All posts by Letta Page

About Letta Page

Senior Managing Editor Contexts Magazine In Twitter terms, I self-present as a disarmingly earnest editor, translator of academia, portmanteuse, and domesticated roustabout. More professionally, I might say: I am the associate editor and producer of The Society Pages and a jargon-slayer for hire. The former managing editor and incoming senior managing editor of Contexts magazine (the public outreach journal of the American Sociological Association), I have over a decade of experience in academic editing across a range of disciplines. I've edited and written copy for publications from Oxford University Press, Routledge, Taylor & Francis, W.W. Norton, the University of Chicago Press, Cambridge University Press, and many others, along with dozens of journals. As a sort of fun "palate cleanser" (trust me, when you're editing books on neoliberalism and genocide, always good to have a fallback), I write copy for organizations like Stand Up! Records and I teach cardio barre fitness classes at Six Degrees Uptown. I also have a background in the visual arts and was a founder of First Amendment Arts in Minneapolis, MN. I hold degrees in history and classical studies from Boston University and an art degree from the University of Minnesota, and I enjoy making up words when necessary (or when it's simply a good idea). Click here to read my Friday Roundup posts on The Editors' Desk. Click here to read my contributions to Citings & Sightings.

The Art of Being Edited*

Clients, Editing, Reprints, Writing
Art once on display @commonroots
Art  @commonroots

This post originally appeared on TheSocietyPages.org.

A primer on getting the most out of the editing process, this short article assumes that you’re working on a journal submission, but is generally applicable to an op-ed you might be pitching, sample chapters for a book proposal, etc. I am also assuming you’ve already found an editor, but I’ll talk about that a little bit. As always, I take questions and additional recommendations—I’m positive I’ve overlooked, oh, about a hundred things. A hundred seems about right. Continue reading The Art of Being Edited* →

Jargon-Slaying

Editing, Writing, , , , ,
"Your wits are your only weapon here." Photo by Krista Kennedy, Flickr CC.
“Your wits are your only weapon in here.” Photo by Krista Kennedy, Flickr CC.

“What, precisely, does one use to slay jargon?” Dave asked.

“My wits!”

“That’s not… jargon-y.”

“Okay, I utilize the methodology inculcated by years of carefully calibrated pedagogical approaches…”

[seething annoyance] “Stop it.” [/seething annoyance] Continue reading Jargon-Slaying →

A Remembrance of Mike DeStefano

Clients, Reprints, Writing, , ,

Mike-DeStefano-190x306This piece was originally written for Stand Up! Records, for whom I am a copy writer and loyal laugher. Written, unbidden, just after hearing Mike had died, it’s still one of my favorite pieces. Hasty, but heartfelt.

Mike DeStefano, a light of compassion in a dark world, passed away on March 6, 2011. And just like he predicted in an interview on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast last December, it wasn’t drugs, disease, or his own hand. He had a heart attack and, just like that, we lost a friend. Continue reading A Remembrance of Mike DeStefano →

The Care and Feeding of Co-authors

Editing, Reprints, Writing, ,

10803691685_4404b76801_nThis post originally appeared on TheSocietyPages.org.

As Chris Uggen pointed out on the Twitters, it’s easy to disappoint your coworkers. Whether it’s producing actual Swedish Fish when a candy-mergency arises in a late-night writing session or dropping the ball when it’s your turn to write the lit review, there are just so many opportunities to co-write badly. Here’s my very quick editorial advice should you decide to undertake a co-authored project: Continue reading The Care and Feeding of Co-authors →

The Society Pages Book Series

Clients, Editing

Thanks to W.W. Norton & Company, my clients The Society Pages now have a full set of three published, edited volumes, with more to come (volumes on debt and culture are in the hopper already). Each draws on materials published as original features on our website and ties in content from our suite of blogs, The Community Pages, which include blockbusters Sociological Images, Cyborgology, Public Criminology, and Girl w/ Pen! Each book also has a companion website and a full discussion guide. Even better? It’s great scholarship at a trifling price ($15), and the originals remain online, for free, even when they make it into a volume. How lucky are we?

You, Sir, Are No Björn

Writing, , ,
Photo by Hannah Born, Flickr CC.
Photo by Hannah Born, Flickr CC.

A.K.A., “The Umlaut Story.” Told Feb. 23, 2014 at the MN Encyclopedia Show, Kieran’s Irish Pub.

First, I am so delighted. I just had a bowl of hot cheese, overheard that the famous scene from the “Warriors” where Luther from the Rogues calls out the eponymous gang was improvised, and found myself surrounded by cunning linguists. I’ve also been billed as an “expert.” As an editor, I suppose that’s true. Sometimes I do like to talk about grammar and punctuation in public. I’m just not used to the rebuttal portion.

Anyhow, I want to be real, you guys. The umlaut is not punctuation. I’ll give you a second to recover. The question that follows, naturally, is why am I here, at the Encyclopedia Show on punctuation night, talking about umlauts? Easy: sibling rivalry. But we’ll get to that. Continue reading You, Sir, Are No Björn →

About Me

About, ,

Letta PageIn Twitter terms, I self-present as a disarmingly earnest editor, translator of academia, portmanteuse, and domesticated roustabout.

More professionally, I might say: I am the associate editor and producer of The Society Pages, senior managing editor of Contexts, and a jargon-slayer for hire. My specialty is in helping authors identify and hone their argument in ways their target audiences can both understand and use. In this way, I’m a translator, consultant, writing coach, and editor all in one. Continue reading About Me →