When and How to Approach Acquisitions Editors
A few months ago, I participated in a publishing workshop. This involved meeting with scholars, advising them on their book manuscripts, and responding to their questions about the publishing process. Most were working on their first books. While they wanted to discuss different aspects of their writing, almost every author asked me about approaching acquisitions editors. So in this post, I answer that question: When and how should I approach an editor at a university press about my book project?
This question conjures up a sense of anxiety for many authors. That’s how I felt anyway as a first-time author. I didn’t want to mess things up. I worried that my project wasn’t well-developed and I didn’t want my conversation with an editor to reflect that. Basically, I liked feeling like my book was a possibility and I didn’t want this pleasant idea to go away. Now as an editor, I know that anxiety like this is very common.
But I don’t think it is necessary. If I could go back to 2013 Katherine, I would remind her that she had a well-developed project (if you’ve written a dissertation, you have a well-developed project, though your dissertation will need revisions before it becomes a book). I would remind her that one conversation will not “mess things up.” I would also remind her that there is no book without talking to acquisitions editors. These conversations are exciting steps in achieving one’s publishing dreams.
Before we get into when to approach editors, let’s take a minute to discuss why you might want to do so. Most importantly, talking with editors can help provide insight into whether your book would be a good match for a press. They might provide some feedback on your initial ideas that could shape how you write the manuscript (though if they don’t do this, don’t worry). Editors can help advise on logistical matters that are not always clear on their websites. For example, they can provide guidance on the next steps (do they want to see a proposal and sample chapters or might they prefer to see a full manuscript?) and target word count (many presses prefer shorter first books since they are cheaper to publish and more likely to be adopted for teaching). You also get on editors’ radars, allowing them to put a face with the proposal or manuscript that you eventually submit.
Another important reason to have these conversations early is to begin getting a sense of editors yourself. You are trying to determine if this person would be a good match for you. Your acquisitions editor will likely not only provide helpful feedback on your manuscript, but they will also be your advocate at the press, ushering your book through the publishing process and making the case that it should be published. Try and get a sense of whether you connect with the editor and if you could imagine them being a supportive person to work with. Ask them about how they approach working with authors to start feeling this out.
For these reasons, in these early stages it’s quite common to have conversations with multiple presses, which will help you find a good match. Editors will expect that you are talking with other editors. You just want to always be clear about this when it comes time to submit materials, for example letting them know if you are submitting proposals to multiple presses, which you likely will be.
Before you reach out to editors, first determine whether their press might be a good match for your book. Presses generally publish books in particular disciplines and often focus on certain areas within these disciplines. If you don’t know which presses to start with, pull out scholarly books that are related to your research and see where they were published. Likely, these presses might be interested in a book like yours. If you are attending a scholarly conference, browsing through the book exhibits can be a wonderful way to get a sense of the kinds of things that various presses publish. Other scholars are also great resources; ask scholars familiar with your research area where they think you should consider publishing. They might even offer to introduce you to acquisitions editors. Another good resource is this chart published by the American Association of University Presses. It lists the subject areas that various presses publish in. Many press’s websites list acquisitions editors and their interests so reach out to those who cover topics related to your book. If that isn’t clear, ask someone who has published recently in a similar subject area with the press for advice on who you might contact.
Once you know which editors to approach, when should you approach them? You do want to set up these meetings after you have a coherent project in mind. If you have a dissertation, you likely have a good sense of your project, but practice talking about it to make sure. If you are embarking on a new book project, make sure you can clearly articulate what it will be about. Practice talking about it with colleagues and friends. Can you articulate the argument? Can you give a sense of the scope of the book (what kinds of issues do you explore as you support your argument)? Can you give an idea of what kind of evidence you use to support your claims (archival work, ethnographic research etc.)? Can you give a sense of the audience you are writing for? And, perhaps the hardest part, can you explain why it matters (to your discipline or beyond)? Can you do all of this fairly quickly?
These are the kinds of things you’ll want to explain to editors in a two- to five-minute pitch (too much longer than that and you risk losing your audience). You’ll find with practice that this is easier than it sounds! You may already be doing it! You’ll also want to have some realistic sense of timeline for your revisions or drafting of the manuscript, though this doesn’t have to be short (revisions in two months!). A year or two is fine. Finally, if you are turning a dissertation into a book, you’ll want to be prepared to briefly discuss the kinds of revisions you will be undertaking. Editors like to know that you understand that these things are different and that you aren’t just sending them an unedited dissertation.
Many authors tell me that they can do this, but they worry that their book isn’t far enough along to approach an editor. Say, for example, they know that they still have extensive revisions to do on the dissertation or chapters to write for their second book. I generally advise these authors that it’s still good to have early conversations with editors. This is partly because editors may provide useful feedback during those conversations. An editor might say that they are really interested in the book, but that they feel like you need to restructure it. For example, one of my author had chapters that centered on biographies, while an editor encouraged him to make them more thematic.
Hearing such feedback is useful for a few reasons. Most importantly, if the editor does comment on the book or suggest ways you might rework it, you can think about whether that is work you want to do (the author above decided it wasn’t, though he did use this feedback to modify his original plan slightly). This can help steer you towards or away from certain publishers, but it also can save time on revisions. If you spend hundreds of hours revising your book before talking to editors, you may learn that some of the work you have done wasn’t necessary. Don’t be surprised if the editor doesn’t give any immediate feedback, but if they do, it’s useful.
And remember that editors don’t expect your pitch to be exactly what the book will become. They know, probably better than anyone, that books change over time. They are looking to see if the project in general might work for them, not that an exact super specific project will.
Once you feel ready to talk with editors, you can reach out to them via email. If you have scholarly conferences coming up, you could ask if they would be willing to meet with you there if this is something they attend. If not, see if they would be willing to have a quick Zoom conversation. These emails do not have to be long (these editors are busy!), but do include a quick overview of your manuscript to help them get an initial sense of whether it would be a good match for them. Again, editors are busy, so don’t be discouraged if it takes them a while to respond or if they just ask to see a proposal. But do pay attention to how they interact with you since this can provide clues about how they will treat you throughout the process. And don’t be surprised if these meetings are fairly short, sometimes just fifteen minutes. That doesn’t reflect an editor’s lack of interest, but rather their busy workloads.
Finally, remember that editors are looking for good books! They want to meet people like you. And your acquisitions editor can become one of the most helpful people in your publishing experience. Hopefully, they will be a champion of the book and a sharp-eyed critic who will help improve your manuscript. So don’t be shy about starting to build these relationships. Good luck, and try and enjoy this process as much as possible. It’s really exciting to publish a book and even better if you get to work with an editor who is a great match!
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