Laura Portwood-Stacer

Speaker Profile

Laura Portwood-Stacer is a publishing consultant and developmental editor who helps academic authors at all career stages navigate the book publishing process. Her company Manuscript Works runs workshops and online programs to assist writers around the world in drafting book proposals and connecting with scholarly publishers. Laura is the author of The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors, which offers a step-by-step guide to crafting a compelling scholarly book proposal. She runs a variety of institutional workshops on topics ranging from how to successfully publish a book based on your dissertation, to how to work with a developmental editor. Further details are available here.

Books¹

The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors Laura Portwood-Stacer
A step-by-step guide to crafting a compelling scholarly book proposal—and seeing your book through to successful publication
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Ideas³

What your publisher wishes you knew One of the scariest parts of the publishing process, at least for some people, is promotion, i.e., all the things that you and your press will do to make sure people are aware of your book when it’s published and hopefully read it. Read More

Ideas Podcast: The Book Proposal Book, Laura Portwood-Stacer

The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors The scholarly book proposal may be academia’s most mysterious genre. You have to write one to get published, but most scholars receive no training on how to do so—and you may have never even seen a proposal before you’re expected to produce your own.... Read More

Trying to get your scholarly book published? Some tips for maintaining perspective and staying true to your vision Developmental editor Laura Portwood-Stacer shares some key reminders you can return to when you find yourself in need of encouragement during the proposal and publication processes. Read More