A practical guide for scholars ready to write beyond the academy.

Public scholarship should not be reserved for celebrity intellectuals or tenured faculty at elite institutions. Its designed for anyone who wants to share their academic work and engage with the public beyond the classroom or conference panel. In The Public Scholar, historian and journalist David M. Perry offers a clear, candid, and practical guide to writing for public audiences.

Rather than debating whether academics should write for the public, Perry focuses on the practical details of how to approach public scholarship. How do you pitch a piece to an editor? What counts as evidence in a 900-word op-ed? When should you follow or ignore the rules of the genre? And what happens once your piece is out in the world? Covering the full life cycle of public writing, Perry walks readers through pitching, writing, editing, publishing, building a platform, and navigating the real-world risks and rewards that come with stepping into the public sphere. As the author of multiple best-selling books and over five hundred essays, Perry shares insights that are direct, hard-won, and refreshingly honest. He explains how public-facing work can support an academic career, how it can provide leverage for tenure and promotion, and, importantly, how it can also live outside traditional institutional paths.

Perrys accessible approach invites scholars at all stages to consider what public engagement might look like in their own lives. Whether youre hoping to write for major newspapers, connect with communities beyond your discipline, or simply make your research more visible, The Public Scholar offers the right tools to help you get started.

David M. Perry is the associate director of undergraduate studies in history at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. The author of Sacred Plunder: Venice and the Aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, he is the coauthor of The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe and Oathbreakers: The War of Brothers That Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe.

Table of Contents Introduction 1. Chapter 1: Going Public - Four Lessons 1. Move Fast 2. Lose Control 3. Write Broadly 4. Write Anything 2. Chapter 2: The Pitch 1. Subject Line 2. Biography 3. Argument 4. Context 5. Pitch Examples 6. Where and When to Pitch 3. Chapter 3: The Essay 1. Audience 2. Template 3. The Lede and the Hook 4. Argument 5. Context and Positioning 6. Evidence and Examples 7. Pre-rebuttal 8. Kicker 9. Examples 4. Chapter 4: Before and After Publication 1. Asking to be paid 2. Working with Editors 3. Social Media 4. Harassment 5. Writing the Next Piece 5. Chapter 5: Expanding your writing 1. Reviews 2. Literary Nonfiction 3. Blogging and Newsletters 4. Podcasting and Video 5. Journalism 6. Talking to Journalists: Being Interviewed 7. Talking to Journalists: Press Releases 8. Trade Books 6. Chapter 6: Public Engagement in 21st Century Academia 1. Making it count for Hiring, Tenure, and Promotion 2. A Small Manifesto

A practical guide for scholars ready to write beyond the academy.

David Perry is one of the most trusted voices on how to think, write, and work in public. He has a clear ethic about the critical importance of intellectual labor at a moment when the risks of being public have rarely been greater, and the reasons why academics must risk it have rarely been so clear.
—Tressie McMillan Cottom, New York Times columnist, author of Thick: And Other Essays

The Public Scholar is a wonderfully reliable guide to things many academics dont know about—like working on 48-hour deadlines and negotiating with editors over multiple drafts. Its fun to read, too.
—Michael Bérubé, coauthor of Its Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and the Future of Academic Freedom

Too many of our leading scholars and scientists write and speak only for each other. David Perry provides a primer for effective public intellectual engagement. The Public Scholar is an indispensable guide for scholars eager to enter the public discourse.
—Peter J. Hotez, author of The Deadly Rise of Anti-science: A Scientists Warning

When it comes to public writing, no one is as practical, as helpful, or as good on the nuts and bolts as David Perry. He explains exactly how to break in, how to communicate with a general audience, and how to thrive and grow as a public scholar. This is the book I wish Id had when I started out!
—Irina Dumitrescu, Times Literary Supplement columnist, author of The Experience of Education in Anglo-Saxon Literature

Writing for the public entails great risks yet offers significant rewards. But nothing is guaranteed. David Perry is the best possible guide to the enterprise. This book reflects and demonstrates his clear style, his professional savvy, and his commitment to engage a broad audience with deep ideas. Democracy and the academy would be better off if all scholars read this book.
—Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy

Its a particular treat to encounter a book that fills a need you werent, to be honest, aware existed and then, right from the first page, to find that its as practical, super-smart, and adroitly written as David M. Perrys The Public Scholar. Heres an invaluable guide to capitalizing in the best possible ways on your own talent and academic erudition and making a place and a name for yourself in the larger world, covering everything from figuring out what your niche (or niches) might be, to how to attract and maintain the attention of publishing venues, even to coping with editing and reader feedback, whether its accolades or threats. Perry knows his stuff, and hes walked the walk with the best of them. If youre a writer—any sort of a writer, really—in search of an audience, you will find so much thats invaluable in this candid, spirited, and openhearted handbook.
—Benjamin Dreyer, author of Dreyers English