I know people (rightly) have other things on their mind at the moment, but if you’d like to hold space for writing your scholarly book proposal this summer, my Book Proposal Accelerator will run from June 4 to July 22. Enrollment opens May 1 at courses.manuscriptworks.com
Will the Accelerator be offered again after this June–July session?
Will scholarships be available again this time around?
Do I need to have anything prepared before the Accelerator starts?
Do I need to have anything prepared in order to participate in the Zoom sessions?
I live in a time zone or have care/work obligations that make attending the Zoom sessions inconvenient. How will these be made accessible to me?
Is there a deadline to sign up by?
No, but once it’s full, it’s full. There’s no waitlist. Enrollment opens May 1st
How long does it take to complete the curriculum for the Book Proposal Accelerator?
Last question is whether I also offer one-on-one proposal services. Answer is that I do, but my doors are closed until I can catch up with everyone on my waitlist. So if you’d like to work with me this year, the Accelerator is the way to go (until I’m able to clone myself)
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What is a literary agent and why would a scholarly author want/need to get one?
Lots of misconceptions about this out there so here’s some info:
A literary agent is someone who represents an author to a publishing house. They do the work of submitting a book proposal, communicating with the editor, and negotiating any offers/contracts. They sometimes (not always) help edit/develop the proposal before submission
University presses and other presses that are explicitly scholarly in nature (and many smaller indie presses) do not require authors to have an agent.
Most academics don’t need an agent in order to get access to the editors & presses they want to publish with.
It’s 2023 and I know a lot of ppl who are trying to finish books & get contracts this year.
Can I share the 10 most common issues I’ve seen in scholarly book manuscripts as a developmental editor?
Feel free to use them as a checklist as you’re editing yr own book this year ✍️
First, a caveat: this isn’t based on a scientific survey of book manuscripts—these are based on what I’ve seen in the books I’ve happened to edit (I work w/ PhDs writing monographs in the humanities & social sciences).
Counting down from roughly the 10th most common to the 1st:
10. Chapters lack clear internal structure.
Fix this with section headings (3–5 is a good number) that signal how each part of the chapter contributes toward the chapter’s overall purpose/argument—and make sure each part of the chapter actually does contribute
It’s a full curriculum to walk you step by step thru crafting an outstanding proposal and pitching it to publishers + a library of sample documents for your reference
I am begging people who want to make sweeping pronouncements about academic publishing & book pricing to learn that there are major differences between huge commercial publishers, huge university presses (of which there are 2), and smaller UPs
I can’t put much stock in an “analysis” of the academic publishing industry that hasn’t even bothered to understand the differences across that industry
Most authors don’t understand the differences, which is unfortunate bc I do think the diffs can inform a decision abt the best homes for their books. But it’s facile to say that UPs don’t care abt reaching readers bc huge commercial presses have doubled down on library editions
I’m going to reopen my Write an Outstanding Book Proposal workshop recording for a limited time.
20% of the fee for that and my Book Proposal Shortcut program will go straight to the strike fund (thru Tuesday 11/22)
If you are currently a striking academic worker or a faculty member respecting the picket line, I’m happy to enroll you in my Write an Outstanding Book Proposal workshop free of charge.