Easy Listening

Hey there, Manuscript Workers.

First of all, a big thank you to those who purchased The Book Proposal Book from Princeton University Press’s 50% off sale. Starting on Saturday I promised to match your purchases with a donation to National Network of Abortion Funds. You bought and sent me your receipts for 40 copies, resulting in a total donation of $420.78!

The sale has been extended through tomorrow (June 30) so I’ll continue to honor your receipts through then. Use code PUP22 when you check out, and then send me a screenshot of your receipt (you can reply to this email or DM me on Twitter @lportwoodstacer).

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It always feels hard to keep doing the usual work during times like these. I am going to keep putting out this newsletter as long as I’m mentally and emotionally able to, but know that the archive will be there for you if you aren’t able to read closely every week.

This week’s newsletter is the last one for Developmental Editing Month (a thing I made up 4 weeks ago, but may well make an annual tradition of). I hope you’ve found the information I’ve been sharing about developmental editing over the past few weeks illuminating.

Over 400 of you signed up for my free webinar on How to Work With a Developmental Editor; I hope it helped demystify this aspect of book writing that doesn’t get talked about enough. The recording is free to access here, if you missed it.

Nearly 300 of you registered for my other webinar, an introduction to the practice of developmental editing for aspiring editors. If you watched that and thought professional developmental editing might be your jam, please do check out my six-module online course that goes into more depth on everything covered in the webinar. As a reminder, you can use coupon code WEBINAR to get 10% off on the course through tomorrow (June 30, 2022).

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If you’ve registered for any of my webinars or courses, you’ve hopefully noticed that I provide audio recordings of all the lessons (in addition to video recordings when applicable). Because I am a nerd, I enjoy listening to professional development stuff like this on my phone while going for walks, running errands in my car, or making lunch.

I’m also a big fan of podcasts. If you are too (or have been podcast-curious), I’d love to share some episodes you might want to check out. Most of these touch on developmental editing in some way (in keeping with this month’s newsletter theme):

• Here I am on The Editing Podcast talking about academic developmental editing. This is like a mini-version of the second webinar I linked above, so if you really want to ease into the topic and get a sense of my approach to it, check out the podcast first.

• I recently talked to editor and scholar Armanc Yildiz on the Academics Write podcast. We touched on developmental editing as well as some advice for first-time authors that I think will reassure people who are feeling the pressure of turning a dissertation into a book.

• I also recently talked to Christina Gessler on the Academic Life podcast all about how developmental editors can help academic writers. The episode should be out sometime in early August, but in the meantime you can check out my previous interview with Dr. Gessler where we talked in depth about scholarly book proposals.

• I had a brief conversation last year with Kim Adams of the High Theory podcast, also about book proposals. This one’s a quick listen.

• This one’s not a podcast, but you can get The Book Proposal Book in audiobook format. I didn’t get to narrate the recording myself, so it’s a little weird for me to listen to, but it probably won’t be weird for you if you like audiobooks!

Do you have some favorite podcasts or audiobooks on writing, editing, or publishing? Let me know!