What I've Learned about Publishing a Book

Many accounts that describe the procedures of academic writing focus on how authors can attract publishers by revising their dissertations so that they have appeal beyond their more narrow academic audiences. Few of these accounts, however, consider what happens when that process succeeds—that is, what happens to a manuscript after a publisher accepts it. This essay follows up on my 2011 JSP article, 'What I've Learned about Revising a Dissertation,' by considering those issues that arise during the production process of academic publishing. These stages are crucial for the success of a book, and they are avowedly collaborative in ways that differ from revising a dissertation. This process is often perceived as mere manufacturing when in fact it necessitates answering crucial conceptual questions. Furthermore, the customs and conventions of publishing are not a typical part of most academic training. In this essay, I draw from my own experience of publishing a title with an academic press to offer practical as well as theoretical reflections on how to select a publisher, write a book proposal, submit a manuscript, respond to readers' reports, think about copy-editing and proofreading, design a book jacket, and market a book after its physical publication.