[Air-L] Book publishing questions

[Luke Munn]

Hi Mathias,

Some good questions. I could share some insights based on publishing six
books.

Which Publisher?
There are publisher ranking lists out there (e.g. Aus Pol Science), if
you're interested purely in reputation. Of course, these are pretty
subjective, and some of them are also outdated (SENSE list is from 2009),
so take them with a healthy grain of salt. In general, there are no
surprises - MIT, OUP etc are high ranked, smaller regional uni presses are
lower ranked.

I would say certainly reputation/prestige matters, but you also want to aim
for a good "fit." Publishers have editors with lists (e.g. history, STS,
pol-sci, etc) and build up a catalogue and a reputation with that list.
Some publishers are known for particular fields (e.g. Indigenous and
critical race scholarship). You might select a decent publisher, but your
book may fall between the cracks if it doesn't take this into account.

On that note, I'd look at your key citations - where did they publish?
Routledge has a Surveillance Studies book series, Monahan and Wood just
published a Surveillance Studies reader with OUP, etc. You want to find an
editor that already "gets" this field and its significance, so that you can
focus on convincing them of your contribution to it.

The final consideration is audience - who are you pitching your book to? Is
it a highly specialized field and a select group of people? Are you trying
to move beyond your discipline towards a broader audience (keeping in mind
publishers will caution that very few books are for a truly 'general
audience'). Again publishers are known for certain things: Duke is highly
prestigious but selective and slow with slant towards critical and
theoretical works, Verso is more popular and polemical, Routledge has a
cookie cutter approach but a decent reputation and faster output times,
etc.

Publishing Models
A publisher could tell you much more, but in general many academic
publishers rely on the library purchasing model. So hardcover and
e-book versions for every title, which are sold at high prices to uni
libraries. Some publishers stipulate that if your book does well, then they
will release a paperback at lower cost. This research is not hard to do -
just note the prices of books in the publisher's store, getting down to USD
$20-$30 for a paperback is ideal IMO.

You should investigate this beforehand because absolutely price points and
access will impact the readership of your book. Uni of Michigan, for
example, has conducted its own trial, with some impressive stats, showing
the difference open access makes to download numbers. Finally, a number of
publishers are doing pay to open-access publish models, similar to an APC
for an open-access journal. These can be highly expensive, but some
universities do have open-access funds set aside, or you could build it
into your research project budget. Again both ethically (e.g. far greater
access for those in 'Global South' ) and in readership terms, open access
is ideal - but ofc there are also institutional and individual constraints
to negotiate.

Finally, a brief note on promotion. From my experience, even high-ranked
publishers have very limited resources and budget to promote your book.
They might have a few copies to send to awards, or they might have a couple
booths at major conferences, or promote it with basic social media posts,
etc - but essentially, you'll be driving the promotion. In a way, this
makes sense, as you know your ideal readers, who you want to review it, who
you want to see it and cite it, etc. Just worth knowing going into a
contract.

Hope that helps.

nga mihi / best,
Luke


On Fri, 19 Jul 2024 at 07:47, Mathias Klang via Air-L <
air-l at listserv.aoir.org> wrote:

> Hello internet people,
> I’m looking for input about publishers for a book on the social impacts of
> surveillance technology.
>
> Which publishers would you recommend with an eye towards promotion?
>
> Whom have you enjoyed working with?
>
> Added bonus if they do open access and/or don’t overprice the final
> product!
>
> Grateful for any input
> Mathias
>
> ——
> Dr Mathias Klang
> http://klangable.com
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