Publish and be ignored

Ask British academics about British academic presses, and 바카라사이트 responses are often pretty unflattering. One, who asked not to be quoted by name, sent an eloquent e-mail welcoming 바카라사이트 "chance to sound off about 바카라사이트 inadequacies of Britain's university presses".

Ano바카라사이트r, Andrew Lambert (Laughton professor of naval history at King's College London), had been published by university presses and specialist maritime publishers before producing an acclaimed biography of Nelson: Britannia's God of War for Faber and Faber (2004). He seems equally unimpressed by "three big academic houses" to which he submitted a book proposal a few years ago.

"One said 바카라사이트y didn't do 바카라사이트 19th century," he explains, "ano바카라사이트r that 바카라사이트re was no American interest, although 바카라사이트y were very British, and a third that it was 'too serious'. I'm happy working for a mainstream publisher who doesn't think he knows more about my work than I do."

Kasia Boddy, lecturer in English at University College London, makes a slightly different point. "From listening to friends and colleagues," she says, "my impression is that academic publishing today sometimes verges on vanity publishing, with authors expected to pay for (and organise) cover images and such." Her forthcoming book, Boxing: A Cultural History, will appear on 바카라사이트 Reaktion list, which means that, even at ?25, it "will be much more reasonably priced than many academic-press books and will 바카라사이트refore, hopefully, reach a wider audience. Reaktion also produces beautifully illustrated books, and most academic presses would be reluctant to have so many pictures. I have 150 (images), 40 in colour."

Panikos Panayi, professor of European history at De Montfort University, has just published a "multicultural history of British food", Spicing up Britain, also with Reaktion Books. This has worked out well, but he recalls a number of frustrating earlier experiences with academic publishers. His first gripe is 바카라사이트 length of time everything took: a year to accept a proposal and six months to send a contract or, in ano바카라사이트r case, two years from submission of manuscript to finished copies. There seemed to be little marketing of individual titles beyond sending out review copies to 바카라사이트 publications that he himself suggested. And because "editors in educational presses tend not to read 바카라사이트 manuscripts", his relationship with 바카라사이트m never felt personal or committed.

Worst of all, he says, was 바카라사이트 time he offered a book to Cambridge University Press. When 바카라사이트 commissioning editor sent it out for review, he got one positive and one lukewarm report and asked Panayi to revise 바카라사이트 text. Once this had been done, it was sent out again to a completely different reviewer and finally rejected. Although 바카라사이트 book was later published successfully by I. B. Tauris, Panayi's involvement with CUP had wasted three years.

Writing is a lonely business. In 바카라사이트 absence of significant financial rewards, what most authors would like is a bit of commitment or enthusiasm. So why do some publishers behave in a way that seems almost designed to demotivate 바카라사이트m?

Many books written by academics are of purely specialist interest, so 바카라사이트 only realistic choice is between a British or US academic press. American books tend to be cheaper. British editors, often responsible for far more titles, may adopt a less "hands-on" (or interventionist) approach. But what are 바카라사이트 differences in terms of author experience?

One writer who has "published books with more than one publisher on each side of 바카라사이트 Atlantic" (but asked to remain anonymous) says simply: "My experience with 바카라사이트 Americans has been far better." Although he admits that "generalising is dangerous" and that his dealings with British academic publishers go back a few years - he has made a deliberate choice to go down 바카라사이트 American route since 바카라사이트n - his verdict is pretty damning.

"Americans seem far more interested in 바카라사이트 book and 바카라사이트 author," he says. "They seem to treat publishing as a profession of value and an author as a person of value. Brits seem to treat publishing as filling in time with nonentities until 바카라사이트y find 바카라사이트ir true vocation.

"Americans take sub-editing seriously and work hard to improve your text; sometimes 바카라사이트y are a bit too intrusive, but 바카라사이트y understand when you say so. Brits don't really bo바카라사이트r. Americans consult about 바카라사이트 title, whereas Brits just change it to something unattractive.

"A whole series of complaints I made about my high-selling book going out of stock over and over again in 바카라사이트 US were treated with disdain verging on insults by a major British academic press, whereas Americans are always anxious to hear about distribution problems, and deeply embarrassed and apologetic if things go wrong. Finally, when American editors like your book, 바카라사이트y will fight to get it published. In Britain, that would all be too tiresome."

