Writing It!

Episode 83: [Encore] Application Advice for the Job Season with Jeff Kopstein

Jeff Kopstein, Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine, talks with us about putting together a compelling application for academic jobs. We talk not only about assistant professorship applications, but about the shift in tone and content for associate and full professorship applications.

Episode 82: When Writing Is the Biggest Hurdle with Dr. Elissa Sampson

We’re speaking with Elissa Sampson, Research Associate in Cornell University’s Jewish Studies program about entering the academy writing game when you’re in your fifties, and the challenges and deep satisfactions of co-editing a volume that draws on your own university’s archives.

Episode 81: Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Fellowships: Open to All Career Stages, but Innovative, Groundbreaking Research Is a Must

We're speaking with Claudia Rizzini of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University about the institute's fellowships. We speak about what they're looking for in potential fellows, who does the selecting, what stage the proposed project should be, and where applicants make mistakes in their applications. We also talk about what the institute requires of its fellows, in terms of residence and attendance at events, as well as the freedoms of this particular fellowship, and how

Episode 80: What It Means to Show That This Book Has Value to Readers with Laura Portwood-Stacer

We’re speaking with Laura Portwood-Stacer, Ph.D., publishing consultant, developmental editor, and author of The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors and Make Your Manuscript Work: A Guide to Developmental Editing for Scholarly Writers, both published by Princeton University Press. We talk about the importance of clarifying your argument as a way to show the value of your book. We also talk about the challenges of turning a dissertation into book; the many meanings of “platform” fo

Episode 79: Books that Change the Conversation with Fred Appel

We’re speaking with Princeton University Press publisher, Fred Appel about what distinguishes Princeton University Press and what he and his colleagues look for in the book proposals they receive. We talk about the editor-author relationship, how an academic book can land in the trade/crossover section of a university press; the problem with proposing that your book is for the “general reader”; word count; appropriate time to completion; the advantage of publishing your accessible book with a u

Episode 78: Getting It Done with Ayelet Fishbach

We’re speaking with University of Chicago Behavioral Science Professor Ayelet Fishbach about lessons from her book, Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation for academics. We speak about setting the right kinds of goals, finding our motivations, dealing with negative feedback, organizing our days, and collaborating effectively with others.

Episode 77: Who Cares and Why Now? And More Editor Straight Talk with Cate Hodorowicz

We’re speaking with UNC press editor, Cate Hodorowicz about what she’s looking for; how she knows if a book will work as trade; how to set yourself up for a good book exhibit hall conversation with an editor; how to show you have a robust author platform even if you’re not active on social media; what kinds of honest conversations you can have with a press editor about expectations for the book; and the benefits of being part of a book series.

Episode 76: Negotiating Book Length with the Press with Jenna Weissman Joselit

Speaking with Jenna Weissman Joselit, the Charles E. Smith Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of History at George Washington University, and the author of several books, including the recent Yale Jewish Lives book, Mordecai M. Kaplan: Restless Soul about turning to biography; researching a subject who lived over a century and who has many living relatives; writing for popular audience; keeping a lot on our writing plate; staying nimble in our writing; figuring out structure and chapters

Episode 75: Special Episode of Writing It!/Peer Review: Creativity and Fulfillment in Academia

On this episode, Writing It! host Rachel Gordan is in conversation with Sarah Bunin Benor, one of the co-hosts of the podcast, Peer Review: Creativity and Fulfillment in Academia (along with Professor Mira Sucharov) about what we’ve learned from our guests about writing and finding meaning in academia. We share some of our guests’ best tips, our own challenges,, and what we’ve managed to change in our own academic lives.

Episode 74: It Actually Is About Love with Laura McGrath

We’re speaking with Temple University assistant professor of English, Laura McGrath about literary agents and academics. McGrath’s extensive knowledge about literary agents is the result of her research for her new book: Middlemen: Literary Agents and the Making of Contemporary American Literature, (Princeton University Press), and her own unexpected path to working with an agent. We talk about the crucial role of agent’s love for a project and interest in an author’s future works; the benefits

Episode 73: Luck & a Lot of Preparation: What It Takes to Move to Trade Press for Book Two with Prof. Max Mueller

