Thank you for your email. I am currently out of the office on vacation and will have limited access to email. I will return on August 15th and will respond to your message as soon as possible after that date. Best regards Vielen Dank für Ihre E-Mail. Ich bin derzeit im Urlaub und habe nur eingeschränkten Zugang zu meinen E-Mails. Ich kehre am 15. August zurück und werde Ihre Nachricht so bald wie möglich nach diesem Datum beantworten. Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Paloma On 19 Jul 2024, at 18:10, Luke Munn via Air-L <air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
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 Of course, these are pretty subjective, and some of them are also outdated (SENSE list is from 2009), so take them with a healthy grain of salt.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@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 _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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