The 7 Stages of Publishing Your First Academic Book, Challenges & Tips

Dissertation to book timeline

From the outside, publishing your first academic book seems both straightforward and mysterious. Most first-time book authors associate one key moment–the book proposal–with the entire process.

Do it right? You’re good!

But publishing your first academic book is much more than the proposal alone.

This post breaks the journey down into the  seven stages of publishing your first academic book.

Whichever stage you’re at, this article on publishing your first academic book will demystify the whole process and spare you unpleasant surprises. I tell you what’s most important at each stage, what not to waste your time on, and what usually trips first-time book authors up at each stage.

Ready? Let’s dive in!

Table of Contents

Stage 0: Writing Your Dissertation

You’re definitely ahead of the game if you’re already thinking about the dissertation to book transition this early. 

Rather than trying to write your dissertation as a book to begin with, though, I recommend that you focus on building the foundation on which a successful book will rest: cultivating good writing habits. 

Other Resources for Stage 0

Stage 1: Pre-Revising or Pre-Drafting

This stage can come at any point in a scholar’s career. It begins at one of two points: either when a scholar submits her dissertation or, if drafting an entirely new book, when a scholar starts thinking about her book in abstract terms. It ends when she actually begins revising (or drafting) the manuscript. Stage 1 of publishing your first academic book is more about planning than actual drafting or revising.

Biggest Stumbling Block of Stage 1: Not Making Writing a Routine

This stage usually goes hand-in-hand with major changes such as moving to an unfamiliar place and getting used to a new institution and department (or several), while teaching more classes than you ever have before.

The problem, though, is that scholars use these changes to justify the idea that they “can’t find time to write.” Academic writing–especially long projects like publishing an academic book–is a marathon, not a sprint. If you wait until you “have the time to write,” you will usually find yourself binge writing to meet deadlines. As a result, you will begin to associate negative emotions with writing, which will further reinforce your writing avoidance.

The best thing you can do at this stage is to make writing part of your larger daily and weekly routine instead of waiting for things to “calm down” or “get easier.” Things will never really “calm down,” so figuring out how to do your writing now, amidst your other responsibilities is important.

As I outline in my post crunching 4 years of my own writing session data, one of the biggest factors that contributed to my book publishing success was establishing a long-term writing partnership and submitting early-stage and evolving drafts on a regular (non-negotiable) schedule.

Best Uses of Time and Energy in Stage 1

  • Establishing a long-term writing partnership that allows you to overcome perfectionist tendencies and submit early-stage writing.
  • Set up Scrivener 3 for your book project. It’s the word processor I prefer for academic writing because it allows me to keep all my writing and research documents in one place. For more, read my full review of Scrivener 3 for academic writing.
  • Familiarize yourself with the tenure and promotion requirements of your institution (or an institution where you would hope to earn tenure). Write a tentative five-year plan showing how you will get there.
  • Take stock of your research interests and where you see your research heading. Research which conferences would be good outlets for your work. Put their dates and abstract due dates on your five-year plan.
  • Attend conferences in your fields and discuss your research with scholars in your fields and those adjacent to yours.
  • Cultivate these 7 Essential Writing Habits and set up a writing tracking system (or steal the one I made!).
  • Identify accountability systems that work for you. Are you more likely to write when you have to drive somewhere to meet someone? Do you only finish articles when faced with an impending deadline?

What Not to Waste Your Time and Energy on in Stage 1

I hope it goes without saying, but do not send your unrevised dissertation to academic publishers. Do not prepare a proposal based on your unrevised dissertation, either.

Best Resources for Authors in Stage 1

All posts on knowing what to expect in the academic book publishing process →

Stage 2: Actively Revising (or Drafting) your Manuscript

This is the longest stage of publishing your first academic book. At minimum, it will last two years. This stage goes from beginning revisions (or drafting) to about three months before you intend to submit your proposal.

(In this article, I assume that you are waiting to submit your proposal until your manuscript is complete.)

After you have been revising for about 4-6 months, you should evaluate your book as a whole and get the 30,000-foot view, so that you can ensure your chapters advance your argument.

Because this stage is so challenging and so crucial, I wrote a book to walk you through it. The Dissertation-to-Book Workbook will show you what to do, step by step.

