Workshops
We've all spent more time on Zoom than we'd like but with the difficulties and expense of travel, its benefits are hard to ignore. It's not as good as person-to-person contact, but it's better than nothing. It also works well for individual consultations.
If you're interested in an online publishing workshop, or a talk about Massachusetts historic houses, please let me know.
All workshops last approximately 2 hours unless otherwise noted.
From Dissertation to Book
Who should attend: junior faculty in fields where book publication is expected.
Topics: defining your audience, restructuring, finding a voice, removing unnecessary documentation, adding context and breadth, planning your work, finding material for articles, and scheduling time to write.
Those who attend are asked to send summaries of their dissertations in advance. This allows me to tailor the workshop to their needs and to help them plan revision strategies during the workshop. Ideally, no more than twenty-five people should attend.
I recommend setting aside an hour after the workshop for individual consultations.
Publishing a Monograph
Who should attend: faculty members seeking publication with a university press, other nonprofit publisher, or for-profit scholarly publisher.
Topics: choosing a press, the submission and review process, understanding letters from editors and responding to reviewers, reading your contract, copyright and permissions.
I recommend setting aside an hour after the workshop for individual consultation.
Publishing a Textbook
Who should attend: faculty members who are considering textbook authorship.
Topics: finding a publisher, publishing as collaboration, the review process, reading your contract, responding to reviewers, collateral materials, and financial expectations.
Publishing a Trade Book
Who should attend: faculty members who want to write a book for general readers.
Topics: defining the "general reader," finding a literary agent, writing in a new voice, accepting advice, marketing responsibilities, and financial expectations.
Ethics in Science Publishing
Who should attend: science faculty.
Topics: authorship standards; rules of submission; confidentiality; responsibilities of authors, editors, and reviewers; correcting errors; and appealing decisions.
Planning a Publishable Dissertation
Who should attend: graduate students in fields where book publication is expected.
Topics: dissertation v. book, meeting two sets of expectations, making the most of your research time, presenting papers, and publishing while in graduate school.
Editing a Journal
Who should attend: faculty who are thinking about becoming journal editors and those who have agreed to do so.
Topics: deciding whether to take on the job, editorial responsibilities, soliciting articles, operating a peer review system, making decisions, corresponding with authors, negotiating with your publisher, production, marketing, financial obligations, ethical issues, and online publication.
Length: 4-8 hours. Most of these topics can be covered in a day. If none of the faculty members are responsible for production, marketing, finance, fulfillment, or online publication, a half-day workshop might suffice. Another possibility is to conduct a half-day workshop, with the remainder of the day set a side for individual consultations on specific topics and problems. Faculty are asked to complete a detailed questionnaire in advance so that the workshop can be tailored to their needs.
Individual Consultation
I will be happy to meet with faculty members individually to discuss their concerns about publishing projects, to answer specific questions not appropriate for group discussion, or to assist them in planning their work. I suggest that the time set aside for this purpose be divided into fifteen-minute blocks, with faculty members signing up for as much time as they need. An hour of such consultation is included in the fee for the workshops where this is recommended.
Continuing Consultation
During the year following my visit, I am available to consult by phone or e-mail with any faculty member who attends a workshop. I will be happy to help faculty with questions about communications from editors, permissions, and other publishing questions. I will also review prospectuses. I cannot read manuscripts, but I will refer faculty members to developmental or copy editors if they wish. There is no charge for this service.
Talks
All are 45-60 minutes in length, including questions.
Supporting Scholarly Publishing (Without Starting a Press)
Who should attend: university administrators and department chairs.
How can you help to keep scholarly publishing healthy--and available to your faculty--without a major financial investment?
Scholarly Publishing and the Internet
Who should attend: university administrators and department chairs.
The Internet has changed the way faculty members do research and the ways they present it. Will the Internet solve all our problems? How should online publication be evaluated? What new demands--financial and administrative--does it create?
What Do We Actually Know about Peer Review?
Who should attend: administrators and faculty responsible for promotion, tenure, and performance evaluation.
The academic world depends on three kinds of peer review in decision making: publication peer review, grant peer review, and peer review for promotion and tenure. These processes operate very differently, but research on one area can inform decisions about how to develop efficient systems that generate useful information.
For information about scheduling and fees, please write to me at beth.luey@gmail.com or at 31 Middle Street, Fairhaven, MA 02719. I will be happy to provide a list of institutions where I have presented workshops as well as references.