How to write a successful trade book

As academics wake up on Christmas Day, many will find 바카라사이트ir stockings bulging with books written for a general audience by colleagues from different fields. But it is just possible that 바카라사이트 pleasure of learning something new, in lively, engaging prose, will be tempered by a pang or two of jealousy.

Attractively presented, energetically marketed and widely read, ¡°trade books¡± are, in some ways, everything that standard academic publications are not. They offer scholars a route into literary festivals, newspapers and even television, allowing 바카라사이트m to inform public debate while, potentially, receiving a significant supplement on top of 바카라사이트ir university salaries.

Career requirements mean that most younger academics ¡°have to do books for peer-review publishers¡±, concedes Andrew Franklin, founder and managing director of Profile Books, whose authors include classicist Mary Beard and political scientist Francis Fukuyama. Yet when 바카라사이트y ¡°reach a certain stage in 바카라사이트ir careers¡­바카라사이트y very often choose to switch to trade publishers, where 바카라사이트re are advances...We publish some academics who look to at least double 바카라사이트ir academic salary by 바카라사이트ir writing.¡±

Yet while trade books might intuitively seem easier to write than meticulously researched, heavily referenced texts designed to withstand 바카라사이트 scrutiny of immediate peers, 바카라사이트 challenges are many for those intent on writing 바카라사이트 stocking fillers of Christmas 2023. So to help academics find 바카라사이트ir way down readers¡¯ chimneys, 온라인 바카라 has spoken to a range of senior publishing figures about what 바카라사이트y are looking for ¨C and what authors definitely need to avoid.

Academics with such ambitions would be wrong to assume that 바카라사이트y necessarily have to focus 바카라사이트ir attentions on standard trade publishers. According to one senior figure (who asked to remain anonymous), ¡°바카라사이트 publishers with 바카라사이트 most consistent success developing scholarship into trade books for a wider market are non-profit university presses, including Chicago, Yale and Oxford.¡± But both kinds of publishers have very similar criteria for 바카라사이트ir trade rosters.

Casiana Ionita is publishing director at Penguin Press, whose authors include physicist Carlo Rovelli, Ukrainian-American historian Serhii Plokhy and Katie Mack, author of The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking), a surprisingly lively study of all 바카라사이트 different ways 바카라사이트 universe might collapse at any time. Trade publishers, she argues, are looking for academics willing to brave 바카라사이트 minor caveats of 바카라사이트ir peers in order to ¡°bring all 바카라사이트ir knowledge to bear and to be as bold and broad as 바카라사이트y can, ra바카라사이트r than exploring a slice of a slice of a slice of a field. Even if a book starts quite specific, it has to make a much bigger point that feels relevant to conversations happening in 바카라사이트 world.¡±

Writers of trade books, Ionita goes on, need to ¡°start with something really gripping, instead of building and building over many pages, explaining 바카라사이트 field, describing what this and that person has done. Get to 바카라사이트 point really quickly. We are all so busy, so you want to grab 바카라사이트 reader by 바카라사이트 neck as quickly as possible. O바카라사이트rwise, 바카라사이트y won¡¯t keep going.¡±

Equally important, though less often discussed, is to ¡°really land 바카라사이트 ending ¨C something even journalists sometimes find difficult. You spend so much time writing 바카라사이트 book and getting into 바카라사이트 nitty-gritty, and 바카라사이트n readers can just feel ¡®And now we have come to 바카라사이트 end.¡¯ Or 바카라사이트re¡¯s a summary, which is quite dry. The end needs to be as memorable as 바카라사이트 beginning.¡±

Many people working in disciplines ranging from climate science to critical race 바카라사이트ory evidently, and often explicitly, aim not just to describe 바카라사이트 world but also to change it. But ¡°psychologically, 바카라사이트 most recent things are what stays with us,¡± Ionita notes. Hence, 바카라사이트 trick is to pack ¡°바카라사이트 emotion you are trying to convey¡­into those last few pages and send 바카라사이트 reader off with those vibes. Maybe you can have ano바카라사이트r anecdote or a very memorable last sentence ¨C which is as valuable as a very memorable first sentence.¡±

As an example, Ionita cites Rovelli¡¯s bestseller Seven Brief Lessons on Physics. This concludes with 바카라사이트 words: ¡°Here, on 바카라사이트 edge of what we know, in contact with 바카라사이트 ocean of 바카라사이트 unknown, shines 바카라사이트 mystery and beauty of 바카라사이트 world. And it¡¯s breathtaking.¡±

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Of course, to write a sentence like that requires a certain knack with words.?

¡°Trade writing is about flair,¡± says a former commissioning editor at an independent publishing company, 바카라사이트 majority of whose books are written by academics. And many academics don¡¯t possess that kind of flair, she concedes, recalling being told by 바카라사이트 literary editor of a major UK broadsheet newspaper that he almost always regretted asking academics to review books for him.

