Why books are timeless testaments of insights, experiences, findings, and perspectives

You’ve perhaps heard or read a lot about publishing from publishers. Now, we are passing the mic back to the authors. Read what some of our authors have to say about why they love books, why they choose to write them, and their importance in the paramount task of curating knowledge.

We hope this selection of author perspectives inspire you to write your own book one day. If you have any queries, or want to discuss your book ideas or publishing with us, contact our editors.

Written by Dr. Prashanth Mahagaonkar
Senior Editor, Business & Management books team
Springer

Thoughts from Joan Marques

“Books are timeless testaments of insights, experiences, findings, and perspectives. They have been the instruments of learning throughout human generations and manifest the evidence of past intelligences in future worlds. Books are immortal: their allure ensures that they get converted over time, from handwritten to print, and now to digital treasures. To an author, a book is an utterly rewarding way of securing a legacy and acquiring a speck of immortality. There is little more exhilarating than holding the fruit of your mental output in your hands, finding it available on various forums, and realizing that others are benefitting from its contents.

I write books because I consider myself a communication channel and see it as my duty to share with others, insights I find important. My inspiration to write ignited about two decades ago, upon settling in the US as a former media personality in search of a new outlet. In the spirit of self-reinvention, I started writing short articles to share my views and to strengthen my skills in English as a third language. It was, however, my doctoral dissertation that really lifted me into the book-writing realm:  I had a desire to make my research findings accessible to a wider audience and converted, after acquiring my degree, the material into non-academic language.

Over time, I learned that my interest comprises two types of works: individually written books, and compilations, through which I serve other academics toward becoming published authors as well.

As a scholar books play a critical role in my field: my students use them as foundational or supplemental material to better understand the course topics, and I use them for a variety of reasons: as resources for research, as entertainment, and as intellectual, moral, and emotional enrichment. I see books as the pathway to ongoing understanding and wisdom.”

Joan Marques, PhD, EdD, serves as Dean and Professor of Management at Woodbury University’s School of Business. She has been widely published in scholarly as well as practitioner-based journals and has authored/co-authored and edited more than 31 books on management and leadership topics. Her most recent single-authored book is Lead with Heart in Mind (Springer, 2019), and her most recent (forthcoming) compilation, Innovative Leadership in Times of Compelling Changes: Strategies, Reflections and Tools (Springer, 2021).

Thoughts from Sharon Koh

“As a researcher and author, my insights come from reading books that are informative, intellectually rigorous, and engaging, in addition to journal articles. I have always enjoyed reading since I was a child, and recall immersing myself in a particular genre for months. Books help me to be creative, especially when I read works that are persuasive and thought-provoking. Some books continue to ignite ideas and pass on knowledge for many generations. I am inspired to write with the hope that readers will respond similarly to my books.  

As with journals, books have a stellar online presence, accessible to readers across the globe. However, the advantage of books over journals is their broad appeal, catering to non-academics and practitioners in addition to students and researchers in the field.

Books also allow the same authors and researchers more flexibility to integrate several related topics within the same publication. In such cases, authors could more easily expound on their knowledge of the subject, be more descriptive and contribute their perspectives without page or word count constraint. Hence, non-academic readers could benefit from the explanation.

Ultimately, while books play a similar role as journals in knowledge dissemination, they enable like-minded researchers to contribute to an emerging idea or topic clustered around an overarching theme.”

Sharon Koh is the current Chairperson of the Early Career Researcher (ECR) Network at Monash University Malaysia and a Senior Lecturer under the School of Business. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics, studying the impact of income inequality on societies in Asia. She is also a visiting research fellow at Harvard University. Dr. Sharon’s research lies in the areas of Development Economics and Economic Integration, mainly focusing on countries in Southeast Asia. She is also the co-editor of Vulnerable groups in Malaysia. 

We hope this selection of author perspectives inspire you to write your own book one day. If you have any queries, or want to discuss your book ideas or publishing with us, contact our editors.