The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors

by Laura Portwood-Stacer

The scholarly book proposal may be academia’s most mysterious genre. You have to write one to get published, but most scholars receive no training on how to do so—and you may have never even seen a proposal before you’re expected to produce your own. The Book Proposal Book cuts through the mystery and guides prospective authors step by step through the process of crafting a compelling proposal and pitching it to university presses and other academic publishers.

Laura Portwood-Stacer, an experienced developmental editor and publishing consultant for academic authors, shows how to select the right presses to target, identify audiences and competing titles, and write a project description that will grab the attention of editors—breaking the entire process into discrete, manageable tasks. The book features over fifty time-tested tips to make your proposal stand out; sample prospectuses, a letter of inquiry, and a response to reader reports from real authors; optional worksheets and checklists; answers to dozens of the most common questions about the scholarly publishing process; and much, much more.

Whether you’re hoping to publish your first book or you’re a seasoned author with an unfinished proposal languishing on your hard drive, The Book Proposal Book provides honest, empathetic, and invaluable advice on how to overcome common sticking points and get your book published. It also shows why, far from being merely a hurdle to clear, a well-conceived proposal can help lead to an outstanding book.

Genres: Writing, Academic, Nonfiction, Academia, Academics, Research, Reference

204 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 13, 2021

Reviews

[Dallin Kohler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what I needed.

[Riley Hines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one for work! Really accessible and a great tool if you’re a scholar looking to publish at a university press.

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always wanted to write. And to write to publish. And I have done some of that in highly specific, academic journal settings. But even the experience that I have with that process is, I know, not quite enough to tell me everything I need to know about making the move (one day) to the realm of books--especially academic, scholarly books. I'd heard rumblings about the usefulness and clarity of The Book Proposal Book for a while, and when I reached the stage of finally having some time and an appropriate level of distance from my dissertation project, I decided to finally give it a go. Overall, I found the book to be very, very helpful, primarily for the way that it makes complicated, ambiguous elements of the academic publishing world clear and concise. The casual, almost offhanded advice that gets passed along throughout the book also seems invaluable, and seems to me like it may be the part of the book that pays the most dividends in actually putting together a book proposal (time will tell, though). There were, of course, some things that I wish the book gave more detail and information about, things like negotiating about covers and art and design and things like that, but the fact that those highly specific questions don't get as much coverage as I might have wanted is, in all fairness, a relatively minor complaint.

[Sophia Nuñez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Someone recommended that I write a book proposal and start finding a publisher this year, but I neither felt ready nor knew how to write a book proposal. It’s a genre that we are not trained to write in graduate school – frankly, not really trained to write period. After I fumbled my way through a first draft, a colleague and a mentor both recommended Portwood-Stacer’s guide. Portwood-Stacer shows that writing a book proposal can help us write a strong book itself. While some academic presses list sections that ought appear in up proposal, others give little guidance, and it is a daunting task. She breaks the process down into manageable steps and gives plenty of examples throughout the chapters as well as sample proposals, a sample letter of inquiry, and a sample response to reader reports. This is especially helpful for steps like making a list of comparable titles, a section of the proposal that had stumped me. There are even checklists at the end! The book also gives an overview of the process of publishing academic books. I now feel much better prepared to tackle the task of writing a proposal and communicating with editors about my project. Overall, I’d highly recommend this book to others who are about to write an academic book proposal, especially for the first time.

[Paulina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a former professor and an academic editor. I’m developing a course called the “6-Week Book Proposal Challenge.” The material is from my own experience in publishing and editing, but I enjoyed reading this book to make sure I’ve covered all the main points. It’s a great resource for those wanting to write a proposal on their own. If you need a bit more guidance or structure, check out https://acadiaediting.com/bookproposa...

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely essential read for anyone who is confused about or seeking guidance on scholarly book proposals. The most practical and concrete advice I've seen collected into one volume. Demystified the process and made proposal-writing seem so much less intimidating. Spread the word of this book to anyone who might benefit from it!

[Bookshark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt very unsure of myself navigating this process. This book REALLY helped me understand the underlying norms of academic publishing, how editors think, how to pitch a book, and how a book is different from a journal article. It's very practical, with lots of examples. I highly recommend it for first-time academic authors who feel lost or overwhelmed with the process.

[Kimberly J Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has good information. I found Getting it Published to be a better guide for my purposes.


Also the audiobook narration is not the right tone for this book so I highly recommend reading rather than listening.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! Not only is it essential for anyone writing a book, especially in the humanities or social sciences, it is a great read for those of us who work with those scholars. It helped me to think through their process and how I can best facilitate it.

[Brigitte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a helpful book! I wish I had this right after I graduated with my doctorate. I’m just glad I have it now. It’s helped me plan out my book project and helped me with how to talk and write about my project.

[Andy]

DNF. Not great for audio. Seems useful. Will likely come back to it some day in print if I ever get that far with my scholarly book idea. A bit too much of an infomercial for the author who is an editorial consultant for would-be authors.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot from this. Highly recommend.

[Trilby O'Farrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise, up-to-date, and includes examples.

[Patrick Kabanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is in excellent resource for anyone interested in scholarly publishing.

[Alda Balthrop-Lewis]

This is a great book for folks writing book proposals for scholarly presses.

[Zhenia Vasiliev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars, hands down - quite instructive and also an exciting read

[Ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delivers on its premise.

[Elissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read several books in the process of working on revising my dissertation and getting ready to submit it to publishers and this was the most practical and easy to follow guide out of them all.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll up it to 5 stars once my book gets published. Very helpful.

[Will Turner]

Very helpful. Well structured. Informative. Clear. Concise.

[Franklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful guide to publishing with academic presses. Hope to put the suggestions to the test someday soon!