Just a quick question for everyone on book proposals. In the section where you compare your manuscript to “competitors” (i.e. books your one would compete with in the market), what’s the best way to choose a comparison class? I fear that if one “aims too high”, comparing the book to those by top scholars, it could make one look megalomaniacal. On the other hand, I wonder that if one “shoots too low”, comparing the manuscript to, say, first books by other early career people, it could “undersell” the project.
What does everyone think, especially those of you who have published or reviewed book proposals and manuscripts? Is it best to aim somewhere “in the middle”, comparing the manuscript to, say, a few books by top scholars but also a few by more early career people? Any tips/insight would be much appreciated!
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4 responses to “Book proposal question”
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I wouldn’t worry too much about the status of the competitors. I think one should not cast one’s net too wide, but just look narrowly at books that are quite similar in scope that have been published in, say, the past 3-5 years. It’s important to mention in each case how your book is different from them, e.g., fills a new niche, addresses an under explored topic etc.
What I did was provide a mix of books, different publishers (but all major, decent publishers), early-career as well as more senior authors. I also included edited volumes (these also count as competition). But this was just a result of listing the recent books that were most similar to the proposal. -
Hi Marcus,
personally, I feel uneasy at saying things like “Ms. XY’s book is nothing if compared to mine”, so that I always prefer speaking in more general terms, such as
“The other books on this topic either focus on a merely historical perspective (X, Y, Z) or take into account different sorts of problems (Z, W). Instead, issue A has not yet been the object of a separate book-long study. In this sense, the present study fills a gap, etc. etc.” -
I wouldn’t worry about “aiming too high”. Your book needs to be compared and contrasted to the other books on that topic or near that topic, to show that what you’re doing hasn’t already been done but needs to be. If it turns out that the others writing similar books are the Gods of Philosophy, then so be it. No one will think you’re thereby saying you are a God of Philosophy. They’ll just think you’re answering the question honestly.
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Thanks Jason: good to know, especially coming from someone with experience with these things!
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