Writing Successful Academic Books , and: Inking the Deal: A Guide for Successful Academic Publishing (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Writing Successful Academic Books, and: Inking the Deal: A Guide for Successful Academic Publishing Steven E. Gump (bio) Anthony Haynes. Writing Successful Academic Books Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Pp. xvi, 175. Cloth: isbn-13 978-0-521-51498-9, uk£35.00, us$60.00. Paper: isbn-13 978-0-521-73074-7, uk£12.99, us$22.99. Stanley E. Porter. Inking the Deal: A Guide for Successful Academic Publishing Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2010. Pp. xi, 191. Paper: isbn-13 978-1-60258-265-1, US$24.95. When it comes to writing for academic publication, what is—and who determines—'success'? In these two complementary books, the authors approach that question from two perspectives: that of an academic publisher (Haynes) and that of an academic writer (Porter). Not surprisingly, then, the two works make different contributions; but both have much to offer the academic author (or aspiring academic author) wishing to understand better both the scholarly publishing landscape and how to become an active contributor to it. In Writing Successful Academic Books, Anthony Haynes, co-founder of and creative director at the Professional and Higher Partnership (a provider of freelance publishing development based in Cambridge, England), offers an engaging, advice-filled book that looks optimistically toward the future of academic publishing: 'we already live in a golden age for academic authorship—and it is possible that there is a platinum age to come' (27). With years of experience in publishing and as trainer or mentor of academic authors, Haynes describes his goal as helping to minimize potential problems that may arise for authors of academic books. Ideally, the results are books that are successful for both their authors and their publishers: they are 'written as well as possible' and 'published as well as possible' (xv). Haynes notes the ambiguity, he [End Page 539] demonstrates throughout his book how the two senses of 'success' can go hand in hand. The idea of writing for publication as a partnership between authors and their publishers is an undercurrent felt in the very organization of Haynes's book. Averaging fourteen pages each, the eleven chapters are divided into three sections that—in a move that may seem counterintuitive at first—begin with publishing (part 1) before focusing on writing (part 2). Part 3 ('Managing the Project') bridges the two themes with useful chapters on managing time, working with others (co-authors, editors, indexers, designers, marketers), and developing an 'authorial career.' All this material is serious stuff, and Haynes (thankfully) refrains from referring to academic publishing as a 'game.' For publishers, indeed, publishing is work, not play. Such work requires not only a knowledge of standards and regulations but also the ability to nurture expectations, ambitions, and relationships. Haynes shares his nuanced understandings of these contexts in this book. Haynes's approach suggests that his work might especially benefit individuals planning to write their first academic book. In part 1, 'Becoming an Author,' he lays out valuable contextual and foundational material that explores genres, reactive and proactive commissioning, book proposals, contracts, and the provenances of university presses versus commercial presses. These chapters are, in short, excellent primers. Haynes is in a particularly good position to 'explain and interpret the way the book industry works' (52), and academic authors are wise to begin their writing projects with such background knowledge. The three appendices are linked to this part of the book: a generic list of proposal guidelines (useful in detailing considerations that need to be made before approaching a publisher), a sample book proposal, and a brief guide to book contracts.1 In part 2, 'Writing the Text,' Haynes emphasizes writing as both process and product. Two chapters focus on writing as a process—a process that generally involves incubating, planning, drafting, redrafting, checking, and presenting. Haynes wisely notes, though, that 'it is impossible to describe, still less to prescribe, a set of processes common to all authors' (59). He therefore offers a variety of strategies with which readers may experiment: lists, mind maps, grids, word budgets, and various approaches to reducing and expanding text. A chapter titled 'Craft' emphasizes redrafting and offers comments on tone, pointers for tables...