The Biggest Stage 2 Stumbling Block of all: To Propose or Not?

Biggest Stumbling Blocks of Stage 2: Time and Energy Management

  • Maintaining energy and enthusiasm for a project that unfolds over years. Overcome it by setting product-focused weekly writing goals and tracking your progress to see tangible progress from week to week.
  • Accountability. Because this stage is so long, you need regular external deadlines to keep you moving forward. Overcome it by starting or joining a writing group and by creating external deadlines for yourself (attending conferences).
  • Making writing regular. As in Stage 1, telling yourself that you will write “when things calm down” will only set up negative writing habits. Instead, start implementing a weekly writing review.

Biggest Stumbling Blocks of Stage 2: The Actual Writing

  • Mastering “book style”. Overcome it by reading Sword’s Stylish Academic Writing (eBook), Hayot’s The Elements of Academic Style (eBook), and Chapter 16 of The Dissertation-to-Book Workbook. Based on these books’ advice, actively practicing writing more engagingly. See what audiences respond to at academic conferences you attend, and, when possible, seek out comments from strong writers in your field.
  • Identifying and keeping a handle on your academic book’s argument and main threads. Trust that this will happen. Getting senior scholars’ constructive comments helps you get a more objective view, too.

Best Uses of Time and Energy in Stage 2

  • If you have not yet done so, establish a long-term writing partnership to help break out of perfectionist tendencies and make regular, sustained writing progress.
  • Work ON your book after you have been revising for 4-6 months. Doing so will ensure the rest of your revisions are as efficient as possible. Of course, I recommend using The Dissertation-to-Book Workbook—it will help you get a handle on your book’s structure, clarify its contributions, and pinpoint how all the pieces fit together.
  • Set up systems such as a weekly writing review to make writing your academic book part of your regular weekly schedule.
  • Attend conferences where you present portions of your book manuscript. Meet other scholars who might be willing to give you feedback on your chapters. Doing this will also you to generate interest for the book, which you will mention in your proposal.
  • At these conferences, keep your ears open for talk about presses other scholars in your field have recently published with. Read the questions you should ask other scholars to rank university presses Note if you happen to meet series editors. Learn what to ask the authors who have secured contracts with your potential target presses.
  • Prepare 1-2 articles for publication in journals your book’s target audience regularly reads. Publishing these articles will actually make your book proposal stronger because it will establish you as an expert in your fields. Then, learn how to transform your journal article into a book chapter.
  • If interested, consider pitching articles on portions of your topic to editors of popular media outlets. You can also join HARO, a platform to connect reporters with experts in particular fields. Publishing articles for the general public is not required at all. But doing so can demonstrate the broad appeal of your topic and establish you as an expert in your fields. In turn, these popular articles can strengthen your proposals and make you eligible for certain grants, such as the NEH Public Scholar Program.

What Not to Waste Your Time and Energy on in Stage 2

Best Resources for Stage 2

All posts on writing and revising your book manuscript →

Stage 3: Preparing and Submitting the Proposal

This stage spans from three months before you plan to submit your book proposal to the day you submit your book proposal.  

Want a comprehensive guide where I answer all your questions about the proposal? See Academic Book Proposals: All Your Questions, Answered.

Biggest Stumbling Blocks of Stage 3

  • The proposal genre. Laura Portwood-Stacer’s The Book Proposal Book is an invaluable resource for understanding every aspect of the book proposal.
  • Not knowing which presses are good fits and not tailoring your proposal. Sometimes first-time book authors mistakenly assume that all university presses are the same. They also think that because a press publishes in their general field, their project is a good fit for that press. So, they prepare a general book proposal and send it off to many presses. Instead, a book proposal should be the strongest possible case for why that press in particular would be interested in your book. You should spend time researching your target presses and tailoring your proposal to each press individually.
  • Managing emotions at such a high stakes point. After the job market, the proposal seems like the turning point in humanities careers. Develop and practice self-care during this point.

