Willemina Don, editor
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donediting.bsky.social
Willemina Don, editor
@donediting.bsky.social
290 followers 50 following 130 posts
Academic developmental editor and translator (FR->EN and NL->EN). Humanities and qualitative social sciences. PhD in French. www.donlanguageservices.com
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donediting.bsky.social
Wait, MLA 2026 is in Toronto? Nothing against Canada, but why? I hope the organizers realized they are excluding swaths of US scholars who are on a visa or work permit that is expiring, folx that are in the middle of adjusting status, people who are afraid to cross the border right now...
November 25, 2025 at 8:03 PM
donediting.bsky.social
Language & Literary studies folx, #MLA is coming up too!
adinapopescu.com Adina Popescu @adinapopescu.com · 1d
Hello historians 🗃️! Planning on attending #AHA26 and have book ideas in mind?

Now is a good time to start thinking about contacting editors to meet with in Chicago. It's fun, it's easy, and you'll be chatting with people who love to chat about books! 👇
Meeting with an editor at a conference * Identify likely publishers. They are ones who * have published in similar fields recently (in the last 5 years) * are attending the conference * Find the editor’s contact info (usually on the publisher’s website) * Email the editor a query letter * Introduce yourself * Describe your project briefly (1 paragraph) * Attach a book proposal if you have one * Ask if the editor is available to meet * Prepare for the meeting * It will be an informal 1/2 hour conversation * Be ready to describe your project without going deep into the weeds * Ask questions * Enjoy the conversation - this book may or may not be a good fit for that publisher, but treat this as professional networking because your next book might be
November 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM
donediting.bsky.social
How many potential peer reviewer names to give to your University Press editor, and which names to choose?
rcolesworthy.bsky.social Rebecca Colesworthy @rcolesworthy.bsky.social · 1d
if your press asks for names, give 6 to 8--NOT the biggest, most senior stars in your field. None of them will do it. part of the problem is that the ppl best poised are "mid-career"--i.e. have a book, tenure. TWIST: the mid-career folx, IF THEY EXIST, are so fucking overloaded I can't even tell you
November 25, 2025 at 2:42 PM
donediting.bsky.social
You have an academic manuscript (almost) ready to send out, but now it needs a title... Such great research-based advice from @katelynknox.bsky.social here: dissertationtobook.com/titles/
How to Title Your Academic Book: Lessons from 188 Monographs
Many authors are told their academic book title needs work, but not how to fix it. Write a strong monograph title, based on lessons from 188 books.
dissertationtobook.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Reposted by Willemina Don, editor
libankerdc.bsky.social
The #1 lesson from yesterday’s blowout:
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
libankerdc.bsky.social Elisabeth R. Anker @libankerdc.bsky.social · 21d
Humanities where the cool jobs at
November 5, 2025 at 3:59 PM
donediting.bsky.social
it's job application season in academia. If you need last-minute developmental editing to get your humanities sample chapter or research proposal in order, I have some room in my schedule. I offer discounts for self-pay and grad students. #academicsky
October 25, 2025 at 6:50 PM
donediting.bsky.social
Oh the cursed day hath come where I'm forced to upgrade to Windows 11 (with co-pilot! as if that's an advantage). Except my existing PC (that works just fine!) has been determined incapable of handling it so I guess I need a new one of those too, pronto.
September 25, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Willemina Don, editor
aupresses.bsky.social
All are invited to the first in Publishing with University Presses Webinar Series, "Turning Your Dissertation into a Book," Oct 9 at 1pm ET. Organized by our Faculty Outreach Committee with the Rutgers Ctr for Minority Serving Institutions.

Register here: https://buff.ly/UiOAr5M
Turning You Dissertation into a Book webinar promotional tile
September 22, 2025 at 7:15 PM
donediting.bsky.social
This looks like a wonderful resource as you are navigating the process of publishing your first book. And it's free!
September 12, 2025 at 1:33 PM
donediting.bsky.social
A great opportunity for those working on an academic book, especially if it's the first (based on your dissertation)! Get the zoom link on Allison's profile.
allisonvandev.bsky.social Allison Van Deventer @allisonvandev.bsky.social · Sep 8
Scholarly book authors: bring me your questions on Wednesday at an informal drop-in session!

