Events
Engage, learn, and collaborate at the forefront of academic publishingUpcoming events

Marketing Your First Book
April 13, 2026
Part of the Ideas on Fire First Book Publishing Series
Speakers: Allison Means (University of Iowa Press), Cameron Ludwick (Duke University Press), Cathy Hannabach (Ideas on Fire)
Learn how to create compelling book descriptions, build your author platform, leverage online and offline marketing tactics, and build lasting networks to ensure your first book makes a big impact.

Getting Paid through US University Vendor Systems
April 21, 2026
Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Speakers: Cathy Hannabach
Learn how US university vendor systems work, what documentation they typically require, and how to streamline your setup so payments don’t get stuck in administrative limbo.

Editing and Indexing for Multilingual Authors
May 13, 2026
Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Speakers: Cathy Hannabach
Explore how editors and indexers can support authors writing in English as a second or third language while maintaining clarity, precision, and voice.

New and Favorite Editing/Indexing Resources
June 9, 2026
Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Speakers: Cathy Hannabach
Discover new dictionaries, style guides, handbooks, websites, glossaries, or databases that can be game-changers in your editing and indexing workflows.

When to Query vs. When to Fix
July 7, 2026
Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Speakers: Cathy Hannabach
Refine your judgment on when to fix, query, or leave manuscript issues, navigating gray areas with confidence and care.
Time Tracking, Estimating, and Scoping Projects
August 12, 2026
Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Speakers: Cathy Hannabach
Build confidence in estimating complex projects, setting realistic timelines, and using past data to forecast future workload.

Managing Figures in Scholarly Work
September 8, 2026
Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Speakers: Cathy Hannabach
Develop strategies for managing figures, including checking for consistency, ensuring accessibility, aligning captions and references, handling permissions, and formatting index entries.

Collaborating Across the Editorial–Indexing Handoff
October 6, 2026
Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Speakers: Cathy Hannabach
Improve the editorial–indexing handoff, including what information should move between the two stages, how to flag issues that impact both, and how to handle late-stage author changes that affect the index.

New and Favorite Editing/Indexing Tools
November 10, 2026
Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Speakers: Cathy Hannabach
Discover new editing and indexing tools, including new macros that speed up cleanup, project management apps to keep you on track, and analog solutions to organize your business.