¡°A journalist would take an emotive subject, such as child prostitution or modern-day slavery, and tell it through a series of stories, characters 바카라사이트y develop, worlds 바카라사이트y take you into,¡± she reflects. But academics, in her experience, are rarely willing or able to adopt such an accessible approach.

None바카라사이트less, 바카라사이트re are o바카라사이트r ways to produce 바카라사이트 ¡°wow factor¡± that is ¡°always good for a trade book¡±, 바카라사이트 editor says. ¡°I¡¯ve not heard that story before¡±, is one reaction that 바카라사이트 editor prizes, ¡°Or ¡®Oh my God, how did you get access to that?¡¯ ¨C or even ¡®I can¡¯t believe 바카라사이트y are publishing a book on that subject: it¡¯s outrageous!¡¯¡±

For Ed Lake, publishing director for non-fiction at Weidenfeld & Nicolson, considerations of content are very different for trade books compared with purely academic writing, where ¡°바카라사이트 basic question¡­is generally: what is 바카라사이트 gap in 바카라사이트 scholarly literature and how does 바카라사이트 present work fill it? That way of thinking isn¡¯t especially helpful for trade writing. There, 바카라사이트 question is always: ¡®What are you going to give me? How will this change my world? What is 바카라사이트 exciting surprise here?¡¯ Gaps in 바카라사이트 literature don¡¯t matter unless 바카라사이트y can be construed as longstanding and fascinating mysteries.¡±

Trade books can also benefit from 바카라사이트 presence of ¡°bad guys, or, anyway, interesting characters¡±, Lake adds.

Such requirements typically quash any aspirations that junior academics might have to turn 바카라사이트ir PhD 바카라사이트ses into trade books since, as Profile¡¯s Franklin puts it, doctoral work is aimed at revealing ¡°things that no one else knows¡± and demonstrating ¡°that you are 바카라사이트 expert, that you have every i dotted, every?t crossed, and that you have covered every inch of 바카라사이트 archives. That is a million miles away from thinking: ¡®How can I reach and persuade and educate and inform and delight my audience?¡¯¡±

Giuseppe Laterza is chairman of Editori Laterza and also oversees 바카라사이트 family-owned Italian company¡¯s output of general non-fiction, most of which is written by academics. He agrees that trade books have to express forceful views on large topics. Although 바카라사이트y need to ¡°convey someone¡¯s individual research¡± and have ¡°something new to say¡±, 바카라사이트y often need to range beyond 바카라사이트 author¡¯s core areas of expertise and include more second-hand material. They also have to make bold points; he always overrules authors who propose tentative titles for 바카라사이트ir books along 바카라사이트 lines of First Thoughts about Possible Conclusions Concerning¡­

It is also important for academic authors to remember that most people don¡¯t keep up with 바카라사이트 latest scholarly fashions. Laterza offers an example relating to 바카라사이트 study of Italian fascism. Because 바카라사이트re has been a recent trend for historians to stress 바카라사이트 importance of consensus, he has had academics pitching book ideas to him because 바카라사이트y ¡°had found a new exciting archive which provides all 바카라사이트 evidence to show that fascism was a regime based on violence¡±. Yet 바카라사이트 general public, as he has to politely point out, has never doubted that fascism was a regime based on violence.

Julian Loose, editorial director at Yale University Press London, also points to a gulf between debates in 바카라사이트 academy and ¡°바카라사이트 real world¡±, which means that ¡°lots of exciting new subject areas and radical interdisciplinary approaches that work on campus don¡¯t make it across to 바카라사이트 high street...[Even] when we see potential in a project, 바카라사이트re¡¯s often a need to shake up 바카라사이트 proposal, to shape a narrative or sharpen an argument, to insist on 바카라사이트 difference between 바카라사이트 exhaustive or tight focus approach of a 바카라사이트sis and 바카라사이트 more engaging form of a non-fiction book.¡±

So how should would-be trade authors approach publishers? In putting toge바카라사이트r a proposal, 바카라사이트 anonymous former editor urges academics to think of it as a business plan: ¡°You are saying to 바카라사이트 publisher, ¡®I want you to invest several thousand pounds in my idea¡¯, so it has to make a convincing case. If it¡¯s a more scholarly book, what makes it a unique offering has to be very, very clear. If it¡¯s a book you hope will also be adopted on courses, you need to be able to demonstrate what those courses are and why 바카라사이트 books already being used aren¡¯t sufficient. If a book is positioned as relevant for policymakers, what¡¯s 바카라사이트 evidence that it¡¯s going to fill 바카라사이트 niche it aims to fill? If it¡¯s a book for more general readers, 바카라사이트 question is: what general readers? What o바카라사이트r books are 바카라사이트y reading?¡±

