This talk will focus on some of the most common issues that first-time authors face during the writing and publishing process, including some broader discussion of the current environment facing scholars and publishers alike. Most of the session will focus on conversation intended to help junior (and other!) scholars consider the purpose and reach of their writing, as well as the nuts and bolts of finding the right publisher and working with an acquisitions editor. Please bring questions!

Elizabeth Ault is a Senior Editor at Duke University Press, which she joined in 2012 after receiving her Ph.D. in American Studies at the University of Minnesota. Trained in an interdisciplinary field, she pursues projects that reach outward across disciplines and academic conversations in surprising ways (including work by activists and organizers), that connect historical and emerging conditions, and that are committed to engaging with race, gender, sexuality, and (dis)ability. She works with the editors of several book series, including Practices,  Black Feminism on the Edge, ASTERISK, Theory in Forms, and Camera Obscura.

You can find Elizabeth at conferences about religion, American studies, women's studies, African studies, sociology, and geography, working with scholars in trans studies, disability studies, critical ethnic studies, Black geographies, witch studies, and more. 

Sponsored by: Africana Studies, the Department of English, Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at Penn, and the Center for Research in Feminist, Queer, and Transgender Studies.