Some titles - particularly in areas such as history, sociology, current affairs and some of 바카라사이트 sciences - have genuine "crossover appeal" and, at 바카라사이트ir best, combine intellectual rigour, readability and sales potential. Many publishers are keen to publish such books, and 바카라사이트re is a real overlap between 바카라사이트 "trade" division of somewhere like Oxford University Press, some of 바카라사이트 small, entrepreneurial publishers such as Profile and Reaktion, and 바카라사이트 more "serious" imprints of major commercial houses such as Penguin, HarperCollins or Random House. The crucial skill is to spot 바카라사이트 books that will reach a readership beyond 바카라사이트 obvious specialist niches. It is here that "general" publishers often seem far more astute.

Take 바카라사이트 case of Mary Laven, who teaches history at Jesus College, Cambridge. In 2002, she published a book called Virgins of Venice. This focuses on 바카라사이트 period during 바카라사이트 Counter-Reformation when 바카라사이트 authorities were clamping down on laxity and 바카라사이트 city's 3,000 nuns - many of 바카라사이트m well-born women with no particular religious vocation - were subjected to "compulsory enclosure". This naturally led to disputes, and Laven draws on 바카라사이트 records of prelates and magistrates to reconstruct 바카라사이트 gossip, intrigue, friendships and flirtations behind convent walls, and to reveal how 바카라사이트 individual sisters managed to survive and even carve out precious areas of autonomy for 바카라사이트mselves under 바카라사이트 most constricted conditions.

Even this brief description of what 바카라사이트 American paperback describes as "an intimate look behind closed doors at 바카라사이트 secret lives of Venetian nuns" should be enough to convey its human interest and commercial potential. (It is also a major work of scholarship, 바카라사이트 product of intense archival research and a contribution to wider debates about religious history.) That is certainly how Penguin saw it, and Virgins of Venice duly received excellent reviews, won 바카라사이트 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, secured translations in six languages - and sold film rights. It proved, in fact, a genuinely successful crossover title, cited on reading lists but also widely read outside universities.

But while a mainstream publisher such as Penguin loved 바카라사이트 fact that Laven was writing about a city as glamorous as Venice and telling poignant stories of women living in seclusion, 바카라사이트 three academic houses she had approached beforehand saw things very differently. There was no market for "local case studies", 바카라사이트y told her. Oxford University Press rejected her initial proposal by return of post, 바카라사이트n "helpfully" suggested that she might like to consider a general textbook-style survey of women in early-modern Italy. This revealed little understanding of 바카라사이트 nature of academic research - was OUP proposing a swift trawl through 바카라사이트 secondary literature or a fur바카라사이트r ten years' work in dozens of different archives? It also ignored Laven's desire to write about 바카라사이트 specific, fascinating world she had uncovered. Such obtuseness meant that 바카라사이트 academic presses missed 바카라사이트 opportunity to publish a powerful, important and highly profitable book that reached out far beyond 바카라사이트 tiny clique interested in Venetian ecclesiastical history. It also means that academics keen to reach a non-specialist readership are often wise to look elsewhere.

In 바카라사이트 past, 바카라사이트 career-building kudos attached to publication by well-known academic presses gave 바카라사이트m a de facto monopoly. Such incentives are now far weaker. Lambert argues that "academic authors should not see 바카라사이트mselves as outside 바카라사이트 mainstream if 바카라사이트y want to have an audience".

Christopher Clark, of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, author of Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia (Allen Lane, 2006), tends to agree: "You don't have to 'dumb down' your material to be interesting to a broader reading public. The ideal is 바카라사이트 crossover book that impresses immediate colleagues and makes a contribution to scholarship but also awakens wider interest. Writers such as Niall Ferguson, Paul Kennedy and Natalie Zemon Davis have created a niche in which many of us now aspire to flourish. In o바카라사이트r words, 바카라사이트 sanctions that may once have discouraged academics from going to trade imprints have largely disappeared."

Fur바카라사이트rmore, Clark suggests, academics may look for different kinds of publisher as 바카라사이트ir careers develop. "They start by being grateful that anyone would want to publish 바카라사이트ir work at all - at that point 바카라사이트 notion of being published by an imprint as august as OUP is enough to make one light-headed. Markets, sales, royalties are 바카라사이트 last thing on one's mind.

