EASR Publishing Roundtable
Channel: Religious Studies Project
Date: 2019-10-28

This panel, recorded at the EASR conference 2019 at the University of Tartu, is intended for PhD students and early career scholars who want to learn more about the publishing world and ask experienced editors and successful young scholars about issues related to publishing as such. The roundtable panellists include two distinguished journal editors, two editors from well-known publishers and two young scholars of religion:

Michael Stausberg (editor of “Religion” and two book series about religion)
Gregory D. Alles (editor of “Numen”)
Joshua Wells (Routledge)
Valerie Hall (Equinox)
Jenny Butler (University College Cork)
James White (University of Tartu)
The panel will be chaired by Suzanne Owen (Leeds Trinity University)

The roundtable was organized by the Estonian Society for the Study of Religions and University of Tartu in cooperation with RSP, and was supported by the European Regional Developmental Fund (through Enterprise Estonia). We thank them for their generous help to produce this resource.

Timestamps for major questions:
6:08 - Q: “How did you first get something published?”
11:42 - Q: “What’s your timeline from submission to acceptance to publication?”
21:25 - Q: “Is it better to approach a series editor or a topic editor for monographs?”
27:00 - Q: “Do you have suggestions for scholars outside of the core areas of religious studies and would like to publish in the field.”
37:15 - Q: “How do we address the 21st century’s challenges for printed items and audiences that may be mostly online?”
34:10 - Q: “What are we saying to authors to address the (commercial) aspects of the new publishing landscape?”
37:00 - Q: “What’s the process of reviewing and its stages?”
45:00 - Q: “How do you deal with the difference of knowledge production between Global North and Global South, as in the cost of publications for authors and access for readers?”
53:30 - Q: “What’s your single-most important advice for authors thinking about submitting their work to a press?”