NCA VLO: Publishing Your Book with a University Press

Date: Friday, Sept. 26 

Time: 2-3:30 p.m. EDT 

Format: Virtual (Zoom) 

This panel will attempt to answer questions about the entire process of working with a university press in order to move from a research monograph to a published book. Panelists will discuss how to choose a potential press, how to approach acquisition editors, how to prepare a proposal, how to transform research into “book form,” how to read and respond to first round interviews, and more. The panel will attempt to demystify parts of the publication process and prepare scholars for the best odds of success.

Learning Outcomes: 

• Scholars will understand the basics of preparing a proposal for a press. 
• Scholars will understand how to compile research into book manuscript form. 
• Authors will understand the most productive ways to respond to, and work with, reviews. 
• Authors will think through the value of titles and keywords. 

Speakers: 

Tara Cyphers, Acquisitions Editor, Ohio State University Press

• Bio: Tara Cyphers is assistant director at The Ohio State University Press with roles in business/finance, editorial/design/production, and acquisitions. As the acquisitions editor in rhetoric/communication studies, she oversees two series in this area (Intersectional Rhetorics and New Directions in Rhetoric and Materiality) and, overall, has a particular interest in projects that make connections to pressing social, cultural, and political issues. She has been in publishing since 2006, holds an MA in rhetoric, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of University Presses (AUPresses).   

Aurora Bell, Acquisitions Editor, University of South Carolina Press

• Bio: Aurora Bell is associate editorial director at USC Press. She acquires scholarly books in rhetoric and literary studies, as well as nonfiction trade books about South Carolina the US South. In rhetoric and communication she is interested in monographs and select edited collections about social movements, how rhetoric can help us understand the contemporary world, rhetoric of health and medicine, and global rhetorics. She earned a BA in comparative literature from New York University and, while working at USC Press, an MA in art history from the University of South Carolina. Prior to moving to South Carolina, she acquired cookbooks and other nonfiction at The Countryman Press, an imprint of W. W. Norton. 

Kristen Hop, Acquisitions Editor, University of Alabama Press

• Bio: Kristen Hop is an Acquisitions Editor at the University of Alabama Press, where she acquires in rhetoric and communication, literary studies, theatre history, sports studies, and Southern culture. She manages four series: Rhetoric + Digitality; Rhetoric, Culture, and Social Critique; Rhetoric, Law, and the Humanities; and Strode Studies in Early Modern Literature and Culture. Kristen is especially drawn to interdisciplinary projects that explore the intersections of rhetorical studies with public culture, digital technology, law, games, and/or sports. She holds a BA in English from the University of Alabama and has over eight years of experience at UA Press, along with prior work experience at Princeton University Press. 

Archna Patel, Acquisitions Editor, Pennsylvania State University Press

• Bio: Archna Patel joined Penn State University Press in 2022. She leads the press’s distinguished list in rhetoric and communication studies, and is delighted to build a new list in Africana studies. Prior to joining Penn State, she worked at the University of California Press where she acquired books in art and art history. Archna is excited to cultivate interdisciplinary, public-facing scholarly books that critically amplify the histories, languages, and practices of overlooked communities, and publish ambitious general interest books that move beyond critiquing current paradigms to instead build new, more just, ones. 

Judith Lakamper, Senior Acquisitions Editor, Michigan State University Press 

• Bio: Judith Lakamper is senior acquisitions editor at Michigan State University Press, where she acquires scholarly books in several disciplines including rhetoric and communication, environmental studies, and African studies. Previously, Judith was acquisitions editor for cultural studies, gender studies, and Jewish studies at Lexington Books, then an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield. Judith holds a PhD in English from Wayne State University and an MA in American literature and book history/publishing from Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany). 

Moderator: John M. Sloop, NCA Publications Council Chair, Professor of Communication Studies, Vanderbilt University