Clara Totten
@tottencs.bsky.social
230 followers 190 following 66 posts
Making books happen at Kent State University Press. Library enthusiast. Cats and plants, too. (she/her)
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Clara Totten
ksupress.bsky.social
With the Browns and Steelers facing off this Sunday, it seems like a good time to ponder the relationship between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. @chrisbriem.bsky.social, author of our upcoming book “Beyond Steel,” argues it’s worth approaching the cities not as rivals but as Rust Belt partners.
Cleveburgh: Christopher Briem’s tale of two Rust Belt cities
Why’s an Ohio-based publisher like Kent State excited for Christopher Briem’s upcoming’s study of Pittsburgh, Beyond Steel? For one thing, we’re invested in relationships be…
kentstatebooks.wordpress.com
Reposted by Clara Totten
michellechn.bsky.social
Great post!

"In general, I do not edit reviewers’ reports before I send them to authors."

I mostly completely agree, but in extreme cases I may delete sentences or change reviewers' language, especially if it feels targeted or truly offensive. Reviews should be constructive--never just an attack
illinoispress.bsky.social
"Sometimes critical feedback is difficult to read, but this is also the best time an author can encounter it."

The long-awaited Part 2 of UIP editor @alisonsyring.bsky.social's discussion about the peer review process is in her latest blog post.
www.press.uillinois.edu/wordpress/ac...
Reposted by Clara Totten
tottencs.bsky.social
It was so lovely to chat with @llassabe.bsky.social! University presses are creative, resilient, mission-driven, and just one of my favorite things to talk about.
Reposted by Clara Totten
rcolesworthy.bsky.social
Absolutely terrible, terrible news. Trinity University has announced that Trinity University Press will close at the end of the fiscal year--described by one author as a "South Texas outlet for stories and culture" for which there is no replacement frankly. Awful. www.tpr.org/arts-culture...
Trinity University announced its publishing house is closing
Trinity University said Trinity University Press will be closing its doors in late 2026.
www.tpr.org
tottencs.bsky.social
But for real, that tote #jealous
tottencs.bsky.social
KSUP author Jim Hollock on writing: “I think the difficulty is sticking to it. .... But it’s one of the better things I’ve ever done, because I knew, even if no one else does, I know the effort that went into it, and it is very satisfying when you can be finished with something.”
ksupress.bsky.social
New on the blog: Our celebration of KSUP’s 60th birthday continues with a look at one standout title from our series in True Crime History—James G. Hollock‘s “Born to Lose.”

kentstatebooks.wordpress.com/2025/09/10/t...
Black and green book cover with a car on a white background, text:

BORN
TO LOSE
Stanley B. Hoss and the Crime Spree That Gripped a Nation
JAMES G. HOLLOCK
Foreword by JAMES JESSEN BADAL
tottencs.bsky.social
I thought the Publishers Lunch rundown from 9/8 was thorough yet understandable (with the caveat that the judge has since delayed approving the settlement). Lmk if you'd like me to forward you the email version of the post.
Reposted by Clara Totten
aupresses.bsky.social
How do I find the right university press to publish my book? https://bit.ly/468Rupu

@univpressofkansas.bsky.social answers this important question, one of more than 110 FAQs that host presses have answered on our Ask UP site.

Curious about how university press publishing works? #AskUP!
Ask UP logo, tagline: Authors Seeking Knowledge from University Presses
Reposted by Clara Totten
jwi.bsky.social
My new post on Literary Cleveland’s Inkubator Festival, which starts
today, and the activist conference READ Barcelona, organized by @versolibros.com —>
open.substack.com/pub/derekkri...
Building communities with smaller book festivals
Cleveland, Barcelona, and beyond
open.substack.com
Reposted by Clara Totten
ksupress.bsky.social
In a new feature for the blog, we’re highlighting backlist titles that continue to resonate with issues in the region, nation, and world. First up: the series Voices of Diversity, which—in a mission that remains central to KSUP's work—helped celebrate the Cleveland area’s rich ethnic heritage.
Backlist spotlight: Celebrating the ethnic heritage of Northeast Ohio
In a new feature for the blog, we’re highlighting backlist titles from Kent State University Press that continue to resonate with issues in the region, nation, and world.
kentstatebooks.wordpress.com
tottencs.bsky.social
Rumor has it they were house hunting outside of Cleveland recently. Probably for the top-notch water infrastructure.
Reposted by Clara Totten
ksupress.bsky.social
The lineup for the Buckeye Book Fair has been released, and we’re thrilled that KSUP authors Deborah Fleming (author of “Ghosts of an Old Forest”) and Charles Malone (coeditor of “Light Enters the Grove”) will be there. Join the bookish fun on November 1 in Wooster!
2025 BUCKEYE BOOK FAIR
Saturday, November 1, 2025 | Wooster, Ohio
Ghosts ofan
Old Forest
Essays on Midwestern
Rural Heritage
Deborah Fleming
Deborah Fleming's newest book, Ghosts of an Old Forest, tells of her life in the Allegheny Plateau region of Ohio. Her previous collection of nature essays, Resurrection of the Wild, won the 2020 PEN-America Art of the Essay Award. Previously she was editor and director of the Ashland Poetry Press.
00000
BUCKEYE
BuckeyeBookFair.org 2025 BUCKEYE BOOK FAIR
Saturday, November 1, 2025 l Wooster, Ohio
Light Enters the Grove
Charles Malone from Kent, OH edited the anthology
"Light Enters the Grove:
Exploring Cuyahoga Valley
National Park Through
Poetry" featuring over 80
Ohio writers. Come write your own poem about a place that is important to you.
Exploring Cuyahoga
Valley National Park through Poetry
Edited by Charles Malone, Carrie George, and Jason Harris
Foreword by Jennie Vasarhelyi
BUCKEYE
BOOKEDE,
BuckeyeBookFair.org
Reposted by Clara Totten
ksupress.bsky.social
What can Cleveland and Pittsburgh learn from each other? What would the two cities gain by teaming up as Cleveburgh?