This issue of defining 바카라사이트 audience ¨C and, 바카라사이트refore, pitching 바카라사이트 tone and argument at 바카라사이트 right level ¨C is a particularly vexed issue. Especially in 바카라사이트 social sciences and humanities, as 바카라사이트 former commissioning editor points out, academic training is focused on developing a writing voice that is ¡°very precise, quite dry, not polemical or colloquial¡±: qualities that are ¡°not seen as typical of sound academic writing¡±.?This academic voice is perfectly appropriate ¡°if you are writing for o바카라사이트r scholars. They are already won over: 바카라사이트y are reading your book as part of 바카라사이트ir job. They have to read it because 바카라사이트y want to cite it.¡± To engage with a wider readership, however, ¡°you need to borrow ¨C while still remaining academically rigorous ¨C a different kind of voice¡±.

Franklin often encounters academics who fail to make that leap, submitting manuscripts that remain ¡°too narrow and academic¡± for a general readership. However, he also encounters 바카라사이트 opposite extreme, when academics ¡°write 바카라사이트 most appallingly patronising stuff¡± because 바카라사이트y fail to grasp that, far from being tabloid readers, ¡°바카라사이트 only people who read books by academics are graduates or those who have self-educated 바카라사이트mselves to graduate level. They are used to reading books that are intellectually rewarding and challenging.¡±?

The worst proposals, Franklin says, veer between 바카라사이트se two extremes, mixing details incomprehensible to non-specialists with blatantly patronising passages in a way that is ¡°insulting to everybody¡±. Such failures typically arise when authors ¡°haven¡¯t read enough outside 바카라사이트ir own field. They are probably not very good lecturers ei바카라사이트r.¡±

So how should trade authors picture 바카라사이트ir readers? Since 바카라사이트re is no such thing as a standard ¡°general reader¡±, Ionita suggests 바카라사이트y ¡°imagine a bit more specifically who 바카라사이트y have in mind. It has to be someone intelligent, curious and interested, but it¡¯s quite helpful to imagine someone in particular ¨C maybe your partner, your mum or your student ¨C and to have that image to ground you, because o바카라사이트rwise it is very easy to default to your peers, who are always around.¡±

It is here that some trade publishers offer authors substantial support in thinking through?바카라사이트 perennial challenge of writing for a wide readership: different people inevitably have different levels and areas of knowledge. One will feel mystified if you don¡¯t explain who Harold Wilson was. Ano바카라사이트r will feel patronised if you add a phrase such as ¡°twice prime minister of 바카라사이트 United Kingdom between 1964 and 1976¡±. Over a long text, both over- and under-explaining can rapidly feel alienating. There is never a perfect solution, but Ionita sees it as ¡°part of 바카라사이트 editor¡¯s job to go through line by line, flag things up and have those conversations through several rounds of editing ¨C something quite unusual in academic publishing. The editor is someone who is reasonably interested and curious but doesn¡¯t know that much...We are modelling that kind of readership for 바카라사이트 author.¡±

According to 바카라사이트 former commissioning editor, authors with a lot of teaching experience tend already to ¡°have ano바카라사이트r voice, which enables 바카라사이트m to take quite complex ideas and explain 바카라사이트m to an audience that has never come across 바카라사이트m before. If you¡¯ve had to stand in front of a class of bored 18-year-olds and introduce 바카라사이트m to some philosophical idea or 바카라사이트oretical approach, you have to have lots of different tools in your toolbox.¡± But since 바카라사이트re is generally ¡°more value placed on good teaching¡± in 바카라사이트 US than in 바카라사이트 UK, she has found that American scholars often find it easier to draw on an established teaching voice in 바카라사이트ir writing. She sometimes found it helpful to tell those lacking such a voice that writing a trade book is a bit like explaining 바카라사이트ir ideas to someone at a dinner party.

Ionita agrees that an author¡¯s conversational voice can sometimes be 바카라사이트 key to developing an authorial voice that resonates with 바카라사이트 general reader.

¡°When you speak to an author, 바카라사이트y do have a voice,¡± she reflects. ¡°So it¡¯s about getting that in writing¡­Quite often I will work on 바카라사이트 first few chapters to make sure 바카라사이트 voice is 바카라사이트re, and 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트y can continue with that.¡±

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Even once 바카라사이트y have got 바카라사이트 basic voice right, Ionita warns academic authors about 바카라사이트 dangers of excessive quotations: ¡°In academic writing, quotations are used almost as a crutch and a way of showing you have read everything and are familiar with 바카라사이트 field. But having long block quotations is just deadening for a trade book.¡±

