Each year, new books are released that are intended to allow scholars and students to gain insight into topics integral to scholarly life but often not properly explained. The past year saw two exciting new releases, Berdahl and Malloy's Work Your Career and Phillips and Bhaskar's (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Publishing, illustrating that one size, indeed, does not fit all. These books will appeal to individuals at various stages of their careers, as well as individuals from different disciplines and with different vocations and passions. What unites the two volumes is a shared interest in research and writing, and readers could choose to engage with the texts either for their own professional development or out of intellectual curiosity.

In Berdahl and Malloy's Work Your Career, the following question arises throughout: “Given both my future goals and the information currently available to me, what is my best decision right now?” (19). In each of the 10 chapters, the reader is confronted with questions, some of which may bring a level of discomfort about whether one's current decisions are leading to a path of success or happiness or whether one should rethink one's future career prospects. Berdahl and Malloy are both full professors teaching in Canadian universities who have embarked on different paths, leading them to their current destinations in academia (6–7, 8).

The authors assert several times that their advice comes from a place of experience, that they are writing with the interests of pre-, current, and post-PhDs in mind, and that they recognize every student's situation will be different. Many factors should be considered, such as needs, opportunities, mentors and enthusiasm, as well as willingness to continue in one's doctoral program. As the book discusses selecting a program, supervisorial committees and dissertation topics, funding, publishing, networking and the often intimidating job search, it offers a light, humorous and heart-warming reflection on how scholars can approach, or “work their career,” through a variety of avenues.

Work Your Career is a breath of fresh air, in that it is directed not only at scholars pursuing academic careers but also at those who may be struggling and may face a decision that leads them toward what is often regarded as a non-traditional route outside of academia. The authors insist that non-academic careers should not be viewed in a negative sense and provide encouragement that they can often be a better fit for many (158–59). As Berdahl and Malloy put it: “There is no Plan B. It's all Plan A” (161).

In fact, the authors suggest several possible non-traditional career options for PhDs, including think tanks, the nonprofit sector and consulting and government (162). In this, they are reminiscent of high school guidance counsellors, and their own challenges have led them to share their experiences in the hope that these will provide assistance and support for those who may be seeking guidance or reassurance or who may be considering an alternate future for their careers.

The Oxford Handbook of Publishing is distinctive in terms of the material itself and what the reader can gain from it. Numerous authors, academics, specialists and experts in their respective fields of publishing offer personal insights into a variety of subject matters and disciplines throughout the 25 chapters, which span more than 400 pages. Perhaps the chapter most relevant to the scholarly community is Samantha J. Rayner's take on academic publishing (although there are others, as well), where she presents a look into various aspects of this topic, including peer review, academic publishing outlets—such as open access and peer-reviewed journals—and areas to avoid, such as predatory journals, which often target fresh and innocent scholars (259–74).

Whereas Work Your Career is organized as a sequential account of information geared toward those who may be pursuing or have finished their PhD, The Oxford Handbook of Publishing is presented as chapters for individuals at different stages of their careers and who may not necessarily be academics, and it is likely to be read piecemeal rather than from start to finish. In fact, the handbook offers a glimpse into a number of topics that are not often discussed, such as the back door to the publishing world, and which may not be all that relevant to the average reader. For example, Bhaskar's chapter, “Curation in Publishing,” discusses what he refers to as a “model” for publishing, in terms of what a specific book or project is intended to achieve (229).

Thus, picking and choosing particular topics in the The Oxford Handbook of Publishing may be appealing as well as sensible. Further, since each chapter contains the work of distinct authors, some of the information may be repetitive—for example, information about how the rise of publishing was dependent on technological innovations, such as the arrival of the printing press in Europe (26–27, 100). Regardless, sifting through the entire three-part volume presents an interesting approach, one that takes the reader through the history of publishing and raises awareness of issues such as economics and copyright, as well as the current transformation of publishing in a direction in which e-books have gained popularity.

In fact, some of the reasons one may be hesitant to read the The Oxford Handbook of Publishing in its entirety are precisely why it may be best to read it that way. As political scientists, we may not always be exposed to ideas from other disciplines, and some of these chapters offer insightful connections—for example, the one in which Bhaskar explains the influence of culture on publishing, relating the profession to the work of theorists such as Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu (235). A typical political scientist might be familiar with the work of these theorists but not necessarily aware of a link between their theories and the realm of publishing.

Additionally, some of the quotes presented in The Oxford Handbook of Publishing may continue to linger in one's mind, demonstrating how the authors’ ideas can have a ripple effect on readers and beyond. For example, in Albert N. Greco's chapter, “The Strategy of Publishing,” he asserts, “Dictators burn books because books inform, educate, and, in some instances, entertain the reader” (202). It was only recently that 300,000 books from Turkish schools and libraries were destroyed after a failed military coup in 2016 (Flood, Reference Flood2019). There is now, perhaps more than ever, a strong motivation to educate ourselves and those around us, in order to leave a better world behind for future generations.

So the question remains: Who would benefit most from these books? The answer is up to the readers to discern whether they would like to know more about obtaining a PhD degree and how to market themselves, from either within or outside of academia, or whether they may be interested in publishing and also topics that may be outside of one's general knowledge. Each book possesses merits in its own right and should be approached as such.