This week, Jeff Johnson, author of American Advertising in Poland , offers us some of his own insight on getting published for the first time.
1. Talk to former professors, your friends, colleagues and any other people you have known in academia about your project. Ask them to share their publishing contacts and any information they may have. The people we know best can often help us a lot, we don’t often ask though.
2. A few weeks before a conference, make appointments with any relevant attending book editors to talk about your upcoming book projects. Have a prospectus for any book projects you are working on and a copy of your CV. Even if an editor isn’t interested in your current project, he/she may want to publish one of your future books. Keep in contact with the editors you meet and always make a point to say hi whenever both of you attend the same conference. 3. Read Writer’s Market and make a list of publishers that share your academic interests. These are the publishers to whom you will want to send your prospectuses. Tailor each prospectus to an individual publisher and work to understand what each company’s desires and needs are.
4. Don’t be afraid of rejection. Remember that everyone you come in contact with has the potential to help you get published. Just because someone rejected your first book doesn’t mean that they won’t want to publish another project. Remember that you are in this for the long haul.
5. Don’t forget that all your academic work helps you to get published. In the past, I have been contacted by editors because they saw one of my paper titles in the conference scheduale. These are great contacts I have made because I picked an interesting paper topic. Likewise, I have met people at conferences who have asked me to write a chapter in a published collection of essays. Everything you write and present and everyone you meet can help you to propel you career forward and get your book published.
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