2013 Pre-Meeting Workshop: Acquisitions for Beginners
This half-day workshop is geared to new acquisitions editors and advanced assistant editors. Topics include list-building basics, developing an editorial voice and philosophy, generating in-house enthusiasm for manuscripts, acquiring trade books, and managing author expectations. There will be a question-and-answer period after each panel.
Panels will include:
• Establishing Yourself
This session addresses the nuts and bolts of list building and growing: how to get your name out there, evaluating proposals and manuscripts, what to do when you take over a list from an established editor, how to move in a new direction, how to cultivate your own distinct voice as an editor.
Speakers: Jim Burr, Senior Editor, University of Texas Press; Jason Weidemann, Senior Editor, University of Minnesota Press
• Building Your List
This session will explore the nuts and bolts of list building. How do you identify high-quality manuscripts? How do you work most effectively with authors? How do you balance your time among manuscripts? How do you shape a coherent yet diverse list?
Speakers: Eleanor Goodman, Executive Editor, Penn State University Press; Jason Weidemann, Senior Editor, University of Minnesota Press
• Believing in Your Books
This session deals with interdepartmental and Press Committee relations. How do you generate enthusiasm for your books in-house? How do you present your projects to members of your press committee?
Speakers: Shannon Davies, Acquisitions Editor, Texas A&M University Press; Sian Hunter, Senior Editor, University Press of Florida
• Managing Author Expectations
This will be a role-playing session, in which one panelist is the editor and another is the author, switching back and forth between the roles as they play out different scenarios with different types of common author situations.
Speakers: Mick Gusinde-Duffy, Editor-in-Chief, University of Georgia Press; Clark Whitehorn, Editor-in-Chief, University of New Mexico Press
Organizers: Amy Gorelick, Senior Acquisitions Editor, University Press of Florida
Alisa Plant, Senior Acquisitions Editor, Louisiana State University Press
Panelists: Jim Burr, Senior Editor, University of Texas Press
Shannon Davies, Acquisitions Editor, Texas A&M University Press
Eleanor Goodman, Executive Editor, Penn State University Press
Mick Gusinde-Duffy, Editor-in-Chief, University of Georgia Press
Sian Hunter, Senior Editor, University Press of Florida
Jason Weidemann, Senior Editor, University of Minnesota Press
Clark Whitehorn, Editor-in-Chief, University of New Mexico Press
Please feel free to add notes or responses to the session in this section. You can also post presentation files. Find out how.
