The phrase “Publish or perish” resonates for far too many faculty and staff in higher education. It’s all a matter of timing: finding the right topic, the right publication or publisher, and the right time. When it comes to the art of the edited collection, you can create an opportunity for yourself and other contributors to synthesize the collective’s ideas and expertise for the betterment of readers. This roundtable will provide a platform for contributors and editors to discuss how they synchronized diverse perspectives, managed the evolution of themes, and navigated the practicalities of peer review and publisher expectations. Whether you’re creating the opportunity or responding to a call with your own take on the subject, everyone plays a role and has a story to tell from their experience.

This session is an opportunity to look at our intellectual/academic community, which aligns perfectly with the spirit of this conference. The potential chairs of this session originally met through a NeMLA panel that went on to become an award-winning collection with McFarland, with a sequel on the way. If it hadn’t been for that opportunity to network and find areas of common interest, our collection would not have happened.

For NeMLA’s attendees, especially early-career researchers, this transparency is meant to demystify one aspect of academic publishing and show how they can transition a solitary scholarly piece into a shared pedagogical resource. We want to highlight how various chapters can speak to one another in ways that might not be immediately apparent on the page. A roundtable encourages a more conversational and inclusive atmosphere than a standard panel; it’s an invitation to the audience to engage with the publishing process as a living project rather than a static artifact, which could stimulate future collaborations and innovative approaches to collective writing.

This roundtable seeks to provide a platform for contributors and editors to discuss how they synchronized diverse perspectives, managed the evolution of themes, and navigated the practicalities of peer review and publisher expectations when developing an edited collection. Whether you’re creating the opportunity by posting an RFP or responding to a call with your own take on the subject, everyone is playing a role and has a story to tell from their experience. Proposals should be transparent about the process and demystify this aspect of academic publishing.

The conference is being held by the Northeast Modern Language Association and will take place March 6-9, 2023, 2027 in Newport, RI.

Important Note on Modality: This roundtable is virtual only. All presentations will be delivered via Zoom regardless of whether the presenters are in-person.

NeMLA uses a user-based system to process abstract submissions. Interested scholars should submit 250-word abstracts to co-chairs Lindsay Bryde and Tommy Mayberry through the NeMLA website using the link: https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/22322.

For questions about the new submission system, you can contact NeMLA web support here: websupport@nemla.org.Questions specific to the panel can be sent to Lindsay.Bryde@gmail.com.