The Manuscript Works Newsletter
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.
The myth of "we don't publish dissertations"
The Manuscript Works Newsletter Essential knowledge on scholarly book publishing that every author should have Hello Manuscript Workers! Here’s something that used to confuse me about scholarly book publishing, and maybe it has confused you too. Scholars who hope to publish books are frequently told that the presses they are interested in publishing with don’t publish dissertations. That’s clear enough: few of us expect to submit our dissertation as-is and have it accepted for publication as...
A writer's shopping list for the semester ahead
The Manuscript Works Newsletter Essential knowledge on scholarly book publishing that every author should have Hello Manuscript Workers! As I’ve mentioned here before, my new book Make Your Manuscript Work is for scholarly writers who have a draft in hand and want to ensure that it will impress publishers and connect impactfully with readers. In the book, I teach you a type of editing called developmental editing, which involves sharpening the fundamentals of your text, or what I call the...
This month's author interview, kind of
The Manuscript Works Newsletter Essential knowledge on scholarly book publishing that every author should have Hello Manuscript Workers! I'm invoking newsletter-writer's privilege this week and sharing an author "interview" with myself, to give you some behind-the-scenes info about my new book, which was released in the US last week. (The UK release is coming in September, but you should be able to preorder now if you're outside the US.) I normally interview other published authors, but I...
Make Your Manuscript Work
The Manuscript Works Newsletter Essential knowledge on scholarly book publishing that every author should have Hello Manuscript Workers! Soon I will stop talking incessantly about my new book, Make Your Manuscript Work: A Guide to Developmental Editing for Scholarly Writers, but that time has not yet come, because today is the official US release day! Happy to finally hold it in my hands Today's newsletter is mainly a quick reminder that if you're planning to pick up the book eventually,...
After you "finish" your book
The Manuscript Works Newsletter Essential knowledge on scholarly book publishing that every author should have Hello Manuscript Workers! In this month's author interview, I was reminded that the period between submitting your final manuscript to your publisher and the actual publication date of your book can be a bit of a black box for writers, especially first-time authors. Since my own book, Make Your Manuscript Work, is releasing next week, I thought I'd take some time today to fill you in...
What's in my new book
The Manuscript Works Newsletter Essential knowledge on scholarly book publishing that every author should have Hello Manuscript Workers! The excitement is ramping up around here, because my new book's official release date is just around the corner. I've heard from some of you that you've already received your copy, and my author copies arrived at my home last week! Always ask for more free author copies in your contract ;) In today's newsletter, I'm sharing the annotated table of contents...
How to finish your book when you're running out of time
The Manuscript Works Newsletter Essential knowledge on scholarly book publishing that every author should have Hello Manuscript Workers! At the last meeting of my Book Proposal Accelerator earlier this month, one of the participants asked an age-old question: “I’m on a tight timeline to finish my book and get it published. What advice can you give me to make the most of the time I have?” Most authors I know are working under time constraints. Even those who aren't on a tenure clock don’t have...
This month's author interview
The Manuscript Works Newsletter Essential knowledge on scholarly book publishing that every author should have Hello Manuscript Workers! This week's newsletter features an author interview with Dr. Rose Casey, whose new book, Aesthetic Impropriety: Property Law & Postcolonial Style, has just come out from Fordham University Press. I first learned about Rose's book project in the spring of 2020, when she was part of the intrepid group of scholars who went through my Book Proposal Accelerator...
Vibe check at university presses
The Manuscript Works Newsletter Essential knowledge on scholarly book publishing that every author should have Dear Reader, In the wake of all the uncertainty of the past several months, a big question on the minds of the scholarly authors I’ve talked to is “Will I still be able to publish my book?” Let's put aside for a minute the fact that the conditions we're living in are not conducive to writing books. If you are finding it impossible to write at the moment, you're not alone....
This month's author interview
The Manuscript Works Newsletter Essential knowledge on scholarly book publishing that every author should have Dear Reader, This week's newsletter features an author interview with Dr. Collie Fulford, whose new book, Insiders, Outliers: Centering Adult Student Writers at an HBCU, comes out this month from Rutgers University Press. I first met Collie when she reached out a few years ago to let me know that with the help of The Book Proposal Book and my Perfect-Fit Publisher Challenge, she had...
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.