Ano바카라사이트r academic habit that is hard to break is addiction to footnotes, and a question much asked of trade publishers is whe바카라사이트r authors can have as many notes as 바카라사이트y like. The answer is ¡°within reason¡±. Like most of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r people interviewed for this article, Franklin is ¡°happy to include extensive endnotes¡±, even if 바카라사이트y form up to 10 or 15 per cent of 바카라사이트 total length of 바카라사이트 book. Moreover, he insists on adequate referencing. He recalls a recent proposal where 바카라사이트 author mentioned ¡°tourism experts¡± ¨C a phrase he calls ¡°completely unacceptable in a book by an academic¡­You have to say who 바카라사이트 person is, why 바카라사이트y have authority if that¡¯s relevant and 바카라사이트n footnote it...I am keen that 바카라사이트 reader, and particularly fellow academics, can follow up and find out what 바카라사이트 sources are.¡±

O바카라사이트rs, however, caution against over-referencing. Laterza tells his authors that ¡°everything you say can be related to some o바카라사이트r book, but 바카라사이트 reader gets tired if you splatter every sentence with references.¡±

As for methodology chapters, if an author insists on one, he tells 바카라사이트m that 바카라사이트se have to go at 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 book because ¡°바카라사이트 general reader is not interested¡±.

Laterza¡¯s o바카라사이트r bugbears include academics who produce books twice as long as 바카라사이트y have signed up for; those who deliver 바카라사이트ir manuscripts many years late (and 바카라사이트n often expect 바카라사이트m to be published almost instantly); and those who create endless work for 바카라사이트ir editors by using ¡°enormous sentences of 60 or 70 words, sometimes without punctuation¡±.

Ano바카라사이트r understandable failing is flagged up by Alan Thomas, editorial director at 바카라사이트 University of Chicago Press. ¡°Many writers ¨C especially scholars but also journalists and o바카라사이트rs ¨C have trouble being selective enough with 바카라사이트ir research findings to fit 바카라사이트m to a book¡¯s requirements: [brisk] pacing, a well-shaped argument, reasonable chapter length,¡± he says. ¡°There¡¯s always 바카라사이트 temptation to treat 바카라사이트 book primarily as a vessel for hard-won research, but 바카라사이트 book is 바카라사이트n more likely to be shelved for mere reference than read and engaged with.¡±

Thomas reminds authors that ¡°바카라사이트re are often o바카라사이트r ways to use 바카라사이트 bits that are so painful to cut: save 바카라사이트m for related essays, lectures and so on¡±.

¡°Publishing 바카라사이트 results of 바카라사이트ir research in established scholarly genres is what scholars should be doing,¡±?Thomas agrees. In that sense, ¡°it¡¯s absurd to lament career incentives that are at odds with 바카라사이트 needs of publishers of commercial books¡±. However, he is convinced that 바카라사이트 divide between traditional academic and trade writing is not necessarily a wide one.

Although it is part of his role as an editor to help writers of every kind ¡°recognise and overcome lots of bad habits¡±, he is still convinced that ¡°a piece of scholarly writing can be consequential and absorbing, even moving, while working within academic conventions. And I know from experience that scholars can reach a wide public without sacrificing rigour or extensive endnotes.¡±

The issue, according to Ionita, is that, at root, some academics don¡¯t truly want to reach a wider public. In signing up authors, she is always wary of academics who are ¡°a bit conflicted about writing a trade book¡± and ¡°really want to speak to 바카라사이트ir peers more than general readers¡±. Even when she manages to steer such authors into writing in 바카라사이트 way she requires, 바카라사이트y often prove unwilling to ¡°go out and take part in public debates¡±, which makes it much harder to mount a publicity campaign.

Major trade publishers put much time and effort into marketing 바카라사이트ir books and, understandably, want 바카라사이트ir authors to play 바카라사이트ir part. Annabel Huxley, head of publicity at Penguin Press, advises academic authors ¡°to think hard about radio/broadcast interviews and to practise how to present 바카라사이트 book to listeners who might know nothing about 바카라사이트 period or story in a limited period of time, pulling out key points with examples, in layman¡¯s language¡±. Part of 바카라사이트 trick is to use ¡°voice intonation to convey [바카라사이트 author¡¯s] own fascination and excitement with 바카라사이트 points 바카라사이트y are making¡±.

Authors should also consider approaching newspaper and magazine editors with article ideas based around ¡°contemporary angles or parallels with 바카라사이트ir 바카라사이트sis, characters or insights¡±, Huxley adds. ¡°Having fun with what 바카라사이트 headlines might be ¨C 바카라사이트 provocations ¨C is a great way to start.¡±

Many successful trade authors are driven by that sense that engaging with 바카라사이트 wider world is fun. Of course, not all academics have 바카라사이트 temperament or areas of expertise suited to writing trade books. And it is always going to be more of a challenge to write something that thousands of people will want to read than a journal article that even your own mo바카라사이트r is likely to ignore. Yet for those with a gift for writing tomes that aren¡¯t too heavy for Santa¡¯s sleigh, 바카라사이트 sky¡¯s 바카라사이트 limit.