Best Uses of Time and Energy in Stage 3

  • Making sure you are targeting the right presses. Continue attending scholarly conferences and making connections in your fields. You should be actively interviewing recent book authors and senior scholars about presses.
  • Researching your target university presses to prepare the strongest possible case for why your project in particular is a good fit for their lists.
  • Practicing your pitch. As Rachel Toor, a former acquisitions editor at Oxford, underscores, editors use your cover letter and proposal to quickly assess: 1) can this author captivate readers? and 2) is there a market for this book? First-time academic book authors usually struggle to pitch their book to intelligent non-academics and are rarely used to thinking of it in terms of a product that will be sold.
  • Situating your book in both the intellectual terrain and the market. As with the previous point university presses want to know whether there is a market for your book. This often comes as a surprise to first-time academic book authors.

What Not to Waste Your Time and Energy on in Stage 3

Don’t waste your time on anything unrelated to finalizing the manuscript or preparing your proposal.

Best Resources for Stage 3

All posts on book proposals →

Stage 4: From Submitting the Proposal to Book Contract

Most everything from this stage forward could be lumped into “stuff you didn’t know you’d have to do.” Stage 4 was one of the most difficult for me personally, because I discovered a lot of steps I didn’t know existed. Generally speaking, stage 4 starts when you submit your book proposal and ends when you receive your book contract.

The Biggest Stumbling Block of Stage 4: Lack of Control

  • Waiting and managing emotions, twice! This stage is like being on the job market all over again. You submit your proposal and then you wait. You can (and should!) submit your proposal to multiple presses simultaneously, but you can only submit your full manuscript to one press at a time. So, while you wait for presses to decide, you should work on other projects. You will probably wait at least 3 months to hear about the proposal, and up to a year for reader reports to come in. If one of the reports does not recommend publication, the editor will probably send it to a third reader, during which time you will wait for another 6 months or so. In the case both initial readers do not recommend publication, the editor will likely decline your book (see below). If you’re counting, that means you could wait for almost 2 years in this beginning part of the phase alone. While waiting so long is fairly atypical, it’s not so uncommon either…

Other Major Stage 4 Stumbling Blocks: Responding to Presses

  • Deciding what to do if you hear back from less desirable presses first. Because you can submit your proposal to multiple presses, you might hear back from one press that’s lower on your list first. You are never obligated to send your manuscript just because a press asked for it, but once you sent the manuscript to one press, you cannot submit it to others. So, if you hear back from a lower ranked press first, consult with trusted mentors about how to tactfully buy more time with that press, and whether and how to reach out to the ones higher up on your list.
  • Responding to reader reports. This was the step I did not know existed. After your manuscript has been reviewed, your editor will send you the reader reports. If they recommend publication (with revisions), your editor will ask you to prepare a formal response. Your response should synthesize the reader reports, and describe how you will revise the manuscript to address the readers’ concerns. The editor will then present your book (your proposal, the manuscript itself, the reader reports, and your formal response) to the editorial board. The editorial board then votes, and if favorable, you are given a contract. (Sometimes, books can receive an advance contract based on the proposal and sample chapters.)
  • What to do if your book is not given a contract. If this is the case, you can write to any other presses that indicated initial interest in the manuscript. You should also consult with senior mentors about how to navigate this stage.

Best Uses of Time and Energy in Stage 4

  • Thinking about what will come after the book.
  • Responding to reader reports.
  • Researching and planning (but not necessarily actually making) any major revisions to the manuscript.
  • Securing permissions for images and other copyrighted materials that appear in the book. This can take a long time, so start early.
  • Much of stage 4 is outside your control. Practice (or develop) self-care routines, and channel creative energies into new projects.

What Not to Waste Your Time and Energy on in Stage 4

Once you receive reader’s reports and prepare your response, you might be tempted to start revising your manuscript right away. I would strongly recommend you wait until you have the contract in hand, in case the editorial board’s decision comes back negative. If that happens, you can make a more informed decision about whether making those changes would make your manuscript stronger in the eyes of a different press or not.

Best Resources for Stage 4

  • Chapter 13 of Laura Portwood-Stacer’s The Book Proposal Book gives excellent advice about navigating this stage.
  • It’s also worth doing a deep dive into the archives of Laura Portwood-Stacer’s newsletter, which offers insight into many of the rarely discussed aspects of this process.

