Essential knowledge about scholarly book publishing that every author should have. Get weekly tips on writing and publishing your scholarly book from developmental editor and publishing consultant Laura Portwood-Stacer, PhD.
How to cope with poor treatment by publishers
Published about 6 hours ago • 5 min read
The Manuscript Works Newsletter
Essential knowledge on scholarly book publishing that every author should have
Hello Manuscript Workers!
What's in this edition:
My advice for authors who are worried about poor treatment from publishers
Frequently asked question: Which scholarly press is the best to publish your book with?
As always, if you have a question or suggestion for a future newsletter, you can reply directly to this message. Thanks for reading!
This newsletter is coming to you from Laura Portwood-Stacer, PhD, professional developmental editor and publishing consultant. I help scholarly writers navigate the book publishing process with more ease and agency.
I hope you'll stick around for practical tips on writing and publishing your scholarly book, but if you'd like to adjust your subscription settings, you can do that at the bottom of this message.
I recently spoke to journalist Matthew Reisz, who published a reported essay in Times Higher Education about the author experience at academic publishers. The piece ran with the headline "Is Authors' Treatment by Publishers Getting Worse?" and presented a number of author complaints about academic publishing, along with some perspective from publishers themselves.
I encourage you to read the whole article, but I was pleased that the writer ended with some practical advice that came out during my conversation with him. I'm reproducing the last few paragraphs of Reisz' piece for you here:
It is not unusual, of course, to come across academics who have had extremely positive experiences with several different publishers. But what advice does Portwood-Stacer have for those who don’t?
She makes two core points, one psychological and the other practical. When authors feel they are being treated badly, they should try to “understand where these issues are coming from. They are often structural issues about the way the press is set up and the labour demands on the editor.”
Moreover, it is not the fault of publishers if universities offer few incentives and little training for scholars to take on work as peer reviewers. And while it will always be annoying to wait weeks or months for a response to a message that could only have taken a few minutes to write, “authors have no way of knowing how many similar messages the editor is inundated with”. Particularly at the most prestigious publishers, “it could be hundreds”.
So it is always worth remembering that “the way you are treated by editors is not personal or a reflection on you or the quality of your work…They are not doing it on purpose to frustrate you!”
In more practical terms, Portwood-Stacer always advises her authors “not to put all their eggs in one basket, particularly if they are on a timeline.
“Have conversations with multiple publishers so you can see which are most responsive,” she advises. “In book publishing, unlike journal publishing, you can submit a proposal to multiple presses. Many authors don’t know that.”
And while not every press is willing to consider book proposals that are also under consideration elsewhere, she works with “many authors who have got several publishers to agree to simultaneous review”.
While such authors may still feel themselves to be at publishers’ mercy, the odds of receiving such mercy are at least higher when the request for it is made to several.
While I do encourage authors to have conversations with multiple presses at the beginning of the book publishing process, I know that your time and bandwidth are limited. It's hard enough to pluck up the emotional wherewithal to email one publisher about your book project, let alone several. So how do you make sure your efforts really count?
Identify a list of best-fit publishers for your project before you try to initiate conversations. Do some research and tap your networks to find out what other authors' experiences have been. Eliminate the presses who can't give you what you want for your book and focus on the ones that have the best track record with books like yours and authors like you.
When you're down to a short list of two to five publishers, then you can send inquiries, knowing that you've already established a strong fit and can communicate it confidently to each press. You'll increase your chances of a positive response enormously!
Need help identifying the right publishers for your book? Join my free 5-day challenge this month.
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Keep in mind that experienced developmental editors may book up months in advance, so if you're even starting to contemplate working with someone, now is the time to reach out.
Frequently asked question
Prospective authors have asked me many times over the years to tell them who the "best" scholarly book publishers are.
In fact, there is no accurate answer to this question. Every author has unique goals and needs, and different publishers are differently equipped. A publisher with an elite international reputation might offer a much less-than-satisfactory author experience. A press that publishes countless award-winning books in your friend's field might be virtually unknown among the colleagues in your department who will vote on your tenure case. The publisher that your mentor encouraged you to publish with might employ an acquisitions editor who is horrible at responding to email. The university press you love might take years to get your book out, while the quick commercial press might not provide the beautiful cover design you've dreamed of.
I could go on and on with hypotheticals. The point is that "best" means something different to everyone, and in order to decide which publisher is best for you, you need to combine clarity on your own goals with informed knowledge about the scholarly publishing landscape.
I can help with both of those things! Join my free 5-day challenge this month and we can get started on figuring out your best publishers together.
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Essential knowledge about scholarly book publishing that every author should have. Get weekly tips on writing and publishing your scholarly book from developmental editor and publishing consultant Laura Portwood-Stacer, PhD.