Essential knowledge about scholarly book publishing that every author should have. Get weekly tips on writing and publishing your scholarly book from developmental editor and publishing consultant Laura Portwood-Stacer, PhD.
Make Your Manuscript Work
Published 27 days ago • 4 min read
The Manuscript Works Newsletter
Essential knowledge on scholarly book publishing that every author should have
Today's newsletter is mainly a quick reminder that if you're planning to pick up the book eventually, today would be a great day to order (or put in a purchase request at your local library), because it's the final day to be eligible for preorder incentives and have your order count toward my fundraiser for the Trevor Project.
If you're new here or you've missed my previous posts about my new book, here's a quick description from the publisher:
From the bestselling author of The Book Proposal Book, a practical, step-by-step approach to mastering the four pillars of scholarly writing for authors, editors, and publishing professionals.
Developmental editing holds the power to make a manuscript connect with publishers and readers, yet few scholarly writers have the training to do it well. Make Your Manuscript Work offers a practical method for assessing and refining the features of their texts that matter most—argument, evidence, structure, and style. This guide shows scholarly writers how to identify what’s been holding their writing back and fix it so they can accomplish their publication goals.
Laura Portwood-Stacer, a writer, editor, and consultant for academic authors, explains how manuscripts move through the publication process and identifies the key stages for authors to improve their texts. She helps writers better understand who they are writing for and why, enabling them to determine what their drafts need most to move forward. Drawing on a decade of experience as a developmental editor of scholarly manuscripts, Portwood-Stacer details the most common opportunities for development she’s encountered and shares practical tips for implementing needed edits. The book also includes a checklist of assessment questions, examples from real scholarly manuscripts, tips on seeking additional help, and advice on offering developmental editing assistance to other writers.
Written with candor, empathy, and a deep awareness of the challenges faced by academic writers who want to publish, Make Your Manuscript Work is an indispensable how-to guide for scholars at all career stages.
What will I be doing this week to celebrate the book's release?
Today I'll be stopping into a local bookstore in hopes of seeing the book out in the wild. Brick-and-mortar stores don't always stock books that have a primarily academic readership, so we'll see.
Tomorrow I'm hosting a free online workshop called How to Edit Your Own Scholarly Book. I'll be teaching the general framework presented in the book and offering some practical tips you can use right away, whether you have the book in hand yet or not.
I'll be recording my third podcast interview about the book on Thursday. I've got a handful of these lined up in the coming weeks, but I've got more availability if you've got a podcast and think your listeners might like to hear about my book and what I do. Just reply to this message or reach out directly at laura@manuscriptworks.com.
I'll be mailing out physical copies to my beta readers and others who helped this book become a reality.
Finally, I'll be attempting to bask in the satisfaction of a job mostly finished and hopefully well done. I can't wait to see your photos of the book arriving! Please feel free to tag me on Bluesky or LinkedIn or just reply to this email with your pics so I can share them myself.
Happy reading and hope to see you soon!
This newsletter is coming to you from Laura Portwood-Stacer, PhD, professional developmental editor and publishing consultant. I help scholarly writers navigate the book publishing process with more ease and agency.
I hope you'll stick around for practical tips on writing and publishing your scholarly book, but if you'd like to adjust your subscription settings, you can do that at the bottom of this message.
Use my time-tested curriculum to bring structure and motivation to your book writing process. The Book Proposal Shortcut takes the guesswork out of writing an outstanding pitch for university presses and other academic publishers. Once you register for the Shortcut, you'll be eligible to join my next Book Proposal Sprint from September 8–12, a week of daily online coworking & live Q&A to help you make meaningful progress on getting your first (or next) book published.
Following the Sprint, you'll keep complimentary membership in the Manuscript Works Author Support community, a private hub for ongoing support in your scholarly book publishing journey. Inside this community you'll get honest advice about publishers, peer review, offers and contracts, as well as join live Q&A sessions with Laura Portwood-Stacer and your fellow Manuscript Works authors.
If you have a friend, colleague, or student who might enjoy the Manuscript Works Newsletter, could you forward it to them and let them know that they can read back-issues and subscribe at newsletter.manuscriptworks.com? Thank you for reading and sharing!
Essential knowledge about scholarly book publishing that every author should have. Get weekly tips on writing and publishing your scholarly book from developmental editor and publishing consultant Laura Portwood-Stacer, PhD.