In a new podcast, @chrisbriem.bsky.social—author of our forthcoming book “Beyond Steel”—considers the relationship between two iconic Rust Belt cities:

megaphone.link/CC6470937745
CITY & CAST
Pittsburgh
Should Pittsburgh & Cleveland Be Friends? by City Cast Pittsburgh

Orange background, skyline with bridges
Reposted by Clara Totten
newsguy.bsky.social
Behind the White House Curtain featured in the Kent State University Press Fall/Winter 2025 catalog.
Reposted by Clara Totten
ksupress.bsky.social
Our fall catalog is here! Join us to:
📕anticipate new books (including titles by @chrisbriem.bsky.social and @terryallenbelew.bsky.social);
📕look back on 60 years of KSUP history; and
📕celebrate recent successes by @newsguy.bsky.social and others.
www.kentstateuniversitypress.com/wp-content/u...
NEW CATALOG!
困
THE KENT STATE
UNIVERSITY PRESS
FALL/WINTER
2025 CATALOG
kentstateuniversitypress.com
玉
THE KENT STATE
UNIVERSITY PRESS

With flames from industrial site on catalog cover.
Reposted by Clara Totten
ksupress.bsky.social
At Cleveland Magazine, @nickoloffoff.bsky.social has a new list of “81 Essential Cleveland Novels”—including one from KSUP! “The Coming of Fabrizze,” by Raymond DeCapite, was originally published in 1960 and tells the story of an Italian immigrant in the 1920s: clevelandmagazine.com/entertainmen...
"A modern folk tale filled with love, laughter and the joy of life.
Reading these merry pages is something like eating a dinner of the very best spaghetti and meat sauce with plenty of Chianti and a string orchestra nearby playing 'Santa Lucia."
—The New York Times
THE COMING OF FABRIZZE
A NOVEL
RAYMOND
DeCAPITE
Foreword by
Tony Ardizzone
The 81 Essential Cleveland Novels
These stories may be fiction, but they are all set in a real place: Northeast Ohio. Read novels from the 1800s to 2025 that use our home as their home. Edited by Annie
Nickoloff
tottencs.bsky.social
I just backed this! It's a brilliant new project highlighting voices and stories of Southern Appalachia with wide-ranging art styles from acclaimed comics creators.
appalachiacomics.bsky.social
94% funded! Coming down to the wire. Help and Get one on one chats with your favorite creators like @brianmbendis.bsky.social (&signed books!), Matt Fraction, @ronmarz.bsky.social, or even have @andrewaydin.bsky.social help you with your nonfiction comics idea. www.kickstarter.com/projects/app...
Islands in the Sky
A Comic Anthology - Uniting Stories, Art, and Survival in the Wake of Hurricane Helene
www.kickstarter.com
Reposted by Clara Totten
audrajwolfe.bsky.social
Also: Most readers skip them. Even if you think you’re giving voice to your subjects, readers are less likely to take away meaning from an unparsed block quote than from interpretive text. It’s your job, as (nonfiction) author, to explain the interpretation to the reader.
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
Just about every block quote in a manuscript is a failure.
Reposted by Clara Totten
amlibraryassoc.bsky.social
Congrats to @mychal3ts.bsky.social for making the inaugural #TIME100Creators list!
Influence comes in many forms, but Mychal’s is the kind that lifts people up. He’s a force for good in the world, spreading kindness, curiosity, and library joy.
📚💙
time.com/collections/...
Mychal Threets: TIME100 Creators 2025
Find out why Mychal Threets is on the list
time.com
tottencs.bsky.social
My campus walk today took me to the parking lot at Kent State where students were gunned down on May 4, 1970. Always a visceral reminder of how threatened some feel by the expression of constitutional rights—and how critical it is that we honor these students’ legacies.
A rectangular space in a parking lot outlined by pink granite and short pillars. It outlines the spot where Jeffrey Miller was shot by National Guardsmen on the Kent State University campus on May 4, 1970. A triangular marker made of pink granite that says. “May 4, 1970 Jeffrey Miller.” There are a couple small, handmade lanterns in the foreground and, near the middle of the picture, a small, pink Himalayan salt chunk.
Reposted by Clara Totten
ksupress.bsky.social
Happy pub day to Martin Bush, whose book “Deadbeats, Dead Balls, and the 1914 Boston Braves” is now available!

www.kentstateuniversitypress.com/2024/deadbea...
Deadbeats, Dead Balls, and the 1914 Boston Braves being held against a summery background.