Laura Portwood-Stacer

I was glad to provide some insight for this article about the struggles authors sometimes face with scholarly publishing (which are so often structural and not due to the intentional negligence of individual editors)

Delighted to see my 2 forthcoming books in @lportwoodstacer.bsky.social's March newsletter: *Theatrical Afterlives: Nineteenth-Century Women’s Novels on the Stage* (OUP March 26) & *Women, 'Failure' and Academia*(Bloomsbury Apr 26). Thanks, Laura! global.oup.com/academic/pro...

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Manuscript Works Developmental editing and publishing consulting for academic authors. Specializing in scholarly books and book proposals. Run by Laura Portwood-Stacer, PhD, since 2015.

Had a chance to listen to @lportwoodstacer.bsky.social talk about the process of writing book proposals for academic presses this morning, and it was so informative & insightful! If you’re thinking of writing a book, read hers first, seek out her workshops, & check out resources she offers for free!

Thank you for coming and bringing great questions!

Then vote with your feet. Don’t submit proposals to presses with AI policies you don’t like. Smaller presses are likely to be more responsive to author concerns (in a general sense, not necessarily in a “they will issue a bespoke contract for each book” sense, though IME they *may* be more flexible)

This doesn’t look like presenting them with a list of demands. It looks like “hi, I think my book project would be a great fit for your press. I was wondering if you could tell me about typical production processes and what I might expect regarding the use of AI to produce and market my book?”

As a scholarly author, your greatest leverage is generally at the entry point of the publishing process, when you’re deciding where to even submit your project for review. Let acquiring editors know your concerns up front (while understanding that *they* don’t make production decisions)

If you have concerns about the production of your book manuscript or how a publisher is engaging with AI, *please* ask your dealbreaker questions well before you are holding a contract in hand. You will lose months if not years if you wait until after peer review (and likely won’t get what you want)

👩‍🏫 Faculty! 📣 Head to our website to find suggested language to include in your syllabi to show your commitment to supporting trans people in the Rutgers community! 🏳️‍⚧️
https://loom.ly/y1jdWCo

Congratulations, @nimojo.bsky.social!!! 🎉🎉🎉

I like them. I send a lot of announcement-type emails that don’t really require a substantive reply and I kind of appreciate when people acknowledge & support via emoji (and I like that I’m obviously not expected to reply to those)

Thank you @timeshighered.bsky.social for publishing my essay advocating for the value of developmental editing in scholarly writing & publishing!

Takeaway for authors: learning to edit your own work in this way will help you get published better (and faster)

They can be already familiar with the project but it’s best to disclose whatever the relationship is so the press can decide how close is too close.

Usually advisors, dept colleagues & co-authors would be thought too close. I’ve seen a lot of variance though so it does depend on the press & project

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Thank you! Hope you find them useful!

This discount means you can get 30% off both THE BOOK PROPOSAL BOOK and MAKE YOUR MANUSCRIPT WORK this month. 30 bucks total for the pair (whether you’re at the conference or not)

press.princeton.edu/search?searc...

As a former LI resident who GTFO, thank you for your service

Workshop: Write an Outstanding Book Proposal Join Laura Portwood-Stacer of Manuscript Works to learn her time-tested method for writing a book proposal that will grab the interest of scholarly publishers. Show up with a book project, leave with ...

My workshop that will teach you how to write an outstanding book proposal for scholarly publishers starts in about 20 minutes ⏰

If you can’t attend live, you can still register for the recording (but registration closes today, FYI)

courses.manuscriptworks.com/courses/outs...

I’m genuinely curious how people are dealing with their inboxes today. FIFO? LIFO? A secret third system?

Very honored that my book has received the 2025 @labortechresearchnetwork.org Book Award!

From LaborTech:
"Trans Technologies is empirically rich, compelling in its theoretical framework, and a timely and important contribution at a time of heightened vulnerability for the trans community."

Hoping to publish a book in 2026? I've got a series of free webinar recordings to help you get in the right mindset and avoid the most common sticking points for scholarly authors. All the recordings are free to access, but registration is closing on December 31st.

Thread (with links):

Thanks for sharing, @rcolesworthy.bsky.social!

If anyone wants an even more detailed guide through the book peer review process, I have a free webinar on it too (but today is the last day to get it)

courses.manuscriptworks.com/courses/surv...

Responding to Peer Reviewers — Manuscript Works How should you respond to the reader reports from your academic book manuscript or book proposal after peer review? This post demystifies common misconceptions about the power of the reviewers and adv...

Laura Portwood-Stacer (@lportwoodstacer.bsky.social) also has a helpful, thorough blog post from a few years ago on writing a letter of response: manuscriptworks.com/blog/reader-....

They say not to bribe but bribes worked for us (specifically a mini rubber ducky for every successful sitting). Also we tried for a few days with a lot of frustration on all sides and realized it wasn’t the right time. A few months later it went way better

An illustration of a book with an orange cover and the title "Good Enough," with a thumbs-up emanating from the first "o" in "Good."

Career Advice Reminder | The Good Enough Manuscript

Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good enough when it comes to sending your manuscript to a publisher, Laura Portwood-Stacer writes. https://bit.ly/4pZoHvV

#EDUSky #AcademicSky #HigherEd

Workshop: Write an Outstanding Book Proposal Join Laura Portwood-Stacer of Manuscript Works to learn her time-tested method for writing a book proposal that will grab the interest of scholarly publishers. Show up with a book project, leave with ...

If you're ready to write a book proposal that will get the attention of your dream publishers, I can help with that too.

This new workshop isn't part of the free series, but it's coming up in January & registration is now open

courses.manuscriptworks.com/courses/outs...

Workshop: How to Give Better Feedback on Scholarly Writing Join Laura Portwood-Stacer of Manuscript Works to learn time-tested techniques for getting the best out of scholarly writers, whether you're a graduate advisor, peer reviewer, acquiring editor, series...

If you want to help other writers improve their manuscripts without it eating up all your time or stressing you out, check out my webinar on How to Give Better Feedback on Scholarly Writing

courses.manuscriptworks.com/courses/feed...

Workshop: How to Connect with Scholarly Publishers Acquiring editors want to meet authors and hear about their book projects. But how and when should you reach out and what should you say? This free workshop from Laura Portwood-Stacer of Manuscript Wo...

If you're ready to reach out to publishers about your book project but the idea of cold-emailing an editor or walking up to them at a conference makes your blood run cold, check out my webinar on How to Connect with Editors at Scholarly Publishers

courses.manuscriptworks.com/courses/conn...

How to Publish a Book from Your Dissertation Learn how to reframe your dissertation project so publishers will see it as an appealing future book. This webinar will explain what scholarly publishers are looking for in new books and how to increa...

​If you've written a dissertation but aren't sure how to pitch it as a book that publishers will actually want, check out my webinar on How to Publish a Book from Your Dissertation

courses.manuscriptworks.com/courses/diss...