One of my big goals for this summer is to develop and improve the workshops on publication that I design and deliver as part of my role as the liaison librarian for the University of Lincoln doctoral school. My aim in these workshops is to offer PhD students and ECRs a useful introduction to the world of academic publishing. My current workshop only very briefly touches on writing for popular audiences, but with the growing importance of impact and public engagement, discussion of how to share academic work with general audiences belongs in a training session on the publication landscape.
To help me develop this section of the workshop, I recently watched the webinar ‘Pracademia: the Growing Trend of Academics Writing Popular Books’, with publishers Ellen Chodosh and Michael Sinocchi. Here are five things I learned which I want to incorporate into my workshops on academic publication.
- Consider your language. Writing for popular audience isn’t about ‘dumbing down’ complex scholarly ideas, but rather ensuring that readers have sufficient background and definition to make sense of the information they are given.
- Tell a story. Unlike an academic reader, a lay reader is not interested in whether you have read and engaged with all of the main arguments in your field. They want to know what you think! A clear narrative gives the reader something to follow and a reason to keep reading.
- Read the room. You should take the time to get to know what has already been published about their topic, and demonstrate this in your book proposal. For trade books, knowledge of recent conversations about your research topic in the news and media is especially helpful.
- Expect the unexpected. The effects of the coronavirus pandemic provide an excellent example of how specialist research topics can become unexpectedly topical in response to world events. In other words, begin from the assumption that your research is of general interest. Professional or academic books can have a long tail, so something that is not in the news when you start the process of writing and proposing their book, might well be in the spotlight by the time it is out in the world.
- Take the time to get it right. When writing a pitch or proposal, you should take the time to research a press, learning what they currently offer and where they are going next. Publishers (both speakers stressed) are happy to make connections with authors early in the process; you do not need to wait to have a complete manuscript to start a conversation. If you are considering a book for publication in a particular series (for example, Routledge’s Guides to Using Historical Sources), you should take the time to get to know what has been published in that series and how your book might fit.
In conclusion, the speakers stressed that trade publication might not be a step someone takes at the beginning of an academic career, since traditional academic monographs and journal articles are more important. But it seems clear that the trade potential of their work is something researchers should consider as they develop their skill and confidence as writers. Within the context of my workshop, the biggest change I intend to make going forward is to emphasize the need to read the room. Getting to know a particular publisher, a particular journal, and what has been said about a research topic (in academic and popular conversations), should be a part of the journey to publication.