Make Your Manuscript Work: A Guide to Developmental Editing for Scholarly Writers

Make Your Manuscript Work: A Guide to Developmental Editing for Scholarly Writers

Developmental editing holds the power to make a manuscript connect with publishers and readers, yet few scholarly writers have the training to do it well. Make Your Manuscript Work: A Guide to Developmental Editing for Scholarly Writers (Princeton UP, 2025) offers scholars a practical method for assessing and refining the features of their texts that matter most—argument, evidence, structure, and style. Dr. Laura Portwood-Stacer, a writer, editor, and consultant for academic authors, explains how manuscripts move through the publication process and identifies the key stages for authors to improve their texts. Her guide shows scholarly writers how to identify what’s been holding their writing back and fix it so they can accomplish their publication goals. It includes a checklist of assessment questions, examples from real scholarly manuscripts, tips on seeking additional help, and advice on offering developmental editing assistance to other writers. Written with candor, empathy, and a deep awareness of the challenges faced by academic writers who want to publish, Make Your Manuscript Work is an indispensable how-to guide for scholars at all career stages. Our guest is: Dr. Laura Portwood-Stacer, who is a developmental editor and founder of Manuscript Works, a consultancy serving academic authors around the world. She is also the author of The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors, and Lifestyle Politics and Radical Activism. She previously taught media and cultural studies at NYU and USC. Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, who is a writing coach and a developmental editor working with scholars in the humanities and social sciences at all stages of their writing journey—from grad student to alt-ac, and from the idea-stage to final draft. She is the executive producer of the Academic Life podcast, and writes the show’s newsletter at christinagessler.substack.com. Playlist for listeners: The Top 10 Struggles In Writing A Book Manuscript & What To Do About It Revise Your Dissertation For Press Submission Marketing Your Scholarly Book Becoming The Writer You Already Are The Emotional Arc Of Turning A Dissertation Into A Book The Book Proposal Book DIY Writing Retreats The Dissertation To Book Workbook Stylish Academic Writing The Peer Review Process A Guide To Getting Unstuck Skills: How Can Mindfulness Help? Welcome to Academic Life, the podcast for your academic journey—and beyond! You can support the show by downloading and sharing episodes. Join us again to learn from more experts inside and outside the academy, and around the world. Missed any of the 280+ Academic Life episodes? Find them here. And thank you for listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Episoder(321)

Empathy Takes Action: An Autistic Therapist on the Radical Work of Connection

Empathy Takes Action: An Autistic Therapist on the Radical Work of Connection

Mainstream psychology has long accepted that some people (like those with autism) are naturally more logical and unemotional, while others (like so-called empaths) intuitively experience the feelings ...

30 Apr 48min

Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King

Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King

Caroline Bicks became the first scholar granted extended access by Stephen King to his private archives, a treasure trove of manuscripts that document the legendary writerʼs creative process—most of t...

23 Apr 55min

The Case for Career Services

The Case for Career Services

What exactly is career services? If you don’t know, you aren’t alone. Most of us operate from a limited or outdated idea of what career services offers, why it’s necessary, and how soon you should sta...

16 Apr 47min

The Coroner’s Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence

The Coroner’s Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence

Each year, police officers kill over 1,000 people they’ve sworn to protect and serve. While some cases, like George Floyd’s and Sandra Bland’s, capture national attention, most victims remain nameles...

9 Apr 57min

 The Club: Where American Artists Found Refuge in Belle Epoque Paris

The Club: Where American Artists Found Refuge in Belle Epoque Paris

In Belle Époque Paris, the Eiffel Tower was newly built, France was experiencing remarkable political stability, and American women were painting the town and gathering at a female-only Residence know...

2 Apr 51min

The Criminal Record Complex: Risk, Race, and the Struggle for Work in America

The Criminal Record Complex: Risk, Race, and the Struggle for Work in America

Most employers in the United States routinely conduct criminal background checks on job applicants, weeding out those with criminal convictions—and thus denying opportunities to those who need them m...

26 Mar 54min

 ⁠The Collective Cure: Upstream Solutions for Better Public Health⁠

 ⁠The Collective Cure: Upstream Solutions for Better Public Health⁠

A powerful blend of deeply human stories and rigorous research, The Collective Cure: Upstream Solutions for Better Public Health (Beacon Press, 2026) reveals how social and structural factors like ...

19 Mar 54min

What’s on Her Mind: The Mental Workload of Family Life

What’s on Her Mind: The Mental Workload of Family Life

Mothers and fathers use their time differently, with women spending roughly twice as many hours on family labor as men. But what about the gendered differences in the ways women and men think? What’s ...

12 Mar 50min

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