Raising your academic profile by writing books and chapters in books
If published papers are the currency of the academic world, books are its high-denomination banknotes. Books also have a longer shelf life and reach a segment of readers different from that comprising readers who mainly read research papers. “But I do not have the time to write a book,” you may say. But think again: you can find the time by creating a slot for writing in your busy schedule. This article tells you why authoring a book or at least a chapter in a book is important for your CV, how you should approach the task, and what you may expect (because workflow in book publishing is different from that in journal publishing).
Why academics should write books
If research papers are short-term crops, books are like fruit trees: they may take a long time to start giving you fruit, but will keep giving them for years.
- Especially in the social sciences and humanities, books are accorded much greater weighting in evaluating your contribution to your discipline because books offer a better opportunity to demonstrate the author’s knowledge and understanding of the subject.
- In material terms, books simply offer you a better deal: whereas you may have to pay a journal to publish your manuscript (in the form of article-processing charges, for example, or to make your paper open access), you earn money in the form of royalties from the sales of your book.
- The impact of a book also may last longer than that of a research paper. I am sure you recall the author(s) of at least a couple of standard texts in your field long after you graduated – The Feynman Lectures on Physics or Principles of Genetics by Sinnott, Dunn, and Dobzhansky or Gray’s Anatomy (now in its 42nd edition), for example – whereas you may be hard put to recall the names of many authors you may even have cited in your papers.
How to approach the task of writing a book
In some ways, writing a book is easier than writing a research paper.
- Freedom from a rigid format. Research papers usually impose a set structure, namely the IMRaD structure (introduction, methods, results, and discussion), whereas you can structure your book your way, a structure that suits the exposition you have in mind.
- Flexible content. Research papers typically demand that the contents must be novel and based on original research: books, on the other hand, take a broader view of the subject and aim more to facilitate understanding than to advance the frontiers of knowledge. Books also allow authors to present the subject as shaped by their own viewpoint, experience, and knowledge.
- Manageable schedules. Journal articles impose a fairly tight schedule on their authors, especially when it comes to responding to reviewers and returning page proofs; books, on the other hand, allow authors more leeway: you can schedule a slot for writing to suit your convenience and to accommodate other demands.
In terms of total time, however, writing a book is not a task to be approached lightly. Think of writing a book as a marathon: you need to set a pace that you can sustain over a long time. Two particularly useful books are Paul J Silvia’s How to Write a Lot and Helen Sword’s Air & Light & Time & Space: how successful academics write. I often recommend aspiring writers that they should write the blurb first: a short description, about 350 words, typically printed on the outside back cover of a book, of who the book is for and why they should read it. Next, develop the table of contents, listing the titles of chapters and, for each chapter, the main headings. Once you have the skeleton, start putting flesh on it. Ideally, commit yourself to writing a set number of words (at least 5000–7000 words) every week. It may help you to know that an average non-fiction book is about 60,000 words.
What to expect (workflow in book publishing)
As an academic, you are familiar with the process of getting your paper published: briefly, you submit a manuscript; it is then sent out for review; you revise it in the light of the comments from the reviewers; the manuscript is then copy-edited and typeset, and you get the proofs to correct; you return the corrected proof and the paper is published.
In book publishing, it is usual to submit a book proposal outlining the proposed contents, pointing out the need for such a book and showing how it is different from similar books already in print (the potential competitors), and establishing your qualifications as an author. It is best to attach one chapter as a sample of your writing and an estimate of total length (in number of words). If the proposal is accepted, you are sent a contract, which sets out your responsibilities and also a timetable. The manuscript is copy-edited and, once you approve the changes, the book is designed and typeset. You get the proofs to correct and may also be asked to supply an index to the book. Unlike journal articles, you are also expected to help in marketing the book by promoting it within your network, suggesting possible reviewers, obtaining favourable endorsements and advance praise, and so on.
You may want to test the waters, as it were, by attempting to write a chapter in a book instead of the whole book. However, it also means that somebody else, typically the editor(s) of the proposed multi-authored volume, must invite you to contribute a chapter. Alternatively, you can plan such a book yourself, outline the contents, invite the most qualified authors to write the proposed chapters, and then pitch the idea to a publisher. Again, this is not a task to be undertaken lightly, but it is a task that makes greater demands on your managerial ability than that as a writer.
Whichever you choose – going solo and writing an entire book yourself or a chapter in a book (if invited) or editing a multi-author volume – hope this article convinces you that it is time to take the plunge. Happy writing!
Silvia P J. 2019. How to Write a Lot, 2nd edn. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 146 pp.
Sword H. 2017. Air & Light & Time & Space: how successful academics write. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 266 pp.
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