April 2024 PNP Roundup
Last Month in Review
Greetings, dear readers! April is coming to a close, and we’re back with the monthly roundup!
Here are some of my favorite media I’ve consumed over the past month on writing, productivity, and managing all the things. Some of this content is new, some of it is old, but all of it has kernels of wisdom for busy academic writers.
1. These are the Publish Not Perish posts from April, in case you missed any:
2. One of my goals for Publish Not Perish is to expand my offerings to include perspectives and experiences outside of my own. I would love to have your voice in the mix!
Do you have a suggestion for a writing, research, or time management topic that will allow you to write more or simply live better? Do you have a distinct viewpoint that is different from mine and that others might find useful to hear?
Everyone is welcome to pitch, including graduate students, postdocs, junior and senior scholars, freelancers, adjuncts, independent scholars, etc.
I'd love to get pitches that deal with the following topics in some way, but I am open to others as well:
Writing academic work in a language other than your first
Managing writing and academic life as an adjunct or freelancer
Working with multiple co-authors
Working in academia in non-western contexts
Writing in the academy while Black, Latinx, Indigenous, disabled, neurodivergent, and/or while having other marginalized identities
Personal experiences of imposter syndrome, perfectionism, or procrastination
Other ideas?
Right now, I can offer $50 USD for a 1000–1800 word post or two one-year paid subscriptions to the newsletter (a $120 USD value)—you can keep one and give one away, or give away both paid subscriptions! As Publish Not Perish grows in paid subscriptions, so will the payment for the guest posts.
To submit a pitch, please use this Google Form.
3. ’s Culture Study is a consistent gem. They posted two great pieces this month about the relationship between passion and burnout. The first is an interview with Erin A. Cech, who just published The Trouble with Passion: How Searching for Fulfillment at Work Foster’s Inequality. Here’s Erin’s description of the book:
In the United States, and in many other postindustrial countries, who we are, and how others see us, is entwined with what we do for our paid employment. When children are asked that perennial question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” they are supposed to answer it with some kind of occupation, rather than a personal quality or a family or community goal.
In turn, the “best work” is work that is fulfilling and self-expressive—work that feels like an extension of us.
With all its popularity across education level, class, race, and gender, I argue that this cultural priority of “following your passion” turns out to be an important mechanisms perpetuating socioeconomic inequality among college-goers, the college educated, and beyond.
In Petersen’s follow-up post, she further discusses the concept of passion work, its gendered dimensions, and how working conditions for passion workers lead to burnout. She focuses specifically on K–12 teaching burnout rates.
I highly recommend both posts and find them extremely relevant to academia. Many of us entered this profession because we were passionate about research and/or teaching, or just our topics of study in general. While I cannot imagine not following my passions at work and am certainly making this a cornerstone of my new business venture, I am also keenly aware of how passion can be exploited and lead to burnout.
4. Speaking of burnout, check out
’s newsletter post on How to think about burnout and academia. She provides perspective on how burnout doesn’t have a monopoly in academia but can manifest in specific ways. For example, she suggestsBe mindful of some particular burnout risks within academia. For some people academia may have heightened risks of burnout due to how it is often idealized. We go into academic careers imagining the joys of research and writing without appreciating the frustrations (shout out to anyone who has dealt with an unhelpful research ethics board!) and the tedium. We go into academic careers imagining the eager, intellectually-motivated students we remember our past selves to be and are confronted by students motivated by future employment anxieties, disinterested in the subject matter, and/or trying to balance their studies with employment, family, and health demands.
I also appreciate Loleen's recommendation that we avoid contributing to the burnout culture. I remember running into a couple of colleagues in the elevator one day, and they both mentioned how much they were working late into the evening due to their busy schedules. When they asked how I was doing, I told them I was also swamped.
Funny thing was, I wasn’t actually swamped in that moment and had a good night’s sleep the night before. I just felt compelled to sympathize with them and demonstrate my commitment to my work by stating that I was also drowning.
I made it a point from then on to never say I was overwhelmed or stretched thin when I wasn’t. If I am doing well, I will say so. We must stop glorifying overwork as a symbol of dedication to our jobs.
5. What’s the difference between an acquisitions editor and a series editor at an academic press? Here’s a useful breakdown from Katelyn E. Knox and Allison Van Deventer.
6. Watching the many student protests that have erupted across US campuses, including my own, over the last few weeks has made me both concerned for their safety and hopeful for the future.
It reminds me of an interesting summary of Kendra Thomas's research on hope vs. optimism, which she discusses in The Conversation. She writes,
Hope, in other words, plays the long game: enduring suffering with integrity….it manifests in hardship and is refined in adversity. Hope enables communities to march for justice and democracy even while tasting the danger of dictatorship, apartheid or oligarchy.
I suggest giving it a read if you need a reminder why we continue to hope.