Hi all,

I hope everyone is in good health and staying safe during these challenging times.

I have a bit of an unusual question - how does one go about writing a book chapter from a publishing perspective? I have very detailed theoretical and applied knowledge of a particular area of my field that has come from my research. This will be useful for others and has a lot of applications. The thing is I could write a whole book, but this would be time-consuming and book-chapters would be more suitable.

Any suggestions to go about this would be greatly appreciated, such as how does one contact the relevant publisher? With journal articles, there's usually a page on the publisher's site with submission details and application form. Does one simply find a publisher in the field and contact them directly?

Thanks,
Jamie

Hi Jamie

I hope you are staying well too. I am wondering if it's usually something done collaboratively - where editors of a book would contact people and ask them to author a chapter if they have knowledge on that aspect of the subject? A bit like presenting at a symposium at a conference - someone you know might ask you to present in theirs if your work is related and fits well? I haven't seen calls for book chapters (whereas I have seen calls for papers in a special issue of a journal, for example). This is why I assume it is done collaboratively, and probably led by the editors of the book, but I could be wrong.

Another option could be to write the chapters as papers in relevant methodological/applied or theoretical journals. I have often seen useful papers with people sharing methodological or technical expertise, that are quite detailed and seem to be akin to book chapters.

Tudor

If you think it is good enough and it will benefit someone, don't give up. I know in my field books are by invitation or application but fairly regular. The books associated with the top journals are usually invite only but you might be able email someone inquiring. Some of the book series have a common associate editor across multiple editions and might be helpful. While some of smaller journals openly advertise calls for book chapters, where you submit an abstract related to the book theme. However my field has a rather active book market.

PS: My only experience with book chapters; was when a reader in my department invited me to submit an abstract to a book he was editor of and then rejected my abstract.

Hi again,

Glad to hear from you both! Sorry for my slow reply!

Yes Tudor, I did have the impression that it might work by invitation. Publishing such methodology as papers is something that I've done to explain the more specific techniques I've used in detail. However, such papers are quite limited in terms of pages and are usually for a specific application. It could be possible in another such journal, but then I'd have to apply it to something new and then use the relevant sections.

Thanks Rewt, sorry to hear someone wasted your time with an abstract, did they give you a valid reason for rejection? I think you're right, I guess I'll have to email someone. I've had it in my mind to pursue this idea, but have just been so busy with my two main projects. I think adapting the material I have shouldn't take so long. What was your specific field Rewt, is it engineering?

I appreciate the support. You guys are fantastic! Thanks again :-)

What a lame excuse.

Nice, Chemical engineering is a really cool field to be in, and interesting too.