An Introduction to Textbook Publishing

Textbooks are unique in that they have a specific market. If you want to submit a textbook proposal, university prospectuses offer a wealth of easily accessible information as to module content across curricula. It is vital that our textbooks match what is being taught at a broad range of institutions.  For example, every Business School in the world will offer a first-year Introductory Marketing module; most of these will be 8-10 weeks long, and topics will be broadly similar from institution to institution. 

The easy bit of my job, therefore, is assessing a proposal and seeing whether it would be fundamentally suitable, as I know what modules are being taught at in every university in the UK. Chapters in a Table of Contents should broadly correspond to the titles of weekly topics in a range of syllabi. For example, if someone submits a proposal for an Introductory Marketing book, which contains a chapter on Accounting, but doesn’t contain one on Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning, I can provide clear evidence to the author as to why they might want to rethink their proposal and make tweaks. I use my knowledge of course syllabi to give the author the best chances of their book getting picked up for publication.

However, the difficulty comes in discerning gaps in the market in these large cohort modules, and working out how to create strong USPs that provide value to the student and the instructor. The way the curriculum works means that textbook publishing is by nature responsive rather than radical. While an academic may pitch an idea for a textbook on their niche research interest, if there are no modules currently taught on this topic, it will work better as a monograph.
It is important to keep in mind the dual market of textbooks: our sales representatives target module leaders in order to get our books adopted, however it is then the responsibility of the student (or less frequently the institution) to purchase the book. This presents challenges in appealing to both decision makers, and our books often have a dedicated foreword for each type of reader. Both students and lecturers ultimately want clear, accessible guidance from a textbook; they just usually have different views on what this looks like!

The current biggest challenge is digital native Gen Z students being taught by lecturers who are, to an extent, less digitally focused. It would be great to have authors express their book chapters in short TikTok style videos, but it doesn’t happen often in this market. The sort of things that students generally also like in a book – more colour, more images, less text – aren’t always possible to fully integrate while also providing the necessary academic rigour. Sometimes, there is a lack of willingness from students to understand that subjects are difficult. There’s no way around it! 

Once I receive a proposal, and I’m happy that the content and pedagogical approach is suitable for the intended market, I will conduct a review process with 6-8 reviewers. I will return feedback to the author, and work with them to shape the proposed book to lecturers’ needs. Once I’m satisfied that the most pertinent criticism has been integrated, I present the project to our biweekly publishing meeting in order to get approval to issue a contract. The author will usually have between 18 and 30 months to submit the manuscript. We aim to publish our textbooks between November and early April (except for the 3 or 4 weeks around Christmas) to provide maximum market seeding time before the academic year commences the following October. Authors must follow the Bloomsbury House Style guidelines, and these are emailed to the author at contract stage, as part of a larger author pack. An Editorial Assistant and I will be on hand to answer queries throughout the writing process. We will commission a text design, consult with our design team regarding the cover, conduct research for illustrative material (if necessary) and clear permissions for reproduction of figures and charts. There will be a draft manuscript submission date, at which point we do an internal read and send the full manuscript out for review to another small panel of relevant academics. Relevant comments will then be taken on board by the author and a final manuscript delivery date will follow 3-4 months later.

Authors will also be expected to create companion website materials, as our digital ancillaries are important aspects of our textbooks’ offer to market. These usually include PowerPoint slides to aid lecture delivery, notes for teaching, assessment material and multiple choice questions/quizzes. The best authors find dynamic and innovative ways to engage students and instructors across the book and website, such as creating videos of themselves discussing key subjects, and providing engaging resource books to complete digitally.

Once the book publishes, the marketing manager will get in touch detailing the marketing plan for the book, but editorial are still available should you need any further information.

Interested in submitting a textbook proposal? You can find the relevant editor contact details for each subject area here.