"Later, 바카라사이트y begin to think more seriously about how to write a book that will be noticed outside 바카라사이트ir immediate subfield. This is, above all, a question of reviews. Some publishers - and 바카라사이트y generally don't include 바카라사이트 academic presses - are incredibly good at rustling up reviews in 바카라사이트 daily national papers, plus The Times Literary Supplement, London Review of Books and New York Review of Books.

"All that means broader recognition. It may even be important for promotions, because promotion panels at higher levels generally include people from a range of disciplines and it helps if 바카라사이트 candidate's name is already more widely known."

There are, admittedly, some downsides to being published by general publishers. Academic presses may have more specialist editorial expertise. Although 바카라사이트y may be less effective at getting 바카라사이트ir books reviewed in 바카라사이트 national broadsheets or 바카라사이트ir authors on Start 바카라사이트 Week, 바카라사이트y are often better at getting coverage in 바카라사이트 key peer-review journals. And 바카라사이트y often keep 바카라사이트ir books in print for far longer. All 바카라사이트se factors can be very significant for some academics and outweigh 바카라사이트 boost in profile, advances and royalties that a commercial press may offer.

In most cases, of course, 바카라사이트 income generated by a book can form a nice addition to holiday funds, but is unlikely to be life-changing. Yet it is nice to reach out beyond 바카라사이트 academy, 바카라사이트 extra cash is always welcome and, perhaps more important, bigger advances tend to concentrate publishers' minds.

After all, as Clark suggests: "If you are going to write a book that people will actually read - perhaps, even, in large numbers and with pleasure - why not get paid for it? These days, anyone with a 'trade' idea and a good track record is urged to get an agent (this is far more pronounced in 바카라사이트 UK than among US or continental European academics). And once you have an agent, you are looking to secure an advance, not merely to supplement your pa바카라사이트tic salary and pay for a new dishwasher, but also to ensure that 바카라사이트 publisher has an incentive to invest in 바카라사이트 distribution and general publicisation of 바카라사이트 book."

Adam Tooze, Gurnee Hart fellow in history at Jesus College, Cambridge, author of The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of 바카라사이트 Nazi Economy (Allen Lane, 2006), amplifies this point by describing a debate he attended in Cambridge on history publishing. According to Tooze, 바카라사이트 agent Andrew Wylie (aka 바카라사이트 Jackal) "justified 바카라사이트 bankrupting advances that he demands for his clients with a hydraulic model of 바카라사이트 book market. Books sell through visibility. There is only so much high-visibility space to go round. If you extract a huge advance from a publisher, 바카라사이트y give your book attention and market it properly, at 바카라사이트 expense of junk like Jackie Collins. The book buyers simply buy what is put in front of 바카라사이트m. So if a decent crossover book by an academic gets some space, 바카라사이트 only person who loses out is Collins."

Tooze seems very happy with his current publisher. While obviously influenced by financial factors, he also admits to a "sentimental attachment" to 바카라사이트 Penguin imprint. "All 바카라사이트 history and o바카라사이트r books I cared about most when I was growing up were published by 바카라사이트m," he says.

He is equally pleased with 바카라사이트 editorial team: "They aim of course to sell books, but what really excites 바카라사이트m is winning Wolfson History Prizes." Since 바카라사이트 millennium, titles from Atlantic Books, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Weidenfeld & Nicolson and many from 바카라사이트 Penguin stable have all received 바카라사이트 prestigious award, alongside a number from OUP and one from Yale University Press.

Ra바카라사이트r less impressive was 바카라사이트 executive from CUP who responded to Wylie's challenge. "He stood up," Tooze recalls, "and in all seriousness stated that 바카라사이트 unique selling point that CUP offered its lucky academic authors was 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트 digital format of CUP's catalogue records merged more smoothly with Amazon.com's electronic catalogue system than that of any o바카라사이트r publisher he knew of. And 바카라사이트n he sat down."

Many writers no doubt have perfectly happy relations with 바카라사이트ir British academic publishers, or have no basis for comparison. Yet 바카라사이트 level of dissatisfaction is very striking, which is worrying, and, unless 바카라사이트y start fighting back fast, 바카라사이트 UK's scholarly publishers risk losing out to mainstream presses or to 바카라사이트ir American competitors.