Editorial Goal Setting for 2027
December 8, 2026
Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Speakers: Cathy Hannabach
Celebrate your 2026 editorial successes and set strategic goals for 2027 professional growth.
Past events
2026 events
Working Productively with an Editorial Team
- January 20, 2026
- Speakers: Miranda Baur and Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire First Book Publishing Series
- Watch the video
Crafting a Successful First Book Proposal
- January 30, 2026
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication, University of Pennsylvania
Macro-Level Cohesion for Edited Collections
- January 27, 2026
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Developmental Editing for Anthropologists
- February 5, 2026
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Community of Writing Fellows, Society for the Anthropology of Work and the Anthropology of Work Review
Navigating Peer Review on Your First Book
- February 10, 2026
- Speakers: Elizabeth Ault, Shaun Vigil, and Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire First Book Publishing Series
- Watch the video
Editorial Business System Backups and Redundancies
- February 25, 2026
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Publishing in a Series for Your First Book
- March 2, 2026
- Speakers: Jennifer C. Nash, Adrienne Shaw, Chris Barcelos, and Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire First Book Publishing Series
- Watch the video
WTF Is Word Doing?!
- March 17, 2026
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Stream Decks in Editorial Workflows
- March 31, 2026
- Presented by Rita Forbes
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Ink Under Siege: How Scholars and Editors Are Keeping Critical Work in Print
- April 11, 2026
- Speakers: M. Gabriela Torres (Feminist Anthropology), Alyssa Napier (Columbia University Press), Naja Pulliam Collins (University of California Press), Suzanna Walters (Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society), and Cathy Hannabach
- SPARK's Future World Changers in the Academy conference
2025 events
Editorial Project Management Tools
- January 14, 2025
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Recent Trends in Scholarly Publishing
- February 4, 2025
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
AI and Academic Editing
- March 18, 2025
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Supporting Authors with Underdeveloped Manuscripts
- April 8, 2025
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Macros for Copyediting
- June 10, 2025
- Presented by Rachel Fudge
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Professional Growth for Mid-Career and Senior Editors and Indexers
- July 8, 2025
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Creating Style Sheets That Work
- August 12, 2025
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Finding the Right Publisher for Your First Book
- October 8, 2025
- Speakers: Dawn Durante, Dominique Moore, Mike Baccam, and Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire First Book Publishing Series
- Watch the video
Ensuring Legibility in Interdisciplinary Texts
- October 14, 2025
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Crafting a Winning First Book Proposal
- November 10, 2025
- Speakers: Sara Cohen, Alyssa Napier, Noah Springer, and Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire First Book Publishing Series
- Watch the video
Academic Editing and Indexing Tools
- November 12, 2025
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Editorial Goal Setting for 2026
- December 2, 2025
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
2024 events
Editing and Indexing Cross-Training
- January 23, 2024
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Crafting a Successful Academic Book Proposal
- February 14, 2024
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication, University of Pennsylvania
Exploring Indexing Workflows
- February 27, 2024
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Editing Crossover and Trade Books by Scholarly Authors
- March 26, 2024
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Writing Dissertation-to-Book Manuscript Reviews
- May 21, 2024
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Academic Editing and Indexing Tools
- July 23, 2024
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Working with (Not Against) an Author’s Voice
- August 21, 2024
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Getting the Most Out of Conference Travel
- August 27, 2024
- Presented by Laura Poole
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Editing Interdisciplinary Scholarly Book Proposals
- September 17, 2024
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
What’s New in CMOS 18
- October 8, 2024
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Writing Retreat for Arts Research with Communities of Color Fellows
- October 15–18, 2024
- Designed by Cathy Hannabach
- New Orleans, LA
- Hosted by the Social Science Research Council
Editorial Goal Setting for 2025
- December 3, 2024
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Optimizing Index Cross References and Double Postings
- December 11, 2024
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
2023 events
Writing Editorial Reports and Manuscript Reviews
- February 7, 2023
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automation for Editors and Indexers
- March 9, 2023
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Planning a Successful Non-Academic Job Search
- March 25, 2023
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- University of Colorado, Boulder
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automation for Editors and Indexers
- April 28, 2023
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Editors Canada/Editorial Freelancers Association Academic Editing chapter
Planning a Successful Non-Academic Job Search
- May 10, 2023
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Palah Lab, The New School
Onboarding and Offboarding Client Projects
- June 21, 2023
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Navigating US University Vendor Systems
- July 5, 2023
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Mentoring for Academic Editors
- July 19, 2023
- Presented by Rachel Fudge
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Are Editorial Agencies Right for You?
- August 17, 2023
- Presented by Cynthia Williams and Cathy Hannabach
- Editorial Freelancers Association conference, Alexandria, VA
Editing as Worldmaking: Critical Generosity in Editorial Practice
- August 18, 2023
- Keynote address by Ideas on Fire CEO Cathy Hannabach
- Editorial Freelancers Association conference, Alexandria, VA
- Read the speech
Low Tech, High Tech, and Mixed Tech for Editors
- September 21, 2023
- Presented by Laura Poole
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Feminist Futures of Peer Review
- September 25, 2023
- Speakers: Josen Masangkay Diaz, April D.J. Petillo, Dolores Ines Castillo, and Cathy Hannabach
- Watch the video
Fall Refresh: Copyediting Scholarly Manuscripts
- October 25, 2023
- Presented by Rachel Fudge and Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Developmentally Editing Interdisciplinary Academic Book Proposals
- November 6, 2023
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Editorial Self-Assessment: Reflecting at Year's End
- December 4, 2023
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
2022 events
Reference Editing Tricks
- January 24, 2022
- Presented by Rachel Fudge and Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Introduction to Editing Macros
- February 28, 2022
- Presented by Rachel Fudge
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Publishing Your Book During a Global Pandemic
- March 25, 2022
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ergonomincs for Editors and Indexers
- April 12, 2022
- Presented by Laura Poole
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Juggling Multiple Editorial Projects and Schedules
- July 25, 2022
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Getting the Most Out of Editorial Project Management Tools
- August 17, 2022
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Copyediting AAA Journals
- September 6, 2022
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Introduction to Interdisciplinary Indexing
