Writing It!
The Podcast About Academics & Writing
About the show
"Writing It! The Podcast About Academics & Writing" dives deep into the world of academic writing and publishing. Join us for conversations with academics and editors as we discuss challenges, strategies, and insights from our writing lives. As we share our experiences and helpful hacks, we make the process of writing and getting published a bit more transparent and a bit less overwhelming.
Episodes
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Episode 36: What do book publicists do for academic authors?
November 4th, 2024 | 49 mins 16 secs
book publicity; pr; publishing; academic books; trade press books; book events
We’re speaking with Leah Paulos, founder and director of the Brooklyn-based book publicity firm, Press Shop PR about what publicists do for academic writers: primarily, helping readers find your book! We talk about why an academic might hire a book publicist; at what stages of writing a book it makes sense to hire a publicist; publicist pricing; what authors can do on their own to create more of a buzz around their book.
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Episode 35: GETTING THE READER FROM BEGINNING TO END, WITH MERVE EMRE
October 21st, 2024 | 59 mins 20 secs
book critic; book review; teaching undergraduates; the new yorker; pedagogical criticism;
A conversation with Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing and Criticism at Wesleyan University and contributing writer to The New Yorker magazine, Merve Emre. We talk about the work and goals of a book critic; what it means to think about the reader’s experience of our writing; creating a community of readers; and what it’s like to be edited at the New Yorker.
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Episode 34: When Writing Becomes Like Painting
October 7th, 2024 | 43 mins 29 secs
biography, editing, jewish studies, religion, trade press
Harvard Divinity School Professor Shaul Magid began his undergraduate education as a painter. Over time, as he became an academic and a professor, Magid found that writing took the place of painting – that is, writing is his artistic and creative expression, and the thing that he’s basically always doing. We speak about how changing one’s institutions – Magid has taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Indiana University, Dartmouth, and Harvard Divinity School—has changed his writing and for whom he wants to write. We speak about the appeal of biography, the value of writing for a broader audience and why the editorial feedback can be difficult to take, but ultimately worthwhile.
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Episode 33: Psychedelics & Writing
September 23rd, 2024 | 46 mins 44 secs
chapter structure, history of science, literary agents, margaret mead, psychedelics, trade press
We speak with historian Ben Breen (UC Santa Cruz) about the writing of his recent book, Tripping on Utopia: Margaret Mead, the Cold War, and the Troubled Birth of Psychedelic Science, We discuss how to think about chapter organization; writing about individuals’ lives without writing biography; discovering our main characters through the writing process; books that have served as models for writing; the wonderfulness of Terry Gross; not getting caught up in the apparatus of writing tools; and why it’s most important to just get the ideas down.
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Episode 32: 5,000-10.000 Downloads of a Conversation about Your Book
September 9th, 2024 | 36 mins 6 secs
interview, new books, podcast, podcast host
We’re speaking with Caleb Zakarin, the Editor of the New Books Network, about what NBN is and what it does for academics. You’ve probably heard about the New Books Network, because so many academics are either interviewed about their books on this podcast, or interview other academics for NBN. We wanted to understand what NBN does for academics and their books; what makes for a good author interview; what makes it a “network”; and why academics might consider interviewing other academics for NBN (short answer: it’s a really good way to network).
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Episode 31: Being Open to Collaboration
August 26th, 2024 | 28 mins 48 secs
animal studies, co-authorship, collaborative writing, scholarly monograph, social sciences, tenure
We’re speaking with Professor Anna Peterson (Religion, University of Florida). She received her PhD from the University of Chicago Divinity School and her AB from the University of California at Berkeley. Her research focuses on religion and social change, especially in Latin America; environmental and social ethics; and animal studies. Professor Peterson has decades of experience in something that is rare among humanities scholars: collaborative writing. What are the benefits and drawbacks of co-authored publications? We talk about why and when scholars might choose to collaborate with academics from other disciplines, as well as how a professor or a graduate student might signal interest in collaborative work.
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Episode 30: What is the magic that happens when you work with a Developmental Editor?
August 12th, 2024 | 35 mins 22 secs
developmental editor, editing, manuscript, writing style
We speak with Megan Pugh about her work as a developmental editor: how she helps academics improve their books and find their voice. Making writing less lonely is a big part of her job as a DE, as is expressing her belief in the power of good writing. Megan also offers advice for those thinking about taking on the work of a DE, and what makes this work a good fit for an academic who is considering editing work. You can find out more about Megan and her work here at her website: http://www.meganpugh.com
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Episode 29: Are “writing spurts” a thing?
July 29th, 2024 | 39 mins 54 secs
accountability, pomodoro technique, publishing, wendy belcher, writing groups
We speak with Princeton Professor Laura Arnold Leibman about how a scholar’s approach to writing might change over time, with different stages of an academic career, and what might be happening when it looks like a scholar is having a “writing spurt.” Leibman shares with us the shifts over time, in her thinking about writing; sharing writing; and perfectionism. We also talk about getting writing done while holding leadership positions, the Pomodoro technique, and figuring out how to break down the writing of academic journal articles.
