A historian's view of the Early American Republic
(Previous entries in this series: Pts. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14) In August, I wrote my last entry in this series on developing a marketing plan for your book. Having implemented many of those ideas, I wanted to give some insight into what has and hasn't worked for me so far. Once I had a pretty firm idea of …
Continue reading The Evolution of a Book, Pt. 15: Promoting Your Book
(Previous entries in this series: Pts. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.) It's appropriate that this entry is the thirteenth in the series. Academics generally hate compiling an index, even though it's one of the most important tools that they (at least historians) use when reading. There are software programs available that can create a book index for you. …
Continue reading The Evolution of a Book, Pt. 13: Indexing the Book
(Previous entries in this series: Pts. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.) Working with the page proofs of your book is a daunting task. As your publisher will tell you, the only possible changes are editorial, factual or typesetter errors. So, that sentence that doesn't quite read right? You're stuck with it. The additional research that came to light …
Continue reading The Evolution of a Book, Pt. 12: Working with Page Proofs
(Previous entries in this series: Pts. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.) Mary Beard recently explained how her most recent book cover design evolved. My experiences have been a little bit different. I've been fortunate enough to have had great designers at LSU Press. Amanda McDonald Scallon designed the cover of Old Hickory's Nephew (OHN), which I think brilliantly …
Continue reading The Evolution of a Book, Pt. 11: Book Covers
(Previous entries in this series: Pts. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.) One of the things I never expected to do was market my books. In my ignorance, I assumed that a team of press staff would make sure the books were in every bookstore from Barnes & Noble to the museum in my home town. I thought they would …
Continue reading The Evolution of a Book, Pt. 10: The Press and Marketing
I've held a number of jobs during my life: retail clerk, grocery clerk, potato chip vendor, land survey company flunky extraordinaire, and historical interpreter. I've also taught history at four different universities. In his new book Superior Storm, Tom Hilpert, author and friend, has given me a new potential career path: Dr. Mark Cheathem took …
(Previous entries in this series: Pts. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.) You might be asking why I'm talking about the doldrums that set in following submission of the manuscript now instead of after its publication. From my experience, the real emotional letdown occurs once the manuscript is submitted to the editor for copy-editing. There is nothing yet tangible to …
Continue reading The Evolution of a Book, Pt. 9: Post-Manuscript Doldrums
