Thursday 18 November 2010

IT'S ONLY WORDS: Tomorrow!

Dear Labbers,

Our next session this term is IT'S ONLY WORDS, and will engage with the burning question: how do you get your work published in an increasingly competitive academic market? Seeing your name in print is always an exciting occasion (unless it's on the front of a bill or a court summons), but to attain that goal can be a long, tedious, and above all, difficult process. Yet it is simply vital if you wish to have a career in academia. Even if you don't, it still looks great on your CV, and is one of the most satisfying personal achievements a historian can have. For all these reasons, it is never too early to start thinking about getting your work out there - whether you're an MA student, research student, or somebody who is plain enthusiastic about historical research.

For this session we are going straight to those with the expertise only years of experience can give you - the people who see hundreds of potential publications, and sort the good from the bad.

Simon Gunn will be known to many of you for his role as Professor of Urban History in the Centre for Urban History. He is also joint-editor of Urban History - one of the relatively few journals rated A in the influential European Reference Index for the Humanities - and so will be talking about how you can get your research in peer-reviewed historical journals.

Also joining us all the way from Manchester will be Emma Brennan, a Commissioning Editor for History, Art History and Design, and Sarah Hunt, an Assistant Editor, to tell us about the daunting process of publishing an academic monograph. Both Emma and Sarah work for Manchester University Press, an international publisher of academic books and journals, and the third biggest university press in the United Kingdom after Oxbridge - so they know their onions.

IT'S ONLY WORDS will be taking place on Friday 19th November in No. 1 Salisbury Road, with tea and cake at 430pm, and the talks to follow at 5pm. This really is one not to miss - you simply cannot get this level of quality advice anywhere else!