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I ask this question here because it may come useful to future early-career researchers. I recently published a scientific book with Taylor & Francis. I received some few positive comments and signs of interest from my peers.

I was now proposed to present a book at one university. They would cover the travel expenses. I am wondering what is the standard in the academic field for presenting a book: if you tend to do it for free, or upon compensation (if it makes sense). I guess that presenting a book is already a form of career progress in a CV.

The reason I am asking this is that I had to fight hard to publish this book, as it was planned as an output of my postdoc research but once the PI received funding, they removed my planned research, and I had to report him to the funding agency. This resulted in isolation and other forms of retaliation. Fact is that, since 2 year now I am not employed, and I was hoping to be able to retrieve some money back through presentations and lectures if possible.

Can I ask to the Academia community how they approach book presentations and invited lectures (either when holding an academic position or being unemployed)?

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    How extensive is this? Are you being asked to teach a course in effect? Or just a few days? Commented Apr 15 at 13:02
  • Just like 90 minutes, just the time of delivering a speech on the topic to students and people interested Commented Apr 15 at 13:21
  • Related question (with similar answer): academia.stackexchange.com/questions/143860/… Commented 2 days ago
  • Do you get royalties or anything from selling copies of the book? Commented 2 days ago
  • Who is inviting you? Is it the publishers or the academic institution? Is this marketing for the book itself, or is it an academic lecture on the topic of the book? Commented 2 days ago

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It is not common for people to get anything beyond travel costs and perhaps a per diem for being a speaker at a university's seminars or colloquia (which is what I assume you are describing). If I invited someone, I would be very surprised if they asked for compensation.

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I speak both at universities, as well as industry or professional event.

My experience (based on living in the US and currently promoting a book with the same publisher) is that universities rarely pay anything for speakers. Travel and expenses is likely the best offer. Industry and professional audiences will often pay a speaker's fee (which can be substantial) in addition to travel expenses.

Typically people will make an offer when they contact you. In this case, they offered travel costs. You are free to negotiate. There's no obligation to accept the speaking engagement if it doesn't help you meet your goals.

Realistically, if your goal is to promote a book, then your "payment" is in potential sales and exposure. You might have other goals, such as advancing your academic career, becoming a professional speaker, or growing your expertise. You can't pursue all of them at once. Decide what's important to you, and make your choice.

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    +1 for the point about promoting the book. They are offering you a marketing opportunity for your book - and since you worked hard to publish it I assume that you would be interested in it reaching as many people as possible even if you weren't getting royalties. In fact, in a lot of contexts they could be asking whether you or the publisher are interested in paying for that marketing opportunity. Commented 2 days ago
  • Agree that if compensation were realistically available, they'd likely have offered it to begin with, especially since they're already going through the steps to pay travel costs. It might not hurt to ask, but an academic invitation isn't the sort of setting where I'd typically expect negotiations or a counteroffer. Commented 2 days ago
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Your situation is a bit unusual if you are not employed. You can enquirer whether there is a stipend, but it would be risky to ask for (or demand) one. You can explain your situation, if you like.

But any such stipend could be expected to be small. They should pay for transportation and accommodations, of course, but beyond that may be out of reach, especially for anything that affects your bottom line.

I might enquire and use the response to decide whether it is worth the time to accept (it probably is), and take the entry in your CV as the compensation.

Beyond that, of course, is the opportunity to make contacts that might be valuable in the future. Don't neglect that, nor neglect to exploit it where possible.

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  • Thank you Buffy. I agree with you to not neglect it. In this specific case, the university is near my parents' house, so not a problem. But it is good to understand how to manage this in the future --- let's suppose that I am from Europe and I am proposed to deliver a speech in the U.S. That may be problematic. I know of at least of one person that was able to make a living from invitations (but includes also artistic ones), so I am curious if somebody out there is aware of something similar. Commented Apr 15 at 13:35

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