Book Notes: Eric Sager's other Inequality history

Okay, so I had a moment, just a moment, of schadenfreude at what might be taken as evidence of professorial presumptions that this trade market history gig should be, you know, easy to crack. But Eric Sager's struggle to partner his big scholarly study of inequality in Canada with a readable trade-market version on the same themes actually is laudable.

Even before I finished my big book on inequality – Inequality in Canada: The History and Politics of an Idea (McGill-Queen’s UP, 2020) – I knew that I wanted to write a sequel for general readers, and especially for political activists. The ideas were simply too urgent to be left within a dauntingly complex scholarly book that might sell only a few hundred copies.

Sager presents his new book, The Professor and the Plumber: Conversations About Equality and Inequality, as a readable dialogue between two people, illustrated and accessible. It's also self-published: he approached fourteen publishers, none of whom were persuaded to take it on. But in a recent Active History piece, he reports he's undaunted

Don’t hesitate to self-publish, because it has many advantages. You will still need readers prior to publication and even peer reviews, if you are serious. But you will avoid the delays in publishing that so often annoy us. Third, there is no sacrifice of quality: you, the author, can employ highly-qualified production specialists, and you have oversight of the production process. Fourth, while marketing can be frustrating and expensive, it can also succeed, if you put in the effort. Marketing your own book is not a short-term effort: it may continue for years if you wish.

Sager provides details about and access to The Professor and the Plumber here.  Might be worth a look.  And maybe he'll report on his adventures in publishing in a year or so.