Are your faculty publishing their work as effectively as they possibly can? Academics frequently make bad decisions about their books with negative consequences for their own careers and the reputations of their institutions. Publishing a book with the wrong press or a press less than optimal in a specific field dooms many works to limited circulation and minimal impact. My goal as an institutional consultant is to collaborate with deans, department chairs, and other academic administrators and to leverage my expertise in scholarly publishing to help faculty authors circumvent these negative outcomes.

Through seminars, workshops and one-on-one meetings with faculty, I will teach scholars how best to present themselves in their book proposals, select the most appropriate publisher for their work, and how to negotiate with publishers. Given the speed with which practices in scholarly publishing change, the emergence of new digital publishing options, and the breakdown in many departments of the mentoring system whereby assistant professors once could turn to their senior colleagues for help, I provide accurate information and an informed perspective when these are more crucial than ever.

Institutions with productive faculty often decide to commence publishing programs in conjunction with research units such as centers and institutes. The question of how to do so most economically and expeditiously must be addressed on a case-by-case basis if cookie cutter results are not to be obtained. Helping clients to avoid less than optimal solutions and time-wasting dead ends is essential to my work as a consultant. By working with administrators and faculty to develop goals and allocate resources, I seek to allow every institution to find the publishing solutions which provide maximum benefits and visibility.

Even a small institution can publish works with demonstrable influence on multiple fields and change its profile and value to faculty, students, alumni, and the profession. By evaluating institutional needs and formulating a program of utilizing existing resources and outsourcing production, fulfillment, and distribution functions where appropriate, I seek to allow every institution to develop a robust publishing presence that is synergistic with its broader goals. My experience writing successful grants to various funding agencies (NEH, the Graham Foundation, the Getty Grant program) in support of books makes me an ideal collaborator to help you begin the process of locating and obtaining resources to support your publishing activities.