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Episode 28: An Editor's Perspective: Sandra Korn
July 15th, 2024 | 40 mins 2 secs
academic press, dissertation, editing, editor, readability, writing groups
In our conversation with Wayne State University Press editor Sandra Korn we address a number of interesting questions on the minds of our listeners: 1) What does it mean when an editor replies to your submissions with, "This isn't a good fit for us"? 2) What's the best way to approach an editor? In the book exhibit hall, during a conference? Through an email? 3) What parts of my manuscript does a university press editor actually read? 3) What does an editor do differently for her writers who are part of the trade division of an academic press? 4) What does an editor think of book publicity events? 5) What excites an acquisitions editor?
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Episode 27: Turning points in our academic writing
July 1st, 2024 | 43 mins 47 secs
academic writing, biography, church history, journalism, short books, tenure & promotion
We speak with Elesha Coffman, Associate Professor of History at Baylor University about writing a book that takes its shape from turning points in history. Coffman is the author of Turning Points in American Church History: How Pivotal Events Shaped a Nation and a Faith. Baker Academic, 2024; Margaret Mead: A Twentieth-Century Faith. Spiritual Lives Series, Timothy Larsen, series editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021; and The Christian Century and the Rise of the Protestant Mainline. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. We talk about changing academic institutions and changing our writing priorities; the ways tenure and promotion requirements influence our writing; the advantages of books that allow you to “write short”; and the benefits that come with creating writing groups.
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Episode 26: “Modern Love” in the Academic Life
June 17th, 2024 | 34 mins 12 secs
academic job market, bodies and sexuality, death and dying, literary scholarship, memoir writing, personal essay
We speak with Associate Professor of English Jennifer Glaser (University of Cincinnati) about her writing life. When she was in graduate school, Glaser wrote an essay that was published in the NYT’s “Modern Love” section, and which affected her understanding of the kinds of writing she wanted to do as both a scholar and a writer. We talk about being a “serious academic” who finds satisfaction in a variety of writing genres. We talk about writing into uncomfortable subjects and the kind of risks involved in writing more personally, as well as the many benefits of having a more creative and personal writing profile, in addition to a scholarly writing profile.
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Episode 25: The Book Seminar with Sam Freedman
June 3rd, 2024 | 57 mins 18 secs
academic press, book promotion, book proposal, columbia university, journalism, literary agent, trade press
Today, we’re speaking with the award-winning author, columnist, and professor Sam Freedman, of Columbia Journalism School, and the author, most recently, of Into the Bright Sunshine: Young Hubert Humphrey and the Fight for Civil Rights (winner of the 2024 Hillman Prize for Book Journalism), about his class at Columbia School of Journalism, The Book Seminar. We talk about what Sam teaches his lucky students (this very successful Columbia seminar has been offered for over 30 years, and has resulted in over 100 published books), and about his own decades-long career as an author, and the view of the publishing industry it has provided him. We address what it means to craft a good book proposal; the importance of making the case for your book’s readership; the benefits of landing in an academic press, even if you were aiming for a trade press; how to think about the “comp. titles/authors” section of your proposal; pre-publication blurbs; pitching an agent; planning your own book promotion; and finally, why timing is sometimes everything.
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Episode 24: The Joy of Editing
May 20th, 2024 | 37 mins 40 secs
academic journals, editing, editorial boards, readers reports
We’re speaking with the editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Andrea Jain, who is professor of religious studies at Indiana University, Indianapolis, and the author of Peace Love Yoga: The Politics of Global Spirituality (2020) and Selling Yoga: From Counterculture to Pop Culture. 2014. Jain tells us about her own path to her editorial position, and speaks about what academics can do to position themselves for journal editor roles. Jain talks about the importance of taking initiative in approaching editors, how to be considered for an editorial board, and how respond to readers reports. We also speak about the importance of taking time off.
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Episode 23: From writing about a Chicago heat wave to writing about 2020: A conversation with NYU Sociologist and New Yorker writer Eric Klinenberg
May 6th, 2024 | 40 mins 50 secs
biographical availability, biographical profiles, journalist, new yorker, trade press
Today we talk to NYU Professor Eric Klinenberg about how his academic career led to other kinds of writing—and what he's learned from writing a book about a time that many people would rather forget.
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Episode 22: Maurice Samuels on the Challenges of writing Biography
April 22nd, 2024 | 38 mins 21 secs
academic publishing, biography, dreyfus affair, editorial feedback, french history, trade press
We speak with Yale Professor Maurice Samuels about writing biography, and the importance of finding stories we feel compelled to tell. Samuels talks about finding the right writing voice; when to share writing with colleagues and friends; potential benefits and consequences of publishing with a trade press; creating a table of contents that helps readers; the importance of footnotes; and how our career stage might influence the kind of books we write.
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Episode 21: What’s the deal with academics writing for "The Conversation"?
April 8th, 2024 | 25 mins 39 secs
creative commons, editing, humanities scholarship, pitching, publicly-engaged scholarship, the conversation
If you’re like us, you’ve probably noticed that many academics write for The Conversation media outlet. The site does not pay writers, so why is it such a popular site for academics to publish their research? To find out what The Conversation offers, we’re speaking Beth Daley, the site’s Executive Editor. Daley explains that since 4-5 million readers visit The Conversation website every week, the site provides an unusual opportunity for academics to engage with the public. As Creative Commons stories, The Conversation stories can be republished by other publications, including The Washington Post, LA Times, Yahoo News, and local news sites. Daley explains why you don’t need to have a fully formed article to pitch to The Conversation, and what kinds of skills and opportunities writers have received through as a result of publishing in The Conversation.