We talk with Max Perry Mueller, associate professor of religious studies in the Department of Classics & Religious Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln about why he made the move from academic press, for this first book, to a trade press for his second book, and what that involved. We talk about finding an agent, the agent-author relationship, writing a trade press book proposal, creating your own peer review, how Max writes differently for trade versus academic, why we don’t always get

Episode 72: Making the Familiar Strange, and the Strange Familiar with essayist (and author of When the Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down), Anne Fadiman

We talk with Yale Professor in the Practice in the department of English and Francis Writer in Residence, Anne Fadiman about essay writing, being a monogamous writer, teaching writing, how students keep us open to new ideas, creating a team spirit in the classroom, providing feedback, being the child of accomplished writers, sharing our writing with people we trust, and when procrastination stops.

Episode 71: When the Biography Writing Road is Long with Megan Marshall

We’re speaking with Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winner and Professor Emerita at Emerson College, she is the author of biographies of Margaret Fuller, the Peabody Sisters, and Elizabeth Bishop, among other books. We speak about working on writing projects that take many years, writing about her former teacher (poet Elizabeth Bishop), unexpected turns in a writing project (including changing editors), archive discoveries, organizing notes, recreating scenes from long ago, writing groups, and ba

Episode 70: "Yes, your editor googles you..." and other things your editor thinks and does with Adina Popescu

In this episode, we talk with Yale University Press Executive Editor Adina Popescu about what makes her interested in a book manuscript and in an academic author. Our topics include: What the query letter should include; how to approach the conference "book exhibit hall conversation with an editor; what occurs at the mysterious university press "boards" and who is present at those meetings; why and when book manuscripts return to reviewers; why an editor might ask for additional reviews of your

Episode 69: ENCORE EPISODE 69: Figuring out the Post-Tenure Book with Elli Stern

Yale professor Elli Stern talks with us about figuring out what kind of writing we want to do after tenure—and the importance of building a team of friends and colleagues who can read drafts and provide valuable feedback.

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Episode 68: The Agent’s Perspective with literary agent Alia Hanna Habib

We’re talking with Alia Hanna Habib of the Gernert literary agency about how academics can successfully find agents; what’s the best way to write a cold-call query letter to agents; how an academic author can include her own intellectual history in the book proposal; avoiding the “voice from nowhere” style of writing; how much money is reasonable to expect as a first-time trade press author; and what to expect from an agent. We also discuss how book deals differ from their cinematic portrayals

Episode 67: When Your Academic Study Becomes a Surprise Bestseller with Richard Breitman

We’re speaking with Richard Breitman, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of history at American University about his 45+ year career, and his 12 books. We talked about how research on FDR and the Holocaust spawned many research projects; how convenience and cost affects archival projects; how an agent can helpfully shape a writing project; how journalists can play a useful role in disseminating academic research; how even successful co-authoring has its rough patches; and getting past the “Hasn’t

Episode 66: Rediscovering the Pleasures of Academic Writing with Helen Sword

We’re talking with Helen Sword, emeritus professor at the University of Auckland, and founder of the writing community, the WriteSPACE. She is also the author of several books about academic writing, including Writing With Pleasure (Princeton, 2023); Air & Light & Time & Space: How Successful Academics Write (Harvard, 2017), The Writers Diet: A Guide to Fit Prose (Chicago, 2016), and Stylish Academic Writing (Harvard, 2012). We talk about what Helen has learned about academic writing through her

Episode 65: On Being an Academic Who Writes Popular Books w/ Noah Isenberg

We’re talking with film historian Noah Isenberg, the Charles Sapp Centennial Professor and former Chair of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at The University of Texas at Austin. Isenberg is the author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller, We’ll Always Have Casablanca: The Legend and Afterlife of Hollywood’s most Beloved Movie, and several other books about film. We talk about why and when we might drop theory from our writing; finding a literary agent; the excitement of finding your audien

Episode 64: Reinventing the Traditional Academic Journal

We’re speaking with founding and current editors of In Geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies, about what it means to establish a new journal. Founded in 2015, In Geveb partook in the decade's ethos of disruption in technology by seeking to reimagine the academic journal. Aspiring to be the “N+1 of Yiddish studies, the journal is completely online, and contains sections on pedagogy and translation, as well as a blog, and has remained accessible to readers outside of the academy. Our guests, Jessica