I'm looking for opinions based on experiences here. I know (generally) the range of publishers for social science and stats books, and have used intro methods and stats books from a range of publishers in my classes (both as student and instructor).
The manuscript I have is for a social science methods text/course integrating standard methods/stats content with critical and creative thinking principles.
I've never published a book myself (just edited chapters) so I only have very tangential experience with publishers. Advice on that level is welcome, too.
Thanks in advance!
Several people I know have had good luck with SAGE, and I was happy with the chapters I've published in books with them (prompt and clear). St. Martin's was not good for me (slow, changes in editors), but that was a textbook in journalism, so perhaps not comparable. Lawrence Erlbaum did two books I edited, and they were very good as well. LEA does not have the 'reach,' in terms of promotion, that SAGE does. The main consideration for a textbook is the 'travelers' -- the salespeople who go around every semester and try to sell your book to professors. The big academic publishers are the best about that, but they only go with books that will be likely to be reprinted every two years. Your manuscript sounds like something that might have that sort of appeal -- perhaps to replace Babbie or one of those standard texts -- in which case you might consider one of the 'Big Four' publishers like Elsevier, Springer Science, Wiley, or Taylor & Francis. They'll want a reason to think you'll make inroads into the big lower-level classes -- but then you'll make lots of $$ -- best of luck!
Several people I know have had good luck with SAGE, and I was happy with the chapters I've published in books with them (prompt and clear). St. Martin's was not good for me (slow, changes in editors), but that was a textbook in journalism, so perhaps not comparable. Lawrence Erlbaum did two books I edited, and they were very good as well. LEA does not have the 'reach,' in terms of promotion, that SAGE does. The main consideration for a textbook is the 'travelers' -- the salespeople who go around every semester and try to sell your book to professors. The big academic publishers are the best about that, but they only go with books that will be likely to be reprinted every two years. Your manuscript sounds like something that might have that sort of appeal -- perhaps to replace Babbie or one of those standard texts -- in which case you might consider one of the 'Big Four' publishers like Elsevier, Springer Science, Wiley, or Taylor & Francis. They'll want a reason to think you'll make inroads into the big lower-level classes -- but then you'll make lots of $$ -- best of luck!
I really want to encourage you to go forward with your project. It sounds like it might have a great deal of appeal for lower-level sociology classes. The trick will be comparing your book to the others already published, and emphasizing how your book differs, is better, fits in with across-the-curriculum movements. And such an approach really does matter to this generation of students, who are interested in the social impact of what they're doing --
Hi Matt: I have written one book with Sage, and one with Oxford; and co-authored a book with Wiley. All three have been great to work with - no complaints. In any case, it's best to look at publishing as a process with multiple steps, and each one is ultimately a collaboration between the author and the pubiisher. You need to stay connected at each step (e.g., developing a marketing plan, all the editing involved, reviewing the index, artwork...), and realize that the publishers tend to be very specialized in terms of who-does-what, so you work with successive staff for different functions and products. Authors sometimes worry about the fact that some production processes aren't done in-house anymore, but are off-loaded to (cheaper) subcontractors in places like India. But I have found (with my admittedly small sample size!) that the subcontractors can be very responsive, attentive to detail, and overall great to work with. Overall, I wish you a lot of luck in embarking on this journey!
I agree with Gordon, particularly concerning the marketing plan and artwork. Publishers are just as interested in selling books as you are, but they sometimes do not understand the ins-and-outs of the field; after all, you're their expert on those matters. And the subcontractors in India with whom I've dealt have been very attentive. Essentially, much of the marketing plan is developed with your proposal, so pay careful attention to that when you get that ready.
You already have some great answers here Matt but I would like to add a few points as the author of a text book. First, get undertakings about the division of labour: how much will the publisher put in? They are mostly in the business of getting you to do everything from preparing on-line stuff through to indexing (a skilled job in my view). Second, don't be afraid to bargain hard: publishers try things on (such as poor royalties) and drop them if challenged. Third, how much and how skilled will the production inputs from editing through to physical publication be? I am not quite as confident as some of your other advisers about the quality of publication by Oxford UP for example. I have seen some poorly produced stuff from them. Good luck in an important project!
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