Writing It!
The Podcast About Academics & Writing
Displaying Episode 1 - 10 of 14 in total of Writing It! with the tag “editors”.
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Episode 48: Four Decades of Writing Biography
April 21st, 2025 | 47 mins 2 secs
biography; carson mccullers, editors, publicists, self-promotion; trade press; literary agent
When Mary Dearborn finished her doctorate at Columbia University she knew she wanted to write biography. She went on to a forty-plus year career in writing biographies whose subjects including Peggy Guggenheim, Norman Mailer, Henry Miller, Ernest Hemingway, Anzia Yezierska, and most recently Carson McCullers. We talk about the challenges of writing biography for trade press publications; writing the trade press book proposal; changes in the publishing industry; reaching a broader readership; struggling with self-promotion and changing social media norms; and why it’s invigorating to remember that presses actually need good writers.
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Episode 19: The pitch is the start of a relationship
March 11th, 2024 | 56 mins 53 secs
editors, explainers, op-eds, pitching, public scholarship, public-facing scholarship, religion, social media
We're talking with Liz Bucar, professor of religion at Northeastern University, and a prizewinning author about the program she directs: Sacred Writes: Public Scholarship on Religion. We talk about the essential ingredients of a good pitch (including the ALL-CAP subject line) to a magazine/newspaper editor; how to communicate timeliness; and how to follow up in a way that invites a future relationship with the editor. Liz also explains what kinds of social media might work for scholars.
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Episode 14: What’s so important about your book’s meta-data? Understanding publishing from the perspective of a university press
January 2nd, 2024 | 1 hr 5 mins
academia, academic careers, academic job applications, academic job market, academic journal, academic monograph, academic presses, academic publishing, acquisitions editor, agents, associate professor, book covers, book launches, book markets, book price, book promotion, book publicity, book publishing, book reviews, book-writing, co-authorship, cover letter, cover letters, creative non-fiction, creative writing, developmental editor, dissertation, editing, editor, editors, first book, full professor, honorariums, journal articles, literary agents, literary non-fiction, manuscript editing, marketing, meta-data, networking, non-academic job applications, non-fiction, non-traditional academic, peer-review, personal statement, post-tenure, publicity, publishing, publishing timelines, religious studies, revision, revisions, sample chapter, second book, social media, teaching statement, teaching statements, trade division, trade press, women's history, writing, writing academic book, writing biography, writing coach, writing feedback, writing groups, writing styles, “crossover books”
Today we’re speaking with UF Press Editor in chief, Stephanye Hunter and UF Press Marketing Manager, Rachel Doll. Among our many topics, we discuss recent changes in the academic publishing world; important considerations in titling your book; what you can reasonably ask/expect of your editor; how to think about writing an op-ed, before book publication; what kind of publicity you can do on your own—and at what point—before publication; what kind of book events are most appropriate for your academic book; how a press decides if yours is a “crossover book”; what to consider when making suggestions for your book cover; What is meta-data?
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Episode 13: Why publish with a ‘trade division’ of an academic press?
December 18th, 2023 | 47 mins 57 secs
academia, academic careers, academic job applications, academic job market, academic journal, academic monograph, academic presses, academic publishing, agents, associate professor, book launches, book markets, book promotion, book publishing, book reviews, book-writing, co-authorship, cold war history, cover letter, cover letters, creative non-fiction, creative writing, developmental editor, dissertation, editing, editor, editors, first book, full professor, honorariums, jewish studies, journal articles, literary agents, literary non-fiction, manuscript editing, marketing, networking, non-academic job applications, non-fiction, non-traditional academic, peer-review, personal statement, post-tenure, publicity, religious studies, revision, revisions, sample chapter, second book, social media, teaching statement, teaching statements, the rosenbergs, trade division, trade press, women's history, writing, writing academic book, writing biography, writing coach, writing feedback, writing groups, writing styles
Today we speak with Martin Siegel, author of the recently published, Judgement and Mercy: The Turbulent Life and Times of the Judge Who Condemned the Rosenbergs about writing a biography over many years, and publishing with the trade division of an academic press.
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Episode 12: The Truth About Book Promotion with Sandra Fox
December 4th, 2023 | 34 mins 35 secs
academia, academic careers, academic job applications, academic job market, academic journal, academic monograph, academic presses, academic publishing, associate professor, book launches, book markets, book promotion, book publishing, book-writing, co-authorship, cover letter, cover letters, creative non-fiction, creative writing, developmental editor, dissertation, editing, editor, editors, first book, full professor, honorariums, jewish studies, journal articles, literary agents, literary non-fiction, manuscript editing, marketing, networking, non-academic job applications, non-fiction, peer-review, personal statement, post-tenure, publicity, religious studies, revision, revisions, sample chapter, second book, social media, teaching statement, teaching statements, trade press, women's history, writing, writing academic book, writing coach, writing feedback, writing groups, writing styles
We talk with Sandra Fox about what a first-time author can do to promote her book; what to expect from the publisher; and how best to use the affiliations and connections you have to spread the word about your book. We talk about honorariums, book price, op-eds, and book contracts.
