Why do editors choose some books and reject others? How does a scholarly author decide where to submit a project? Why is a dissertation not a book?
National expert William Germano – author of Getting it Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Books (University of Chicago Press, 2001) and From Dissertation to Book (Chicago, 2005) – will answer these and other questions in the workshop, “Professors as Authors,” on Friday, Feb. 3, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in Old Chapel.
Co-sponsored with three other liberal arts colleges and the Academic Career Network, the workshop will include tips on how scholars can best present themselves and their project, the architecture of scholarly writing, voice and the dynamic between publisher and author.
“Scholarly publishing is a big, noisy, conversation about the ideas that shape our world,” Germano has written.
The workshop will be limited to 20 participants, with junior faculty given preference, but senior faculty members who are working on books are also urged to apply.
Participants must provide a CV and a book proposal (not to exceed five pages) by Jan. 21. The proposal may be for a manuscript in progress or for a more speculative project.
Germano, who holds a Ph.D. in English, is a veteran editor of both the university press and commercial worlds. He has served as editor-in-chief at Columbia University Press and as vice president and publishing director at Routledge. Among the authors he has published are Cornel West, Judith Butler, Stephen Greenblatt, Jacques Derrida, Marjorie Garber, bell hooks, Slavoj Zizek, David Halperin and Kate Bornstein.
For information, contact Kathy Basirico at basirick@union.edu.