So you want to write an education book (part 1)
Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash
If you’re a teacher, you know that a great education book can be powerful. Professional development books can expand our horizons, help us rethink our relationships with students, and provide new strategies to take our teaching to the next level. From The Courage to Teach to Troublemakers to Cultivating Genius, I know from experience as a reader that education books can be transformative.
What if I told you that you (yes, you) should be the author of the next great education book?
I’m far from an expert in the ins and outs of publishing, but I’ve written two books and picked up a lot along the way. One of the things that became apparent early on in my first book is just how little information there is out there for k-12 education writers. So much of what’s available online for authors is about fiction or mainstream nonfiction publication, and the education book landscape is just not the same at all. Neither is it quite the same as academic writing in higher education. So much of what I learned about how to navigate the process was passed along in private messages or personal conversations with other writers, who cobbled together their knowledge in the same way.
As I wrap up the final pieces of my second book, I’m feeling inspired to help contribute to the free flow of information so that other aspiring authors don’t feel as overwhelmed as I did. I’m especially hoping that this series will reach folks from marginalized communities who are most harmed by gatekeeping.
In an effort to gather a little more perspective than just my own, I surveyed ten education authors in a very unscientific manner via a Google form. I asked for their perspective on various topics before, during, and after publication of their books. I’ll share some of the themes and a few pieces of advice from that survey here, as well as my own experiences and what I’ve gathered from friends and fellow authors in the field. This series will likely be broken into four posts:
Conceptualizing your book and preparing for the proposal
Proposals, contracts, and getting ready to write
Writing your manuscript
Production and publication
If you have questions or additional insights along the way, feel free to leave a comment!
Conceptualizing your book and preparing for the proposal
The first step in writing an education book is to want to write an education book! If you’re reading this, you’re already there. Here are a few things to think about as you start to develop your book idea and get a sense of the publication process.
Believe that you can do this
It’s not a small thing to write a book, but it is achievable. I experience so much imposter syndrome at pretty much every step of the book process, as do most authors I know. It’s normal and expected for you to doubt yourself, so start planning for how you’ll recharge in those moments.
For me, it’s helpful to update friends and family on my latest project so they can cheer me on. I have a few friends I know are one text away when I need to remember that my message is worth all the hard work. But at the end of the day, I need to have confidence in myself and my writing, and I need to believe it’s worth it. Don’t go into this process if you only sort of want to do it.
Bottom line: writing a book is a difficult but doable task. Get your head and heart ready for the rollercoaster.
Clarify your message and start building your network
Many authors in my survey, myself included, suggested writing short articles for sites like Edutopia, ASCD, or Learning for Justice (or on your own blog), and presenting at local and national conferences. These types of activities do a few things for you as a potential book author:
Clarify your message and your voice. What are the issues you are the most passionate about? What expertise, strategies, or ideas are you well-poised to share? One author I surveyed said, “if you can deliver a well-organized 1 hour workshop, you can write a chapter! 10 one-hour workshops? You've got a book.”
When writing articles, you’ll get a taste of what it’s like to work with an editor. Most publications will engage in some level of editing with you, and this is a great opportunity to learn what kind of feedback works for you and what doesn’t, learn about writing habits that may need some work, and so on.
Build your audience. As you share your writing or presentations, what are teachers responding to? What do they want to know more about? Use social media to get involved in conversations about your writing.
Get your name out there to potential publishers. I’ve had multiple publishers reach out to me after reading an article of mine in Edutopia or seeing a conference session at ASCD, looking for conversation about potential book projects related to what I shared. Survey responders shared the same experience.
Read lots of books on the same subject that you want to write about
This is essential. You’ll learn so much about your topic, of course, but you’ll also start to get a sense of the publishing landscape in your area of focus. What do you love about the other books on the same or similar topics? What bothers you? What’s missing? Where are the gaps?
I recommend taking notes on some of these texts as you read. For most book proposals, you’ll be asked to name the main competitors to your proposed book and explain why your book is different and/or better. Be ready to talk about your unique contribution to the field.
This is also a good opportunity for some self-reflection. Are voices like yours already overrepresented in the market? Are there opportunities for co-authorship with other experts? Do you need to take more time to research and learn, or are you ready to get started? My first book proposal was rejected by the publisher, and rightfully so - I wasn’t actually clear about my concept and I hadn’t grounded myself in the research well enough. Getting rejected at that stage allowed me to dig deeper and clarify what I wanted and needed to write.
Do your research to find a publishing company you want to work with
Authors who I’ve surveyed, and those in my networks, arrived at their publishers in a bunch of different ways. Some of us were invited to submit a proposal after an editor reached out, others chose a publisher based on their reputation or because of favorable contract terms, others got connected through word of mouth. Regardless of how you get connected, remember that you do have a choice about which publisher to work with.
I recommend looking at your bookshelf and pulling out your ten favorite education books. Who are the publishing companies represented? Check out the authors’ acknowledgements pages to see which editors they worked with. If you have authors in your network, ask them about their experiences.
You can also take a look at different publishers’ websites and social media to get a sense of how they promote and market their books, engage with audiences, or offer resources. You may also want to look at things like whether the tone/style of the books from that publisher feels aligned to how you want to write, whether the publisher promotes diverse authors and topics, and other indicators of the “fit” between you and the publisher (I’ll share a little more about this in the next post when I talk about editors).
Interestingly, I don’t know any education author who used an agent as part of their book contract process. I see a lot about literary agents when I’m looking for general publishing advice, but in the education publishing world as far as I’m aware, agents are not common at all. More often, you’ll find information about how to directly submit a book proposal on the publisher’s website.
Start working toward a proposal
Your book proposal is your pitch to publishers and your opportunity to show them what you can do. Head to the next post in this series to learn all about proposals and book contracts!
