One of the most common questions I receive from scholarly authors is: How much of my book material can I have published previously as journal articles or chapters in edited volumes?

I get this question so frequently that I included it in the FAQ of The Book Proposal Book, but I thought I would elaborate here on the blog too.

When I get this question, I usually point people to Beth Luey’s advice in her Handbook for Academic Authors (now available from Cambridge University Press in a 6th edition blurbed by yours truly). There, Luey says that most presses won’t want a book submission with more than 25% previously published material.

As I said in The Book Proposal Book, “that’s probably a safe figure to rely on, but I’ve encountered many exceptions to this rule, so there may be wiggle room with your publisher on your particular book. It’s all in how you pitch it. If you can demonstrate convincingly that the audience for the previously published work is distinct from the audience for the book, or that even those who have read your other work will find some new value in the book, you’ll be in good shape.”

I recently received a question from an author that got into a little more detail on this topic, and I thought it would be helpful for others, so I want to share it here too:

Thank you for all of your work to demystify the book proposal and publishing process. I have a question about publishing work in advance of the book. It seems like it's generally agreed that you should publish (as articles, chapters, etc.) no more than 50% of your book manuscript—but is this a "true" 50%? For example, I've published two articles related to my four-chapter book so far, but each article only contains, say 30-50% of the content that will be in the respective book chapter.

I realize this is a very nitty-gritty question and I feel a little ridiculous for even asking it! The only reason I am asking is because I've been asked to contribute to a special edition of a major journal in my field and I'd like to say yes if it won't risk my book proposal. This would involve publishing material from a third chapter (but as with the two previous articles, it would only overlap partly with my book chapter). Thank you in advance for any advice you can offer, and thank you again for your fabulous newsletter and other resources.

Here’s what I said to this author:

Thanks for reaching out with your question, which is not ridiculous! It's very common so you're not alone in wondering.

The guideline I usually quote about previously published material is actually closer to 25% (see Beth Luey's Handbook for Academic Authors). I'm sure that some books do get closer to 50%, but I would say that if you're approaching that you should consider holding back on the article/chapter publications at least until you've had a chance to discuss the project with publishers and find out what their preferences are. It's hard to say how they'll see the overlap—whether they'll see that technically it's not the entire chapters that are being published elsewhere or whether they'll just consider the chapter as previously published. This is a very reasonable question to ask an editor you’re thinking of working with, so don’t be afraid to bring it up.

The overarching concern from the publishers will be that the previous publications might undercut demand for the book. I think in most cases that concern can be overcome, since the articles function differently than a book does. Usually the book has a more expansive argument and sustained engagement with the subject matter that readers can't get in an article. The style you write your book in may also be more accessible/teachable, further enhancing the book's value for readers.

These are points you can make explicitly in your proposal if you want: include a section on previous publications and briefly explain how your book goes beyond what you've published before. But you may decide it’s not worth taking the risk until you've secured the interest of a publisher.

I guess a question for you is how beneficial that major journal publication will be for your career in the near term and whether it would be worth it if it meant you had to write an additional chapter or two for your book to make it more new in the eyes of publishers?

Sorry I don't have a more definitive answer for you but I hope this is helpful!

(That last line is basically how I end every response to prospective authors. For more on why definitive answers are hard to come by, see this newsletter post on mythbusting in scholarly publishing.)