Peter Potter, director of Virginia Tech Publishing, and Nadine Zimmerli, editor for history and social sciences at UVA Press, will hold a virtual book publishing workshop on April 7 from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

The workshop will provide an opportunity for faculty and graduate students to learn more about the changing world of academic book publishing in the humanities and social sciences.

Topics of discussion include:

  • How to locate the appropriate publisher for your work;
  • How to prepare an attractive prospectus;
  • How to turn your thesis into a book;
  • The peer review process;
  • Financial realities of scholarly publishing;
  • Open access and new digital horizons; and
  • What to expect of your publisher and what your publisher will expect of you.

In addition to being publishing director in the University Libraries at Virginia Tech, Potter is visiting program officer for the Association of Research Libraries in support of Toward an Open Access Monograph Ecosystem (TOME). In 2017 he launched Virginia Tech Publishing, a digital-first, open-access publisher that also offers consulting, education, and outreach to members of the university community. He previously held senior positions at the university presses of Wesleyan, Penn State, and Cornell.

After earning a doctorate in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Zimmerli got her start in academic publishing at the University of Wisconsin Press as the project assistant for the George L. Mosse Series in Modern European Cultural and Intellectual History. She is the associate editor of books at the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, and she has edited award-winning books in various subfields of early American history.

The workshop, sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, will be held via Zoom. For more information, contact Tom Ewing at etewing@vt.edu or Peter Potter at pjp33@vt.edu.