A Guide to Publishing Your First Book: Arranging theRight Book Contract

Extract

As part of its mission to address issues of recruitment, retention,and integration of women and people of color in the profession, theAPSA Task Force on Mentoring periodically publishes articles on someaspect of mentoring that will help political scientists movesuccessfully through the profession. This brief symposium on“Publishing Your First Book” is just one such example of thisinitiative. For more information about the Task Force and itsongoing projects, contact Linda Lopez, APSA Director of Educationand Professional Development Programs, at llopez@apsanet.org.

Making a realistic assessment of your goals in publishing a book, andmatching a publisher with the text and with your goals is the firststep in bringing your research effort to completion. Socialscientists write books hoping to influence an election, change thepolitical debate, shift an academic focus, get tenure, or get a job.A good book, well-published, can help achieve someof these goals—but there are other ways to work toward them. Authorsand publishers will be happiest, and readers best served, if authorstake stock of the possible, and then market their books topublishers who are best suited to help with the goals they'vechosen. Beyond writing the book, the author has three clear tasks:deciding on realistic goals for the book; executing due diligence infinding the right publishing house; and making the gist of the bookaccessible to an educated, but not necessarily expert, reader bywriting a good proposal. Matching expectations to the book will helpidentify the most appropriate presses.