Class Stratification and Contracts (Presentation Slides)

Class Stratification and Contracts Gianna Mosser, Vanderbilt University Press

Acquisitions editors and contract departments are the main conduits by which academic authors negotiate their book contracts. Yet the practices around how contracts are discussed and decoded vary widely, as do authors' comfort level with understanding what they are reading and committing to when they work with an academic publisher. I will discuss ways to center equity principles of transparency, agency, and access when negotiating contracts with authors, as well as aspects of book contracts that can cause friction during collaboration and ways to think otherwise.

Gianna Mosser is the director of Vanderbilt University Press, where she acquires in Black studies, literature in translation, and theater and performance studies.