The Elusive Crossover Book: Writing for Broad Audiences and the Changing Ecology of University Publishing

The crossover book—so called because it crosses over from academic to general audiences—has become a buzzword for scholars looking to publish, for editors and publishers at university presses, and for scholars hoping to explore writing and publishing beyond the monograph. But what is it? Why are publishers asking for it? Why might scholars be looking to write it? In this workshop, Yale University Press senior editor Jessie Kindig will discuss the elements of a crossover book and the rapidly changing ecology of publishing and of scholarship.

Jessie Kindig is Senior Editor for the Humanities at Yale University Press, a contributing editor at the feminist magazine Lux, and an associate faculty member at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research. Previously, she was an editor at Verso Books, a visiting assistant professor of history at Indiana University, and book review editor for the Journal of American History. Her writing and criticism has appeared in The New Republic, n+1, the New York Review of Books, The Point, The Baffler, Lux, Orion, and elsewhere. She is the editor of The Verso Book of Feminism (Verso, 2020) and holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Washington.

Lunch will be served: registration required. This event is open to all Yale faculty and postdoctoral fellows.