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 < back to authors list Kevin Smith:
Political science textbook author Kevin Smith said the key to his success is that he knows who he is writing for and why. He refers to this person as his “constant reader". “My constant reader is a 19-year-old who is not that interested in politics,” Smith said. “I try to see my textbook writing through his eyes.” The second edition of Smith's Governing States & Localities (CQ Press, 2008), coauthored with Alan Greenblatt and Michele Mariani, won a 2008 Textbook Excellence Award (“Texty”) from TAA. Smith has been a professor of political science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for 14 years, serving the last seven as director of its graduate program. He received his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1994. In addition to Governing States & Localities, he also has co-authored two other academic textbooks in American politics and public administration, The Promise and Performance of American Democracy (Wadsworth, 1999) and Public Administration: Power and Politics in the Fourth Branch of Government (Oxford University Press, 2006). “All of my textbooks spring from my research interests and my teaching,” Smith said. “I’m not sure where I got my interest in all things political from, but I’ve been a paid observer of American politics my entire adult life – first, as a journalist, and later as an academic.” At age 17, Smith started working for a newspaper, covering sports and city politics. He graduated with a degree in journalism in 1986 and covered police beats and politics at a series of newspapers before starting grad school in 1991. Smith's first textbook, The Promise and Performance of American Democracy, was published in 1999. “Be prepared to make a long-term commitment when you start writing textbooks,” he said. “I’m at 10 years and counting. Don’t do this on a whim.” His goal in writing textbooks on politics is to help mold better educated and informed students. Again, he said, he pictures a young adult without much interest in government: “When you’re writing, have a pedagogical point. Before writing anything, figure out what you’re trying to teach.” Smith said he started writing textbooks for two reasons: he was dissatisfied with the current textbooks available and because of a passion for the subject. “My problem with the current textbooks available was that many of them seemed to have a very ‘academic’ writing style that didn’t connect well with the average, non-political science major that populates the majority of introduction to state and local politics classes,” he said. He credits his start in publishing to a “rant” he gave sales reps about what was wrong with the texts they offered, and how he would write them differently. “The next thing I know, acquisitions editors are calling me to see if I can actually put my pen where my mouth was,” said Smith. "If you want to write textbooks, “Be a masochist!” he said. Governing States & Localities was the result of a conversation Smith had with Charisse Kiino, the acquisitions editor at CQ Press. "She was interested in combining the writing talent at Governing magazine with an academic textbook," he said. "When I heard this, I jumped at the chance to get involved. Charisse should get the lion’s share of the credit for making this happen.” Smith said having a good editorial team has been important to the success of his textbooks: “Good editors make you look better than you really are. Bad editors do the opposite. I can’t say enough about my team at CQ.” Also, have a passion for teaching your subject – a passion so deep that you would rant to text sales reps about it, said Smith: “If you do not have this passion, writing a textbook is going to be a very unrewarding experience." One area that definitely separates Smith’s textbooks from others on government is the use of direct sources. “I’m working with professional journalists and writers who cover state and local politics,” he said. “I read a lot of academic studies on the power and decision-making of governors. They call governors and interview them. It makes for a fresh combination.” Smith discovered that writing second editions in his field is uncomplicated, “because politics is such a moving target,” he said. “Since the last edition, governors have changed, party control of legislatures has changed, different issues have become prominent, and state constitutions have been amended in many ways. While the basic structure of government stays relatively constant, there is so much change that updating is a fairly natural and organic process.” Smith’s best advice about writing second editions is to try and figure out specific patterns in feedback from reviewers and users. In general, writers need to accept feedback, even though some of it will be inevitably critical. Use it to your advantage, he said: “For example, one of the clear pieces of feedback we got from the first edition was that we needed to better address the issues surrounding regional government. We took this advice seriously and developed a brand new chapter on this topic.” Like most textbook authors, Smith also juggles the responsibilities of an academic. Yet, he writes every day, and makes no excuses, no exceptions. “I shoot for a thousand words, of which maybe 50 to 100 actually end up in print anywhere,” he said. “I don’t believe in writer’s block. In my own experience, writing is a very blue collar undertaking. Plenty of people are creative and have good ideas that could translate into really good textbooks. It’s punching the clock at your word processor that’s the big thing.” When he’s not teaching or writing, he spends time with his family – his wife Kelly and their two children, Catherine and Brian. They live in Lincoln, where he coaches youth soccer and fanatically follows the Dallas Cowboys. Kim Seidel is a freelance writer, based in Onalaska, Wis.
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