It’s the one where I talk about how to get back out there and promote your research after finishing your PhD…
Browsing the archives for the Academic Life category
It’s the one where I talk about how to get back out there and promote your research after finishing your PhD…
Weekly Wisdom #17Be realistic about manuscript delivery deadlines and don’t sign a contract based on a schedule you know you can’t keep!
This is a guest post from Tim Rutherford-Johnson, a freelance academic copy-editor who has seen it all and has the scars to prove it.
If you’ve not published before – or even if you have, but only in smaller magazines and journals – then you won’t have been copy-edited before. That will change when your first book is accepted for publication.
To the unsuspecting author, copy-editing can appear both frustratingly hands-off (so, there are no changes for pages – what are you doing after all?) and surprisingly invasive (you’ve re-written my entire bibliography – what’s up with that?). The truth is, copy-editing occupies a pretty undefined, liminal space between writing and mechanical proofreading. It’s less than one and more than the other, but beyond that there are no hard boundaries. Copy-editing is, however, an absolutely essential step between getting your book off your laptop and onto the shelves in Blackwell’s. Continue Reading »
Weekly Wisdom #16Keep redrafting your pitch documents after each rejection or new piece of advice!
Weekly Wisdom #15Collect course reading lists and decide whether your book would make a useful addition or even a replacement for the core texts!
Weekly Wisdom #14Bear in mind that it actually might not be quicker to publish articles than a book!
Weekly Wisdom #13Speak at as many conferences as you can and make sure you mention your planned book!
It’s the one where I talk about my ‘expanded chapter approach’…
Weekly Wisdom #12Break book-pitching into short-term, medium-term and long-term tasks; don’t get overwhelmed!
This is a guest blog post from Cat Bennett author of The Confident Creative: Drawing to Free the Hand and Mind.
The Road to Yes
I’m a veteran writer of sorts. I’ve been writing all my life—journal entries, essays, stories. But I’ve always made my living as an artist, primarily as an illustrator. Now I’m a newly published writer, the author of The Confident Creative / Drawing to Free the Hand and Mind. Findhorn Press is my publisher and the day I received a yes from them was indeed a happy one. I remember reading once that getting a book published doesn’t really change your life, so writers shouldn’t hope for that. Published writers still get out of bed in the morning and do the things they do. Their bank accounts rarely burst at the seams from newly minted millions. It’s true my life is much as it was a year ago before my book was published. But it’s also radically changed—I feel a new freedom. Continue Reading »
Weekly Wisdom #11Find a good (and preferably free) proof reader and get them to check your pitch and drafts well before your editor sees them!
Weekly Wisdom #10Remember that good writing is about what you take out, not what you leave in!
I was really excited to discover this article by Katharine Reeve on Times Higher Education – it’s, of course, excellent!
Reeve picks up on the key point that drives this website, which is that there isn’t much support for academic writers when it comes to learning how to propose and write a book. She states:
“While fiction authors are surrounded by advice books, websites and degree courses designed to help them get published, academic authors are left to their own devices. How are you supposed to know what is and what is not a publishable text? An academic is generally a researcher first and a writer second: you may be an international authority on Viking headwear or poststructuralist theory, but you are unlikely to be as expert at writing full-length publishable books. Unless you have a savvy supervisor or have learned by trial and error, getting into print can be tough.” Continue Reading »
Weekly Wisdom #9When it comes to writing, disconnect from the internet for a while (or at the very least from social networking sites and email) and just write!