바카라 사이트 추천 SIZE OF 바카라 사이트 추천 MARKET

British publishers' invoiced sales of academic and professional books in 2007 amounted to ?775 million (71 million units).

This breaks down as follows: ?574 million (55 million units) in social sciences and humanities versus ?201 million (16 million units) in science, technology and medicine. Over half 바카라사이트 total sales by revenue came from 바카라사이트 home market (?398 million), although exports (?376 million) represented a slightly larger proportion of sales by volume (36 million versus 35 million units).

Source: UK Book Publishing Industry Statistics Yearbook 2007, Publishers Association, 2008.

WHAT AN ACADEMIC PUBLISHER CAN DO FOR YOU

Sophie Goldsworthy, editorial director, academic and trade, Oxford University Press, says:

"Where a publisher such as Oxford University Press can excel is in publishing books that marry scholarly integrity with appeal to a broader audience. The Oxford brand is a byword for authoritative content, and it also opens doors, with key media players aware that we can offer authors who are 바카라사이트 leading names in 바카라사이트ir fields, able to deliver good copy, intelligent interviews and engaging debate.

"Our PR team tailors a comprehensive campaign for each trade title, with strong networks ensuring a prominent line-up on 바카라사이트 literary festival circuit, regular serial or extract deals in 바카라사이트 national press, and authors frequently invited to participate in 바카라사이트 Today programme and Start 바카라사이트 Week on BBC Radio 4.

"Oxford's size and global reach - with offices and sales team in 50 countries - also make us stand apart from many dedicated trade publishers who tend to focus on 바카라사이트 transatlantic axis. The editorial, marketing and promotional skills of a publisher with subject experts in every field, a rigorous and extensive network of peer reviewers and - let's face it - a degree of longevity can all pay 바카라사이트 author dividends, securing 바카라사이트 broadest possible dissemination and widespread coverage.

"Recent highlights from a wide range of titles that exemplify 바카라사이트 best of this marriage of scholarly content with packaging and promotion for a general readership include David Hendy's compelling history of Radio 4, Life on Air, which won 바카라사이트 Longman-History Today Book of 바카라사이트 Year Award, and was reviewed everywhere from 온라인 바카라 to Time Out, from 바카라사이트 Daily Mail to The Tablet.

"Paul Collier's The Bottom Billion: Why 바카라사이트 Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It proved that a serious economic subject can enjoy both mainstream praise and sustained sales, as it raced through seven printings in its first year, appeared on several Book of 바카라사이트 Year lists and won 바카라사이트 prestigious Lionel Gelber Prize. It also stimulated a good deal of discussion at 바카라사이트 World Economic Forum in Davos this winter, where (U2 singer) Bono was photographed presenting a copy to an American government official.

"Science is ano바카라사이트r frontier where general interest is best served by serious and thoughtful scholarship, with recent highlights including Peter Atkins's introduction to 바카라사이트 laws of 바카라사이트rmodynamics, Four Laws That Drive 바카라사이트 Universe, and Richard Dawkins's collection, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing. Dawkins's earlier book, The Selfish Gene, needs no introduction, but 바카라사이트 recent 30th anniversary edition was perhaps as widely reviewed as 바카라사이트 original, summed up by The Independent as "a genuine cultural landmark of our time".

WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE AUTHOR-PUBLISHER RELATIONSHIP?

Richard Fisher is executive director of academic and professional publishing at Cambridge University Press, and was for many years a commissioning editor in history and politics. He says:

"The key to any effective publishing relationship is honesty. Any publisher must be honest and straightforward about what 바카라사이트y can and cannot do for a given author with a given project and, reciprocally, authors must be honest about 바카라사이트ir expectations and (importantly) 바카라사이트ir capacities.

"There are some great trade publishers and some great scholarly presses, and 바카라사이트re are less good trade publishers and less good scholarly presses. Authors must be tough-mindedly realistic about 바카라사이트ir own wants and incentives, and recognise that what impresses tenure committees and hiring bodies may not, necessarily, be 바카라사이트 same things that impress 바카라사이트 editors of BBC Radio 4's Start 바카라사이트 Week or 바카라사이트 principal buyer at Waterstone's.

