendinnen has done for early Australian history or Tim Flannery for ecology and climate change, say so. What are your qualifications for writing this? Not just academic qualifications but all the publishing you've done, your experience, your connections and contacts with the media and relevant organisations, likely conference appearances, etc. What is your deadline for completing this? Be realistic. Is any sample material available? If not, when might there be some? Who will you send it to? Keep abreast of what publishers are doing and what they seem to be concentrating on. Pay attention to imprints, etc., when you read book reviews in journals or in newspapers. Talk to colleagues about their experiences. Go browsing (and buying!) regularly in shops like Gleebooks. Overseas conferences offer good opportunities for finding out what's coming up and what university presses are interested in. Send it to the appropriate editor if you can find out who that person is. Many publishers' websites include details of the commissioning editor's disciplinary responsibilities. In your covering letter it can be helpful to show you're paying attention by mentioning recent books published by that press and mentioning that you see your book as similar. In Australia many publishers who have traditionally published scholarly books no longer do or in many cases will only take a book on if they receive a subsidy from the author's institution. UNSW press now falls into that category with our scholarly publishing program which will total about 5 books out of the 50+ we publish each year. They will not be books that, as my earlier quote suggests, primarily serve the interests of authors, their careers and funding bodies. We want to publish real books for real readers. If something is written in an academic style, all publishers know the audience will be limited. If you don't think your book lends itself to the review pages of the SMH or a talkback session on ABC local radio, your audience is probably going to consist of academics. If your work is dominated by theoretical arguments, packed with words like embodiment, subjectivities, gendered approaches, etc., and you have no intention of removing them, your audience is going to be an academic one. Do some research into what your subvention options might be before you approach an Australian publisher. And while the question of audience underpins everything I'm saying today, I'd like to make another explicit comment about it to finish off. People talk about the 'crossover book' meaning that the book can cross over, effortlessly it would seem, from an academic audience to a popular one. Increasingly I think there's no such thing. If you do write a book in an academic language and it crosses over in a way that translates into sales, that's a bonus that has more than a bit to do with luck—timing, a good topic etc. If you really want to reach a broad audience you have to have general readers squarely in your sights as you start writing. Chances are you'll bring an academic audience with you anyway which will be delighted to discover a book full of readable, engaging, well-informed and occasionally opinionated prose. Other readers you have to win over. Including the reader of your book proposal! |
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