A decade ago I wouldn’t have believe that I’d one day be a traditionally published author, and I’d have been shocked to learn that not only would I be a traditionally published author, but I’d then spend half a decade fighting to get the rights to my book back, and think of the book deal as a mistake.

Why signing a traditional publishing deal for my academic book was a mistake:

Of course deep down I think nothing is a mistake, but for the purposes of both getting you, the reader, to learn some valuable lessons from what I did “wrong,” and for the purpose of structuring this blog post in a readable way, please bear with me. First of all, I should start by saying I wouldn’t take said “mistake” back, because I learned so much from it. I will, however, tell you why trad publishing was the wrong choice, and hopefully you will walk away with some valuable insights. Let me start by outlining the “mistakes” I made:

Mistake #1: I was naive and thought a book deal was everything.

I thought a book deal was everything. I thought it was the best way to get my research out there and establish myself as an academic.

(Reader, I was wrong on both counts.)

But anyway, I queried a bunch of agents and almost all of them told me the same thing: a book on South Asian American school experiences was too niche, nobody would care.

(For the record, there are like over 6 million South Asian Americans right now, and something like 4 million teachers, not to mention countless other educators who aren’t teachers… all of these folks would be part of my target audience, so we know this isn’t really that niche of a subject).

I even reached out to an old friend with a published book, who connected me with his own agent. And she said the same thing too: my subject was too niche, she didn’t think it would be worth taking me on. BUT, she offered to give me free advice… and looking back, I see that I shouldn’t have taken it. Which brings me to Mistake #2…

Mistake #2: I took advice from someone who had no skin in the game.

She wasn’t my agent. She didn’t know my life, my goals, or my subject’s value.

And most critically, she didn’t actually believe in my work, which she already made clear (even if cloaked in polite language).

Why would I (and did I) take direction from someone who didn’t believe my RESEARCH mattered in the first place?

Her advice: since I planned to stay in higher ed and just wanted “academic street cred,” the money shouldn’t matter. Just sign a good deal, even with unfavorable terms. Which brings me to Mistake #3…

Mistake #3: I convinced myself I didn’t need to get paid.

I believed it. That even if a deal wasn’t financially favorable for me, I just take it.

By the way, this is NOT uncommon in academic publishing. (Read my post on whether or not a Doctor of Education should write a book in the first place or my post on my rights reversion saga—both include discussion on how bad publishing deals are just the industry standard).

So… I reached out to publishers, and one of the good ones bit:

Rowman & Littlefield (now Bloomsbury Publishing… yes the Bloomsbury Publishing) offered me a deal.

I actually sent the offer back to that same agent (yes, the one who’d declined to sign me) and asked her opinion. She flagged a few things to look at more closely (I even had a lawyer glance it over, though he wasn’t a publishing specialist either (again, I was doing this whole process backwards from the start; see Mistake #1).

Her verdict: “You’re going to end up with a finished book you’re proud of.” (BTW she was right, the finished product from R&L was genuinely beautiful.)

So I signed the deal.

Mistake #4: I signed before I’d ever seriously asked myself whether traditional publishing was even the right path.

I should have asked myself early in the process if traditional publishing was even the right pathway for me.

But I didn’t.

What I learned from traditional publishing a book I should never have traditionally published.

If I could go back, I wouldn’t change any of what happened, because (1) I’m nothing if not a fiercely determined optimist, (2) I’m a child of The Magic School Bus era and take seriously Ms. Frizzle’s advice to make mistakes, and (3) I learned so many things I don’t think I could have learned any other way:

1. The importance of agency (here’s a post about a book—about childbirth btw—that really speaks to the importance of agency)
2. A real passion for owning your own work (which I am now very passionate about)
3. The value of believing in yourself… especially when you are an expert in your field!

If You’re Standing Where I Was, Ask Yourself:

1. Is traditional publishing actually the right move for you (or is it just the one that feels legitimate?)
2. Could traditional publishing limit your reach rather than expand it? (This is exactly what happened to me — traditional publishing severely limited my book’s reach, which is part of why I reverted my rights and am rereleasing my academic book this fall.)
3. If what you actually want is the credibility of saying “I’m an XYZ published author”? And if so… is that the most important thing? (And what if you realized you could actually do more with your work by retaining all your rights and self-distributing than you ever could with trad publishing? Would you make that trade off? There’s no right answer to this btw, just food for thought).
4. Can you get the same outcomes by keeping control of your own distribution — your rights, your royalties, your power (instead of signing them away?)
5. Can you trust yourself enough to bet on yourself first?

…just some things to consider.