Stage 5: Preparing and Delivering the Final Manuscript

Congratulations! You have a contract, and now all you have to do is make the changes you promised, and submit the final manuscript.

Biggest Stumbling Blocks of Stage 5

  • No more safety net (impostor syndrome). Between now and the time your book comes out, it’s pretty much just you who decides what makes it into the book. While some presses send the final revised manuscript back to readers, most do not. So, you might experience twinges of impostor syndrome at this stage (“what if readers don’t like it?”).
  • Needing more time. You might find that the date you proposed to deliver the final manuscript was overly ambitious. If this is the case, do reach out to your editor to ask for an extension. This happens frequently. Make every effort, though, to make your extended deadline.
  • Formatting. Even though your manuscript will be copyedited, you should do everything in your power at this point to make the manuscript consistently formatted throughout. Doing so will save you time and headaches during stage 6, which I’ve named “the slog” for good reason.
  • Securing Permissions. When you submit your final manuscript, you will also have to submit high resolution copies of any images that will appear in the book and copyright permissions. Securing high resolution files and permissions can be expensive (it is typically your responsibility to pay) and take time, so you should start early.

Best Uses of Time and Energy in Stage 5

What Not to Waste Your Time and Energy on in Stage 5

Right now, don’t worry about anything that comes in later stages (indexing, website, publisher documents, etc.).

All posts on publishing your book →

Stage 6: “The Slog,” or, Copyediting, Indexing your Academic Book, and Press Paperwork

Most first-time academic book authors find stage 6 the hardest of all. If you’re like me, then submitting your final manuscript felt like the “final hurdle.”

Unfortunately, it’s not.

Stage 6 is characterized by two parts: waiting while the manuscript is being formatted and copyedited and responding to queries and checking proofs.

Biggest Stumbling Blocks of Stage 6: The Stuff you Didn’t Know Was (or Might Be) Your Responsibility

  • Cover images. Double-check with your publisher. You might have to provide a cover image for your book. Academic publishers do not normally pay for copyright permissions.
  • Back cover blurbs. Like above, you should also check with your publisher about whether they will contact scholars about blurbs.
  • Marketing. Marketing is really a catchall term I’m using to refer to several discrete things. Your publisher will ask you to complete publicity paperwork. But you should also research book prizes your book will be eligible for and think about journals where your press should send review copies. Read more about what you do to market your book before it’s published.
  • Copyediting back and forth, forever. This is the longest and most psychologically draining part of the whole process. In essence, you must answer copyeditors’ queries, read the proofs, and suggest changes. With each set of proofs, you will need to ensure that your changes were implemented correctly.
  • The index. You will need to decide who will index your book. You have two options. Either you do the indexing, or you hire someone to compile the index. Presses do not usually pay for indexes, but they normally have recommended indexers. I did my own index, and found it both intense and refreshing. I liked being able to see how important ideas developed throughout the book.

Best Uses of Time and Energy in Stage 6

As soon as you submit your manuscript, you should immediately begin doing the three things you didn’t know you had to do. These include finding cover images, creating a list of scholars whom you or the press might contact about back cover blurbs, and setting up your book’s marketing (see above). After you have completed those tasks, you should review other books’ indexes to get an idea of terms and structure. If you are not interested in doing your own index, you should apply for funds at your school to cover indexing fees. The press will not usually not pay for indexes. Finally, do take responding to queries and checking the proofs seriously.

Best Resources for Stage 6

Promoting an Academic Book

Stage 7: You are a Published Book Author! Now What?

Congratulations! Your book is now out in the world and have received your author copies. For me, this stage was somewhat anticlimactic because in many ways, it felt like I had finished the book months prior.

In this stage, you should focus on two tasks. First, you should continue marketing your book. Be sure to send announcements to listservs (when appropriate) and work with your school’s press office. During the next two years, you will also submit your book for prizes. Know that it might take a long time (one year or more!) for reviews of your book to appear.

In the future, I will publish more materials on what to do after the first book. It took me about two full years to settle on my next book’s topic. But the best thing I did during these two years was to continue to give conference papers and read new works of literature.

I, like many other first-time academic book authors, have found that the process really is much easier the second time around.

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