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Few benchmarks for tenure are more important than getting that first book contract if you are in a book field at a research-focused institution.
Editor’s Note: This week’s column from The Professor Is In tackles two questions from readers related to the vicissitudes of early career publishing.
Question: I just finished Year 1 of my first tenure-track job at a research university. My aim is to get a contract for my first book within the next six months, and I’ve already received initial interest from a few scholarly presses. My question is: How late is too late to get your first book contract on the tenure track? People keep telling me not to worry, and I know a colleague at the end of Year 2 who still doesn’t have a book contract. But I feel I should already have one, and I am concerned.
Kelsky: That’s a good question because publishing isn’t just about volume — it is also about strategy. All stages of publication — past (published work), present (work in the pipeline), or future (work in the planning stages) — make up the optics of your CV and show how hireable or tenurable you are.
In an ideal world, finding a supportive, brilliant editor to shepherd your book manuscript through the publication process would be valued more than securing a publication date within a certain timeline. But of course, academe is not an ideal world. So you need to hit the benchmarks "on time." Few benchmarks are more important than getting that first book contract if you are in a book field at a research-focused institution.
So when should you aim to have a contract in hand? That’s not a completely straightforward question. And before you can answer it, you must first resolve three other questions:
What kind of contract are you talking about? There is the "advance contract," generally based on a book proposal and a sample chapter or two. In terms of professional capital, an advance contract is more of an indicator that things are moving in the right direction than a solid artifact of achievement. It isn’t truly binding; it’s more of a formalization of interest than a commitment to publish. The press is saying: If this book manuscript turns...