Semi-Academic Nonfiction
Alexandre Enkerli,
Disparate,
Dec 30, 2011
Good post on the subject of "'semi-academic nonfiction' (SAN, hereafter). SAN books are frequently written by academics but are meant for a 'general audience'." The two types of books are interestingly different in some ways (for example, the way they document sources). But they are also distributed through different channels. Even though "most university presses have 'general' books, meant for a broad audience... it still sounds like academic publishing is its own 'game', especially in terms of distribution." And the big difference between them is probably readability. "To some, this unreadability comes from the complexity of the material itself. To others, it’s a sign that academics are unskilled writers. In such a context, the increased readability of books which 'aren’t too academic' is probably welcome.
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