Welcome to the third in our series of
short BiteWISe guides which look at
turning your PhD thesis into a monograph.
We've already looked at some of the
points you might want to consider when
choosing a publisher and this video
looks at the next stage in the process
which is submitting a book proposal.
Later in the series we'll look at other
areas such as managing your relationship
with your publisher and copy editing
and review, or for a general overview see
the first guide in this series Turning
your thesis into a monograph.
When should I submit a proposal? The best advice is
to do it as soon as you can after
completing your thesis or even before.
The publication process can take a while
usually at least six months from the
date you submit your final manuscript
and you will also need to allow
additional time to review and edit your
thesis into book form. The sooner you do
it the fresher the topic will be in your
mind and if you are working in a
fast-moving discipline it's even more
important to get your book to market
before your research becomes obsolete.
Once you've identified a suitable
publisher and established that they might
be interested in your book you will need
to make a formal submission.
Although you can approach several publishers
simultaneously in the initial scoping
stage you should only submit one
proposal at a time. Evaluating a proposal
involves a significant investment of
effort on behalf of the editor
who has to read your submission and find
reviewers, and they will not appreciate it
if you withdraw partway through the
process because someone else has offered you a contract.
This can damage your
reputation and also jeopardize your
chances of working with the publisher in
the future.
What makes a good proposal?
There are a number of things publishers
look for in a book proposal.
First and foremost is the originality of the work. This could be the content
for example it might be the first book on the topic or
you may have tapped into a previously
unused archival source, but it could also
be the way you have applied a particular
methodology or approach. Whatever it is
you need to identify your book's
unique selling point and make it clear.
Relevance - next think about the context
you are publishing in - what makes your
book relevant right now?
Does it contribute to ongoing debates in your
field or is it likely to be a hot topic
in the near future?
If not you might want to think about how
you might be able to engage with recent
developments.
A coherent argument
A thesis is an examination document which
usually means there's a lot of repetition
as you reinforce each point
with additional evidence or examples.
There may also be signposting to other
chapters and sections.
Your published book needs to have a clear coherent structure
with an overarching narrative
so you'll need to make clear in your proposal what
story you are trying to tell.
A known audience - your publisher will want to
sell as many copies of your book
as they can and they need you to tell them who
is likely to buy it.
As a result of budget cuts very few copies are now sold
to academic libraries so you need to
identify other avenues for potential
sales. For example are you or anyone else
teaching a module on your topic and
likely to add it to a reading list or
does it have a wider popular appeal?
Suitability - last but by no means least
does your book complement your
publisher's existing output and what else
have they published in your field? Try
looking at the latest version of the
publisher's catalogue to see if there is an
obvious place that your book would fit.
It's also worth seeing if there is an
existing series that you might be able to slot into.
What do I need to include
in the proposal? Most publishers are
quite prescriptive about the information
they want to see as part of your proposal.
Some have a specific form
either online or in print
with particular fields you need to complete,
whilst others provide a list of things
to include and leave the formatting to
you. You might find some variation in the
type of information that publishers
require but as a general rule you will
need to include the following
information:
Title - this needs to be
something that will appeal to your
target audience.
Think about the keywords that users
might search to find your topic
and try to include as many as you can either in
your title or subtitle.
Don't use the title of your thesis as this can lead to
confusion between the two.
The rationale for your book - your publisher needs to
understand what the purpose of your book is
as well as explaining what subjects
and themes of the book are,
the approach you've taken and what you will be
covering (scope) you should also try and
place the book in the context of
existing
scholarship in the field.
An author biography - who are you and what
credentials do you have that make you an
expert on the topic?
Make sure you mention any previous publications
A table of contents - this should reflect
the content of the book and may be
substantially different from your thesis.
Possible markets - your publisher is
looking to maximize sales so make sure
you include as much information as you
can about potential audiences and
outlets for your book.
Competition - don't just say there isn't any.
Highlight what else is out there as this will help
your publisher to gauge potential interest.
At the same time you need to
make it clear how your book is different
and why people would want to buy it.
What gap or niche will it fill?
Timeline - the publisher will usually ask you to
estimate when they can expect to receive the manuscript.
This should be as soon as
possible but try be realistic especially
if you are expecting to make substantial
revisions to your thesis.
Overall, be as thorough as you can in your responses
but keep it relevant and make sure you
stick to any maximum work counts.
What
else do I need to submit?
Unless the publisher specifically instructs you to,
don't send a copy of your thesis.
As a general rule, publishers won’t want to see the raw material and will be more
interested in reading a sample chapter
as it will appear in the finished book.
They may also ask for a detailed outline
of what will appear in the remaining chapters.
Some publishers will also ask
you to submit a copy of your CV and you
should always include a covering letter
tailored to the publisher explaining why
you think they are particularly suitable
to handle your book.
Finally double-check the author's
guidelines to make sure you've included
everything your publisher has asked for
before submitting.
Where do I send it?
Again this varies from publisher to
publisher but in most cases you will
need to submit the proposal to the
editor who covers your subject area.
In a very small price there might be a single
point of contact but some of the larger
commercial publishers and university
presses employ hundreds of editors.
There will usually be a list of contacts
somewhere on the publishers website.
If you have made an initial approach to the
editor you may already have their
contact details but check that the
proposal doesn't need to be submitted
somewhere else for example to a shared
mailbox or via an online form.
What happens if my proposal is accepted?
Congratulations! we will look at the
contract negotiation stage and how to
manage your ongoing relationship with
your publisher in the next video.
Thank
you for listening to this short BiteWISe guide
and look out for more videos in
the Thesis to Monograph series.
