Writing It!

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.

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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.

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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; and allowing our own research interests to guide our writing.

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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.

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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 of being a first-time author; the truth about author advances; why it’s not a great time for nonfiction, and why that might change; what the “comparable works” section of your book proposal can do for you; misconceptions about agents; and why it’s important to show that you will hustle for your own book.

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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 the book title we want, why shorter is better, getting tenure and promotion credit for your trade press book, the role of an academic mentor in writing, and the money reality for first-time trade press authors.

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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.

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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 balancing our absorption with a subject and our own family life. We also talked about Megan’s turn to writing about her own family in her most recent book, After Lives: On biography and the Mysteries of the Human Heart.

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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 manuscript, and how to get the most out of the review process. Adina also talks what has changed the most in publishing and book-reviewing.

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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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