This Forum makes four points. First, it expands our knowledge on the writing and publishing of research monographs in different countries and so it moves beyond accounts which generalize from the UK experience. Second, the Forum considers international differences in the ways in which the assessment of academic performances affects the writing and publishing of geography research monographs. Third, it considers the ways in which structural changes in the global publishing industry affect different national contexts unevenly. Finally, the Forum's different contributions reflect on how publishing books matters (or) not to geography as a discipline.