- October 3, 2022
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Freelancing While Parenting
- October 25, 2022
- Presented by Rachel Fudge
- Part of the Ideas on Fire Editorial Professional Development Series
Writing a Successful First Book Proposal
- December 8, 2022
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication, University of Pennsylvania
2021 events
Podcasting for Academia
- March 10–April 28, 2021
- Podcast instruction and assessment by Cathy Hannabach
- CEU GmbH–CEU Central European University
Editing Scholarship for Your Colleagues and Yourself
- April 16, 2021
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Stanford University
2020 events
Taking Your Scholarship Public
- September 29, 2020
- Plenary by Cathy Hannabach
- Publication Development Forum
2019 events
Academic Politics for New and Contingent Faculty
- February 4, 2019
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Making Career Decisions in an Era of Uncertainty
- March 4, 2019
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
A Farewell to Ibid.: Editing Footnotes
- March 28, 2019
- Presented by Sarah Grey and Cathy Hannabach
- ACES Society for Editing conference, Providence, RI
Surviving Job Burnout in the Academy and Beyond
- April 9, 2019
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Doing Meaningful Community-Engaged Scholarship and Teaching
- June 4, 2019
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Your Public Voice Workshop
- July 8–31, 2019
- Partnership with Dismantle Magazine
Moving to a New City (Again) and Settling In
- July 9, 2019
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Writing a Student-Centered Syllabus that Saves You Time
- August 6, 2019
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Tips for Teaching toward Inclusive Excellence
- October 1, 2019
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
How to Say No and Yes to Academic Service Requests
- November 5, 2019
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Managing the End-of-Semester Crunch with Energy to Spare
- December 3, 2019
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
2018 events
Getting the Most out of Writing Groups
- January 4, 2018
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Wellness for Academics and Other Cultural Workers
- January 8, 2019
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Setting Your Writing Routine
- February 5, 2018
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Beating the Mid-Semester Slump
- March 5, 2018
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Using Side Gigs to Explore Career Options
- April 9, 2018
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Publishing Your First Book
- April 13, 2018
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- University of Michigan
Writing for Research
- April 14, 2018
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- University of Michigan
Breaking into Academic Editing
- April 26, 2018
- Presented by Sarah Grey and Cathy Hannabach
- ACES Society for Editing conference, Chicago, IL
Planning Your Interdisciplinary Job Search
- May 3, 2018
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Yale University
Resisting Academic Busyness and Taking Weekends Off
- May 6, 2019
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Deciding Whether to Finish Your PhD
- May 7, 2017
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Your Interdisciplinary Writing Superpower
- May 12, 2018
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Nam Center for Korean Studies, University of Michigan
Cultural Studies Careers Workshop: Academic Editing
- May 31, 2018
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Cultural Studies Association conference, Pittsburgh, PA
Setting Summer Writing Goals
- June 5, 2018
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Moving Tips for Academics
- July 3, 2018
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Finding and Seizing Career Opportunities
- August 7, 2018
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
How to Get Re-inspired by an Old Project
- September 4, 2018
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Teaching Techniques to Save You Time and Energy
- October 9, 2019
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Social Media for Academics
- November 3, 2018
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Navigating Imposter Syndrome in Academia
- December 4, 2018
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
2017 events
Mapping Your Spring Semester
- January 11, 2017
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Work/Life Balance in the Context of Power
- January 30, 2017
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Early Dissertation Planning
- February 24, 2017
- Presented by Terry K. Park
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Writing a Successful Academic Book Proposal
- February 27, 2017
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Public Pedagogy
- March 8, 2017
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Working Well with Dissertation Committees and Advisors
- March 21, 2017
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
How to Organize Your Dissertation Chapters
- April 5, 2017
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Crafting Your Postac/Altac Career while in Grad School
- April 25, 2017
- Presented by Alexandra Sastre, Jenn Polk, and Cathy Hannabach
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Public Speaking for Academics and Other Non-Performers
- May 11, 2017
- Presented by Terry K. Park
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Podcasting and Public Intellectualism
- May 25, 2017
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Cultural Studies Association conference, Washington, DC
Cultural Studies Careers Workshop: Academic Editing
- May 27, 2017
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Cultural Studies Association conference, Washington, DC
Staying Motivated over the Summer
- May 31, 2017
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Writing for Non-Academic Audiences
- June 13, 2017
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Art and Community-Based Research
- June 21, 2017
- Presented by Aymar Jean Escoffery
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Writing Syllabi That Work
- July 5, 2017
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Rock Your First Semester of Grad School
- September 6, 2017
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Working Productively with an Editor
- September 22, 2017
- Presented by Sarah Grey and Cathy Hannabach
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Using Your Dissertation to Build a Non-Academic Career
- September 26, 2017
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Beyond the Professoriate
Podcasting as Public Intellectualism
- October 11, 2017
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Building Your Professional Community
- October 24, 2017
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Revising Seminar Papers into Publications
- November 2, 2017
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Turning Your Dissertation into a Book
- November 14, 2017
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Dealing with Rejection in Academia
- December 5, 2017
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
Money Management for Graduate Students
- December 19, 2017
- Presented by Kate Drabinski
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
2016 events
Rock Your Semester: Writing and Publishing
- April 1, 2016
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- University of Pittsburgh
Freelancing and Editorial Entrepreneurship
- May 7, 2016
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach (panelist)
- Beyond the Professoriate
Make It Work: Doing Cultural Studies Beyond the Academy
- June 2, 2016
- Speakers: Sarah Rebolloso McCullough, Terry K. Park, and Cathy Hannabach
- Cultural Studies Association conference, Philadelphia, PA
Self-Care at the End of the Semester
- December 7, 2016
- Presented by Julia Jordan-Zachery
- Part of Ideas on Fire’s Grad Interdisciplinary Scholarship Series
2015 events
Thrive Like Cult Studs: Cultural Studies Beyond the Academy
- June 2, 2015
- Panelist and organizer: Cathy Hannabach
Road Maps and Writing Routines
- October 6, 2015
- Presented by Cathy Hannabach
- University of California, Berkeley
