As part of its mission to address issues of recruitment, retention,
and integration of women and people of color in the profession, the
APSA Task Force on Mentoring periodically publishes articles on some
aspect of mentoring that will help political scientists move
successfully through the profession. This brief symposium on
“Publishing Your First Book” is just one such example of this
initiative. For more information about the Task Force and its
ongoing projects, contact Linda Lopez, APSA Director of Education
and Professional Development Programs, at llopez@apsanet.org.
I am an acquiring editor for the Higher Education group within Oxford
University Press—that is, the books I am most likely to sign are
explicitly intended to be used in courses. Nevertheless, most of the
following nostrums are applicable in many different publishing
situations.