DP&L Episode 228 - Short Form Academic Books
Defend, Publish & Lead Podcast
Release Date: 05/17/2025
DP&L Episode 246: Three Lessons from Tuesday Toolbox
Defend, Publish & Lead Podcast
In Episode 246 Christine Tulley, Defend, Publish & Lead President and Executive Writing Coach, shares three insights the Tuesday Toolbox writing initiative including: Academic writing benefits from formulas as starting points, writing sessions need single focuses beyond project selection (like argument clarity or sentence variety), and surprisingly, academic writers lack opportunities to regularly refresh their writing skills. Christine encourages listeners to actively seek ways to strengthen their craft through resources and continuous learning. Related Episodes Resources...
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DP&L Episode 245: Leave Margin
Defend, Publish & Lead Podcast
This episode describes the critical importance of building adequate margin into academic schedules. After a week that went "off the rails" due to unexpected emergencies including children's health issues, emergency dental work, and even a mouse invasion, Christine Tulley, President and Executive Writing Coach at Defend, Publish & Lead, discovered that while she thought she had built sufficient 30-minute buffers into her daily schedule, she hadn't accounted for how tightly stacked her days were against each other. When one day explodes due to emergencies, there's insufficient margin in...
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DP&L Episode 244: Make a Weekly Template and Adjust
Defend, Publish & Lead Podcast
This episode demonstrates the importance of creating realistic weekly templates rather than making assumptions about available writing time and compares before and after templates after first mapping an ideal week and then making real time adjustments based on the semester’s workload, demonstrating how templates require ongoing refinement based on actual workflow patterns rather than theoretical scheduling. Related Episodes: Previous episodes on 242 and 237 Resources Mentioned: Weekly template download - available in show notes for creating personalized schedules (save as...
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DP&L Episode 243: Just Look (and Notice with a Comment)
Defend, Publish & Lead Podcast
In this gentle re-entry strategy episode, DP&L President and Executive Writing Coach, Christine Tulley shares a low-pressure approach for returning to scholarly writing after extended breaks, particularly useful at the beginning of semesters when writers feel disconnected from their projects. Her “just look and notice” method involves reading through manuscripts without committing to write new content, simply observing structural issues, incomplete sections, or organizational problems, then using the comment function to leave targeted notes and generative questions that create...
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DP&L Episode 242: Teaching Overload
Defend, Publish & Lead Podcast
This episode provides practical strategies for systematic organization through visual systems (using color-coding in Canvas to distinguish primary sections from copies) and strategic time blocking for competing priorities (dedicating specific days to writing, grading, and administrative tasks). Christine Tulley, President and Executive Writing Coach of Defend, Publish & Lead, demonstrates creating sustainable rhythms during overload semesters by establishing non-negotiable time blocks: Mondays for writing (6-8 hours weekly), Tuesday/Thursday for grading and student responses, Wednesday...
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DP&L Episode 241: Write the First Week of Class (Again)
Defend, Publish & Lead Podcast
This episode emphasizes establishing scholarly writing habits during the first week of classes before semester demands overwhelm available time and energy. Acknowledging the natural tendency to prioritize immediate teaching concerns over scholarly writing, Christine Tulley, President and Executive Writing Coach, provides a strategic framework for habit formation through early commitment (establishing writing routines by week three when semester patterns solidify) and contextual project matching (aligning writing projects with realistic time constraints and energy levels). She advocates for...
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DP&L Episode 240: The Tuesday Toolbox
Defend, Publish & Lead Podcast
This episode introduces the innovative Tuesday Toolbox, a new weekly writing support initiative designed to provide academic writers with practical, immediately usable tools and strategies throughout the semester. Recognizing that faculty need consistent writing support but lack time for lengthy resources, the Tuesday Toolbox delivers 5-minute video lessons every Tuesday for 14 weeks each semester (fall starting August 25th, spring starting January 26th), covering writing techniques, productivity strategies, paragraph construction, methodology development, and revision approaches that writers...
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DP&L Episode 239: Professional Development Funding
Defend, Publish & Lead Podcast
This episode addresses a challenging landscape of academic professional development funding in 2025, offering a priority-based framework for maximizing limited resources amid budget cuts and funding uncertainty. Christine’s systematic approach begins with the "number one priority test" (identifying resources you'd pay for personally), moves to immediate commitments like fall conference registrations and organizational memberships, then productivity tools and resources such as specialized software or methodology training, and concludes with strategic remainder spending on non-expiring...
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DP&L Episode 238: When You Can't Do Revisions That Are Requested
Defend, Publish & Lead Podcast
In this nuanced revision strategy episode, President and executive writing coach Christine Tulley addresses the complex decision-making process academics face when confronted with revision requests they cannot or will not complete. Drawing from extensive client experience and personal examples, she provides a systematic framework for evaluating revision feedback that honors both scholarly integrity and practical publishing realities, while acknowledging that sometimes walking away from a publication opportunity represents the most appropriate professional choice. Related Episodes: ...
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DP&L Episode 237: New Year Academic Writing Goals
Defend, Publish & Lead Podcast
This episode presents a comprehensive four-component framework for setting meaningful academic writing goals for the new year. This includes conducting an annual productivity assessment to evaluate completed projects and realistic time allocation (Component 1), strategic schedule architecture that involves proactive calendar blocking and identifying optimal writing windows (Component 2), continuous learning integration through weekly exposure to writing development resources and techniques (Component 3), and holistic writing load management that considers all academic writing tasks including...
info_outlineIn this informative episode, President and executive writing coach Christine Tulley interviews coach Heather Witcher about the growing trend of short form academic books. Learn what these publications are, who they're for, and why they're becoming increasingly popular among academic presses. Heather shares her personal experience publishing in Palgrave's Pivot series and offers valuable insights about the proposal process for these focused, timely works.
This episode explores how short form books provide an excellent option for niche topics that may be too focused for traditional monographs but too extensive for journal articles. At 30,000-50,000 words, these publications occupy the perfect middle ground while still counting as book publications for most universities. Discover how these more accessible texts are aimed at both academic and general audiences, requiring authors to demonstrate current relevance and impact.
DP&L Resources
- Don't miss our upcoming FREE webinar! Join us Tuesday, May 20th at noon Eastern for a detailed workshop on "Short Form Book Proposals" with Heather Witcher. Learn specific writing strategies for developing these shorter academic works. Register now as seats are still available! If you miss the live event, email [email protected] for a recording.
- The Textbook and Academic Authors Association (TAA) is sponsoring their Academic Authoring Conference on June 6-7, with registration still open. Don't miss their free pre-conference workshop on Thursday, June 5th featuring Danielle Stevens' session "Book Proposals: 5 Myths and 5 Action Steps" - a perfect complement to our short form books webinar!
- Need personalized support with your book proposals? Our team of experienced writing coaches can help you develop strategies tailored to your needs. Email [email protected] to learn more.