Crossposted from the US Religion Substack

I’m currently in the process of reframing and rewriting my dissertation as a monograph. It’s been a humbling experience. While I knew that my dissertation would need work to be ready to send to university presses, I realized that I had no idea how the publication process might go. What do I need to do to speak to an editor? Should I send in an entire manuscript, or would I only need a few chapters to start? What on earth did a book proposal look like? While presses often have very basic information on their websites, they didn’t always answer questions specific to my situation.

In conversations with colleagues and friends, I’ve found that I was hardly alone in my confusion. The academic publishing market is often a mystery to scholars of all experience levels, whether they’re publishing their first book or their fifth. But we here at the Religion in United States History Substack are here to help with our new “Ask an Editor” feature. Each month, an as-yet-unnamed editor from a well-known university press will answer your questions about the publishing process.

READERS, HERE IS WHERE YOU COME IN: what questions about academic publishing do you have? What can be demystified? Nothing is off-limits. Please send your questions to me at [joseph] dot [stuart] at byu dot edu. You can have your name featured or withheld.

What questions about academic publishing do you have? What can be demystified? Nothing is off-limits.

This is your opportunity to ask questions and help others in the field get real answers to their inquiries. If you have a question, I’m willing to wager that others have the same questions. Don’t be shy!