working on a genre of book that I call Y'allternative
07.03.2026 00:44
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working on a genre of book that I call Y'allternative
Thank you for hanging out!
It's been a blast showing off books in the @oupress.bsky.social "Teaching, Engaging, and Thriving in Higher Ed" series at the Transformative Learning Conference at UCO today.
Many thanks to @thetattooedprof.bsky.social for modeling with a complete set of books in the series so far!
It's a delight to come across a university bookstore like the University of Central Oklahoma's that still sells *actual* books.
Even better when they showcase books written by their faculty!
Want to learn how to craft a compelling op-ed?
Watch “Op-Ed Writing for Historians" with @bryanbanksphd.bsky.social, @jelaniya.bsky.social, @mauracunningham.bsky.social, @franhirsch.bsky.social, @brianros1.bsky.social, & moderator @lmansley.bsky.social. #AHAOnline 🗃️
Please join us in congratulating these recent OU Press authors as they have been selected as finalists for the Foreword INDIES Book Awards! View the complete list here ➡️ www.forewordreviews.com/articles/art...
A reminder that @upittpress.bsky.social will be gracing the halls of #AAG2026 in Mick-spatial form (@mickodopolous.bsky.social). Let's book a time to talk about books:
bit.ly/3MdV2AX
"Greg Curtis was the editor of Texas Monthly for almost twenty years, from 1981 to 2000, until, as he once told me, 'I didn't have another Willie Nelson cover in me.'"
—Stephen Harrigan, "An Anchor in the Sea of Time"
Out Now! "After the Theft of the Sacred: Experiential Religion in Indigenous Writing" by Reginald Dyck shows how Native communities and characters use their lived religions to make sense of an increasingly fragmented and urban world. www.oupress.com/978080619651...
@emily-elliott.bsky.social shares the rewards and drawbacks of working on an edited volume, offering advice geared toward early career scholars and academic-adjacent workers considering whether to brave the process of editing a collection. #FeedingTheElephant @hnetbookchannel.bsky.social
"I didn't realize, until I embarked on a pandemic hobby, how satisfying it is to be bad at something and not care at all."
—Stephen Harrigan, "An Anchor in the Sea of Time"
Excited beyond words to see this making its way into the world, thanks to the amazing team @beltpublishing.bsky.social.
ATTENTION.
IT IS NOW *GOFF WEEK* AT THEPICKUP.COM.
ALL CONTENT IS BRUCE GOFF RELATED.
GOFF ARTICLES. GOFF PICTURES. GOFF HISTORY. GOFF BUILDINGS. GOFF MUSIC. YOU GET THE IDEA
The seabirds of Destruction Island off WA reveal impacts of climate change
Our own Eric Wagner has a new book coming out in March! Read an excerpt from 'Seabirds as Sentinels' in The Seattle Times.
The seabirds of Destruction Island off WA reveal impacts of climate change
www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-m...
"Sometimes there's nothing lonelier than living with another person."
—Harriet Lane, "Other People's Fun"
A teenage daughter: "All she knows is that there's something quite pointless about her mother. Something tragically out-dated, like fax machines or handwriting."
—Harriet Lane, "Other People's Fun"
"The sun is clear and strong, shadows falling sharp as knives on the pavement."
—Harriet Lane, "Other People's Fun"
Publishing pro tip: Some authors leave multiple people working on their books shaking their head and thinking "Why are people like this?" Don't be that author. It's easy, you KNOW how not to be that author.
The modern brain is no different than that of our distant Stone Age ancestors, but our environments have changed dramatically. With so many demands on our attention, we are simply overwhelmed.
Author Richard Cytowic explains how our Stone Age brains can cope in the age of screens:
Oh, cool! That's great to hear.
Books from L-R, top row then second: Folk-Say, We Pointed Them North, Oklahoma: Foot-Loose and Fancy-Free, John Joseph Mathews, And Still the Waters Run, and Ned Christie
Let's talk book history!
Next week I will give a talk on the history of @oupress.bsky.social (coauthored with Tom Kahle), "Book Publishing and the American West, Then & Now."
It's part of the American West & the Humanities series at OU.
Wednesday, 3/4, 1pm @ the Charles Russell Center.
"The essence of editing is ethics; it’s the act of caring for the expression of the thoughts of another as if they were your own."
Must-read for academic authors (see replies!).
Revisiting one's old high school: "But back then, we didn't notice the scenery. If we looked at the windows, it was to see our reflections."
—Harriet Lane, "Other People's Fun"
target your proposals to the right publisher - look at the books you've been citing most, who published them? Look at their website, check their recent publications in your field, check their series etc. Half of getting accepted is pitching to a publisher who you and your book will make sense to.
Rejection is normal! So when you get rejected, keep going. It sometimes takes several tries for your work to find the right intellectual home.
Publishing can turn upside down a few times over the course of a career. So don’t get too attached to your ideas about how this all works. New options will open. Expectations will change.
P.S.—Invest in reference manager software that reformats references with a click.
At conferences, take a good look at books on display to get a sense of who publishes what, and meet the staff. As an acquiring editor I'm always happy to talk about what we do, what mss. I'd like to see, where you are in the writing process.
This might be silly and trite, but I've always followed the advice to write the book you want to read. Don't think about an imaginary audience that may or may not exist. This can hamper the strength of your prose and your argument because you can be tempted to dial back. Write for yourself.