Qs about the Dissertation-to-Book Workshop (is it a good fit for you?) will get priority, but I'll also talk about ANYTHING related to your book!
katelynknox.bsky.social Katelyn E. Knox @katelynknox.bsky.social · Sep 8
*NEW* Workshop Q&A - Ask Me Anything with Allison

Wondering whether one of our workshops is right for you? Do you have questions about whether your book is at the right stage? Want to know more about any aspect of any of our workshops? Come ask Allison!

www.allisonvandeventer.com/workshops?ck...
September 8, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Willemina Don, editor
lportwoodstacer.bsky.social
My free one-hour workshop, How to Publish a Book from Your Dissertation, is coming up on September 3.

Learn what academic presses are looking for when they acquire a new book project and how to avoid the dreaded “we don’t publish dissertations” rejection

courses.manuscriptworks.com/courses/diss...
How to Publish a Book from Your Dissertation
Learn how to reframe your dissertation project so publishers will see it as an appealing future book. This webinar will explain what scholarly publishers are looking for in new books and how to increa...
courses.manuscriptworks.com
August 21, 2025 at 1:56 PM
donediting.bsky.social
Ugh I hate it when I leave things at places. Like this morning, I left the head of broccoli and cucumber I bought at the farmers' market. www.npr.org/2025/08/16/n...
Government papers found in an Alaskan hotel reveal new details of Trump-Putin summit
Documents with sensitive details about the meeting between President Trump and Russian President Putin were left behind on a public hotel printer.
www.npr.org
August 16, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Willemina Don, editor
closereadingie.bsky.social
Indexes for non-indexers! Aimed at proofreaders, but anyone who looks at indexes and has reason to edit them (say, reviewing an index you hired out for) can get a lot out of this. I cover the best ways to edit an index.

community.the-efa.org/events/Event...

#edibuddies #IndexSky #academicsky #EFA
Promo image. Indexes explained for non-indexers. Proofreading gets faster and easier once you understand how indexes really work. Jolanta Komornicka. Instructor.
August 12, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Willemina Don, editor
allisonvandev.bsky.social
Katelyn and I run plenty of paid workshops, but we know well that not everyone can afford things like that. So we're committed to giving free workshops and making them available to watch. Here's one about book arguments!
July 28, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Reposted by Willemina Don, editor
allisonvandev.bsky.social
In her latest newsletter, Emily Doucet is saying something I tell authors ALL THE TIME: "your argument needs to be a specific claim about the materials — your evidence — described in your manuscript."

And guess what: Emily has a step-by-step method for examining that evidence, with a worksheet!
Exercises for analyzing your evidence when drafting a scholarly manuscript — FRAMING DEVICES
If you’ve developed a set of research questions, chances are you’ve already begun collecting evidence, or at least have a sense of what you’ll need. But what I’ve seen again and again is that many wri...
www.framingdevices.com
July 29, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by Willemina Don, editor
vandeventerjim.bsky.social
I'm letting Rumeysa's words speak for themselves:

www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2025...
Op-ed: ‘Even God cannot hear us here’: What I witnessed inside an ICE women’s prison - The Tufts Daily
On a Tuesday in March, I had spent most of my day working on my dissertation proposal and started to feel exhausted and hungry. It was the holy month of Ramadan, and I was fasting. Once finished, I qu...
www.tuftsdaily.com
July 22, 2025 at 11:15 AM
donediting.bsky.social
This looks wonderful. I'm no longer in the classroom but this sounds great for an introductory literature seminar or first-year seminar
aktange.bsky.social Andrea Kaston Tange @aktange.bsky.social · Jul 16
Here you go! I'll write some new ones for this semester too. They loved them. The "read without your phone or screens in the room" was a revelation, and many of them decided to keep doing it. They had NO IDEA (& were horrified) how often they interrupt themselves to look at a phone for no reason.
Reading Scenario Experiments. This series of prompts is designed to get you thinking about how the setting for reading affects concentration, comprehension, and even the existential experience of reading. Every week, one of the following prompts will appear on the syllabus. I encourage you to try all of them that you are able. How does a different reading setting affect your mood? Your receptiveness to the prose? Your pleasure or difficulty reading? What are the particular impacts of changing your lighting or surroundings? What do you notice about yourself and about the work you are reading during this experiment? 1. read by candlelight (use a small lamp in dorms where no candles are allowed!) 2. read for one hour without checking any devices, answering texts, etc. 3. walk out into nature (climb a tree, sit on a rock, grab a spot in a hammock) and read 4. host a reading night with friends & food (sit in companionable silence, reading without chatting) 5. read aloud a chapter to someone else 6. climb into bed at night and read by flashlight under the covers for at least 30 minutes, as if you’ve already been told “lights out” as a kid 7. reread a chapter and see what new things you notice the second time through 8. change your ambient-noise level: add music if you normally read in the quiet; or read without music if you are normally a music-listener 9. read with a sketchpad at hand and sketch scenes, characters, or other elements from the story 10. practice focused listening: have someone read to you 11. make yourself a special, fancy snack on a real plate to nibble while eating: pay attention to the cooking or arranging or choosing of ingredients to make it especially appetizing first 12. make tea (even if you’re not usually a tea drinker), and read and sip 13. invent a new reading scenario for yourself, or repeat the one you liked the best from this term [writing assignment using these prompts follows; text character limit prevents inclusion of it in full]
July 17, 2025 at 3:35 PM
donediting.bsky.social
@closereadingie.bsky.social Something to cheer you up. My 7 y/o is very into flags, and got a new book about flags of the world. He went right for the index. "The Index is 5 pages long!!!" "New Jersey page xxx! It's in here!" "There's an entry about yurts!" A 7 y/o discovering the joy of indexing.
June 17, 2025 at 2:17 PM
donediting.bsky.social
Ooooh! I lived in an apartment* that Mr. Big (SATC) was interested in buying. The realtor gave me permission to stay home one day when he wanted to come see it again. We exchanged a few words. He didn't buy the apartment.
* a whole other story
bolt451.bsky.social "Timeless" Toni Soprano @bolt451.bsky.social · Jun 13
Right folks. Feeling rather down at the moment so bringing back an oldie

Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
June 13, 2025 at 1:51 PM
donediting.bsky.social
today at 12pm Pacific, so 3pm Eastern. I'd be happy to answer questions afterwards
lportwoodstacer.bsky.social Laura Portwood-Stacer @lportwoodstacer.bsky.social · Jun 3
Tomorrow: How to Work with a Developmental Editor

FREE workshop that lays out what scholarly developmental editing is, how to find a qualified editor for yr book or article MS, typical costs & alternatives for every budget (bc I know budgets are low rn)

courses.manuscriptworks.com/courses/deve...
Workshop: How to Work with a Developmental Editor
Get tips on how to find freelance developmental editors who can support you in publishing your next scholarly book or journal article. Learn about typical services and costs, what questions to ask to ...
courses.manuscriptworks.com
June 4, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by Willemina Don, editor
susanalyce.bsky.social
TRUMPS BIRTHDAY PARADE
All you have to do is go to america250.org to get FREE tickets for the Trump birthday military parade.
After getting tickets if something else unfortunately comes up for example the NO KINGS PROTEST that very day which is all across America, YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.
America250
America250 is a nonpartisan initiative working to engage every American in the 250th anniversary of the United States.
america250.org
May 25, 2025 at 5:54 PM
donediting.bsky.social
This thread is so depressing. If you're negotiating with a publisher about your book, stipulate you want a human copyeditor, preferably one of your own choice or in-house.
apuddleofmuddle.bsky.social Annalisa Nicholson @apuddleofmuddle.bsky.social · May 27
Academia in 2025: For weeks I’ve been working through botched copy-edits of my monograph, outsourced by the publisher to a company I’d never heard of, until it finally dawned on me the terrible job might be AI. A quick search confirmed the company recently launched new AI software, which now means..
May 27, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Willemina Don, editor
kellyclancy.bsky.social
This is HUGELY good news, and reading notes from the trial is infuriating. Could be any of dozens of friends/colleagues from my graduate program. 8.5 weeks in jail with minimal medical treatment for writing an op-ed.
May 9, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Willemina Don, editor
carlbergstrom.com
The man at left separated the mother and baby at right. The mother is now in Venezuela. Baby daughter, in foster care in the US, exact location unknown.

Dad? He's in CECOT prison without trial — because he had tattoos.
Stephen Miller Mother and young baby wearing a pink hat
April 29, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Reposted by Willemina Don, editor
historians.org
Many of our members have had grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities abruptly terminated. In response, the AHA, @modernlanguage.bsky.social, & @ach.bsky.social are convening an Information Exchange about the NEH Appeal Process on Wednesday, April 30th at 11am ET on Zoom. Register now 🗃️
Information Exchange about the NEH Appeal Process - AHA
Many of our members have had grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities abruptly terminated. In response, the AHA and partner organizations are convening an Information Exchange about the N...
www.historians.org
April 29, 2025 at 8:15 PM