The University of Washington Press was pleased to welcome Justine Sargent as an acquisitions fellow this past fall. Most recently, Justine interned at Getty Publications after receiving a BA in English and a Minor in Film, Television, and Digital Media from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research interests include 19th–20th century British and Irish literature, Victorian studies, Gothic and horror studies, queer and feminist theory, gender and sexuality studies, medical humanities, and film and media studies.
Below, we catch up with her to hear about her academic and professional paths, her work in the acquisitions department, and some of her favorite UW Press projects.
Can you tell us about your background and what led you to academic publishing?
I grew up in California and attended UCLA, where I completed an undergraduate thesis on Victorian horror fiction and became exposed to academic publications in the process. During my senior year, I wanted to learn more about the editorial side of research, so I spent my final quarters as a developmental editor for UCLA’s undergraduate research journal for humanities, arts, and social sciences.
Immediately after graduation, I interned at Getty Publications as part of the Getty Marrow Undergraduate Internship program. During this time, I had informational interviews with acquisitions editors and assistants, and began to pursue work in academic publishing. One of my mentors at Getty, senior editor Ruth Lane, sent me the acquisitions fellow job posting last fall, and I’ve been at the press since November!
What does a typical day look like for you as an acquisitions fellow?
As a fellow, I handle a lot of the day-to-day work as an assistant in the acquisitions department, which includes preparing book proposal records, facilitating with peer review processes, drafting meeting memos, and making sure that projects are transmitted to our design and production teams on time. The fellowship is great in that it provides a very thorough introduction to acquisitions editorial and allows me to understand the processes and field of academic publishing more largely.
Has working at the press changed the way you think about publishing?
It really has. I’ve garnered a larger appreciation for the work that researchers do to produce manuscripts, and I’m perpetually in awe of how the staff at UW Press and in academic publishing generally can juggle so many projects and tasks at once. After working in museum publishing, I’m also struck by how differently book publishing can look across different fields, subjects, and forms. One of the things that surprised me the most was how far ahead editors must plan for their projects—they sometimes contract authors for projects years in advance.
What projects at UW Press are you most excited about?
I am very excited about the projects in the Critical Filipinx Studies series. The book Caring for Caregivers: Filipina Migrant Workers and Community Building during Crisis is especially important to me, since my Filipina grandmother worked as a caregiver for many years in California. It is also the first book in that series! There are more projects in the works, of course, but more information to come soon.
I’m also really excited about the release of the forthcoming Transpacific, Undisciplined and look forward to reading the newly released Botany of Empire in the Feminist Technosciences series.
Any advice for recent graduates who are also interested in pursuing a career in publishing?
For recent graduates, I would suggest leveraging your publishing network as much as possible. During my Getty internship, I had many informational interviews with editors and assistants across publishing, including museum, trade, and academic publishing. It was only by talking to professionals that I really learned about the material work of publishing, job opportunities, and how to present myself as effectively as possible as an entry-level candidate. I also had my mentors and professors review my application materials for feedback, which was very useful.
Finally, what are you reading and enjoying these days?
Most recently, for nonfiction, I’ve read Legacy Russell’s Glitch Feminism and Sara Ahmed’s Queer Phenomenology, which are both great reads. For fiction, I’m halfway through Rachel Cusk’s novel The Country Life, which is a satire that draws from Jane Eyre.
I also watched Park Chan-wook’s adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel The Sympathizer on HBO recently, and I recommend it to those who are looking for a quick, but great, watch.
Justine Sargent can be reached at mdfellow@uw.edu.