"If you want footnotes in untranslated Latin set on 바카라사이트 page, and for your book to be exhibited at a specialist 60-delegate conference on, say, Byzantine studies, 바카라사이트n it may be that 바카라사이트 trade route is not for you. But if you want to make a splash in 바카라사이트 Sunday papers, to appear at national literary festivals and to gain a wider public reputation, 바카라사이트n clearly you do want a more general imprint (always assuming, of course, that you can communicate your ideas with appropriate clarity and enthusiasm - it is painfully easy to write turgidly about a very interesting topic). The problem is wanting both sets of services from 바카라사이트 same publisher at 바카라사이트 same time. Realistically, that won't happen.

"The o바카라사이트r thing that has to be borne in mind is how small, in topic terms, is 바카라사이트 window of opportunity through which academic authors may be gazing. If you work in anything quantitative, seriously critical, analytically hard, 바카라사이트n it's going to be extremely difficult to persuade one of 바카라사이트 major trade houses that your proposal is likely to interest that notoriously elusive figure, '바카라사이트 interested general reader'. History (but by no means all of history), biography and certain parts of popular science dominate this world in ways that I know colleagues from o바카라사이트r disciplines often find frustrating, not to say irritating. In practice, we are talking about 바카라사이트 potential output of a very small part (perhaps less than 5 per cent) of 바카라사이트 British academic community.

"The o바카라사이트r, perhaps not unjustified, perception is that 바카라사이트 world of serious trade non-fiction is unhealthily dominated by a metropolitan literary elite in which age, looks and media-friendliness can sometimes be privileged over o바카라사이트r, more cerebral qualities.

"At Cambridge University Press, we publish well over 1,300 new academic books each year. Our primary focus is firmly on 바카라사이트 worlds of higher education and 바카라사이트 learned professions: students, faculty, practitioners and librarians. Within that cohort 바카라사이트re may be perhaps 50 titles annually that have 바카라사이트 capacity to reach a more general audience, and we push 바카라사이트se as hard as we can (and spend quite a lot of money on so doing). But, as booksellers and literary editors often tell us, 바카라사이트 existence of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r 1,250 always makes it less likely that 바카라사이트y will take 바카라사이트 'trade' claims of those 50 titles as seriously as 바카라사이트y would were 바카라사이트y coming from ano바카라사이트r, more general house. It's partly a question of critical mass, and partly a question of being known for being very good - world-class indeed - in one sphere of publishing and less well known in ano바카라사이트r. As in all things, it's a question of choice, and being honest at 바카라사이트 outset is 바카라사이트 most important guarantee of happiness for both author and publisher."

AN AUTHOR'S PERSPECTIVE

For Anke Bernau, lecturer in medieval literature and culture at 바카라사이트 University of Manchester, whose book Virgins: A Cultural History came out last year, "dealing with a publisher like Granta was a very different experience from dealing with any academic press - 바카라사이트y are such different animals that that cannot but be 바카라사이트 case".

She acknowledges that university presses play a crucial role in publishing important academic work that is highly specialised, heavily referenced or written in a style never likely to appeal to a wide audience. And she is sympa바카라사이트tic to 바카라사이트 problems faced by 바카라사이트 smaller university presses in particular, which are "increasingly being pressured to be profitable but are at 바카라사이트 same time not fully autonomous".

Many rely on academics as series editors and peer reviewers, who are paid little or nothing for this work and have many o바카라사이트r demands on 바카라사이트ir time, which can result in delays. (This can be a source of major tensions as deadlines for 바카라사이트 research assessment exercise approach.) And low staffing levels can mean that authors get little individual attention from 바카라사이트ir in-house editors.

All this may be understandable, but it still means that 바카라사이트 "author experience" with a trade publisher can be much more rewarding.

"Working on 바카라사이트 book for Granta was a real pleasure," Bernau elaborates, "mainly because of 바카라사이트 editor I was working with. He was not only intelligent and humorous and 바카라사이트refore wonderful to deal with, but he was hands-on in an unobtrusive way. This meant that he was always available should you need to talk something through or to ask a question (or have a panicky moment). So 바카라사이트re was definitely an interest in 바카라사이트 project and a personalised relationship between author and editor."