Do you want your academic writing to reach a wider, non-specialist readership?
Author Josephine Quinn (How the World Made the West) is going to be delving into everything you need to know about pivoting your expertise and academic writing for a commercial, non-fiction publication.
She’ll share her experience and insights about the differences between commercial non-fiction and a conventional academic monograph, beginning from inception of the project and what made How the World Made the West, for her, a trade book rather than a research monograph. Josephine will address how to understand whether what you have in mind is actually suited to being a trade non-fiction book.
She will also discuss the process of pitching the project to an agent or publisher, as well as the organisation of material and writing style, and what to expect in terms of editorial support.
Please note: this online event will begin at 4pm BST (11am EST), and will be recorded via video-conferencing software. After the event has taken place a link will be circulated to all attendees and remain available to view for a time-limited period.
Josephine is currently Professor of Ancient History at Cambridge University, and Fellow and Director of Studies at St John's College. She is the eighth person and first woman to hold that position since its creation in 1898. She has degrees from Oxford and Berkeley, she has taught in America, Italy, and the UK, and she co-directed the Tunisian-British archaeological excavations at Utica. She is a regular contributor to the LRB, as well as to radio and television programmes.
Her latest academic book, In Search of the Phoenicians, was published by Princeton University Press in January 2018, and her first trade book, How the World Made the West, was published by Bloomsbury in February 2024. It tells the story of the diverse roots of western civilization from the Bronze Age to the Age of Discovery, and makes the case that understanding societies in isolation is both out-of-date and wrong. It is contact and connections, rather than solitary civilisations, that drive historical change. It is not peoples that make history – people do.
The fee for this masterclass is £15 (incl. VAT), and is payable in full online. To view our event refund and cancellation policy, please click here.
Please note all timings are in BST.
This is a live online event which will be presented using video conferencing software. Joining instructions and full guidance will be provided by the W&A Team a week before the event start-date. Please note, all event timings are in UK time.
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