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Episode 11: Figuring out how to write the post-tenure book
November 20th, 2023 | 59 mins 56 secs
academia, academic careers, academic job applications, academic job market, academic journal, academic monograph, academic presses, academic publishing, associate professor, book markets, book publishing, book-writing, co-authorship, cover letter, cover letters, creative non-fiction, creative writing, developmental editor, dissertation, editing, editor, editors, first book, full professor, jewish studies, journal articles, literary agents, literary non-fiction, manuscript editing, networking, non-academic job applications, non-fiction, peer-review, personal statement, post-tenure, religious studies, revision, revisions, sample chapter, second book, social media, teaching statement, teaching statements, trade press, women's history, writing, writing academic book, writing coach, writing feedback, writing groups, writing styles
Yale professor Elli Stern talks with us about figuring out what kind of writing we want to do after tenure—and the importance of building a team of friends and colleagues who can read drafts and provide valuable feedback.
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Episode 10: Getting Unstuck in our Academic Writing with Gillian Steinberg
November 6th, 2023 | 41 mins 14 secs
academia, academic careers, academic job applications, academic job market, academic journal, academic monograph, academic presses, academic publishing, associate professor, book publishing, book-writing, co-authorship, cover letter, cover letters, creative non-fiction, creative writing, developmental editor, dissertation, editing, editor, editors, first book, full professor, jewish studies, journal articles, literary agents, literary non-fiction, manuscript editing, networking, non-academic job applications. teaching statements, non-fiction, peer-review, personal statement, religious studies, revisions, sample chapter, second book, social media, teaching statement, women's history, writing, writing academic book, writing coach
A conversation with developmental editor/writing coach, Gillian Steinberg about replacing negative voices about writing with positive ones and strategies for improving our writing process.
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Episode 09: How to tell your academic story in applications: Special issue for job market/fellowship/graduate school application season
October 23rd, 2023 | 48 mins 32 secs
academia, academic careers, academic job applications, academic job market, academic journal, academic monograph, academic presses, academic publishing, associate professor, book publishing, book-writing, co-authorship, cover letter, cover letters, creative non-fiction, creative writing, dissertation, editing, editor, editors, first book, full professor, jewish studies, journal articles, literary agents, literary non-fiction, networking, non-academic job applications. teaching statements, non-fiction, peer-review, personal statement, religious studies, sample chapter, second book, social media, teaching statement, women's history, writing
Karen Kelsky, of “The Professor Is In” speaks with us about academic job applications and academics applying for non-academic jobs. WE also talk about academic fellowship applications and graduate school applications.
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Episode 08: Writing as a practice for self-understanding
October 9th, 2023 | 50 mins 22 secs
academia, academic careers, academic job applications, academic job market, academic journal, academic monograph, academic presses, academic publishing, activism within higher ed., associate professor, book publishing, book-writing, co-authorship, cover letter, cover letters, creative non-fiction, creative writing, deanships, dissertation, editing, editor, editors, first book, full professor, higher ed administration, jewish studies, journal articles, literary agents, literary non-fiction, networking, non-academic job applications. teaching statements, non-fiction, oprah, peer-review, personal statement, popular culture, religious studies, sample chapter, second book, social media, teaching statement, women's history, writing, writing as a practice
A conversation with Yale University Lex Hixon Professor of Religious Studies and American Studies and Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean of Humanities, Kathryn Lofton about the purposes and challenges of writing while working in higher education administration.
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Episode 07: Finally! Insightful, concrete advice for your job market writing materials
September 26th, 2023 | 50 mins 47 secs
academia, academic careers, academic job applications, academic job market, academic journal, academic monograph, academic presses, academic publishing, associate professor, book publishing, book-writing, co-authorship, cover letter, cover letters, creative non-fiction, creative writing, dissertation, editing, editor, editors, first book, full professor, jewish studies, journal articles, literary agents, literary non-fiction, networking, non-academic job applications. teaching statements, non-fiction, peer-review, personal statement, religious studies, sample chapter, second book, social media, teaching statement, women's history, writing
Jeff Kopstein, Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine, talks with us about putting together a compelling application for academic jobs. We talk not only about assistant professorship applications, but about the shift in tone and content for associate and full professorship applications.