Date:  Tue, 16 Apr 1996 16:47:58 -0400

From:  Allan Metcalf <AAllan[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM>

Subject: Writers wanted: American National Biography



The following is a legitimate notice from the offices of the American Council

of Learned Societies (to which ADS belongs). - Allan Metcalf



-----------------------------------------------



OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS IS IN NEED OF AUTHORS TO PROVIDE

   BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES ON FAMOUS AMERICANS FOR

   THE _AMERICAN NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY_



   The _American National Biography_, which is to be published by

   Oxford in 1998 in conjunction with the American Council of Learned

   Societies, will be a twenty-volume reference set comprising more

   than 19,000 articles on historical figures from all fields. We

   have been commissioning articles since 1990, and most of the

   articles (particularly major figures) have already been assigned.

   However, there are important figures in every area that remain

   without authors and it is our intention to locate writers for these

   remaining subjects.



   Historical figures from as far back as the earliest European

   explorations of North America up to the very recent past will be

   included. Those whose contributions to American culture and

   history that have often been neglected in the past will have a

   strong presence in the ANB. Along with the most famous

   politicians, military leaders, writers, and ministers, people from

   all walks of life will be illuminated in the ANB's pages: social

   reformers and filibusters, geologists and fundamentalists,

   phrenologists and psychiatrists, classicists and jazz musicians,

   baseball players and bankers, among other categories of occupation,

   notoriety, and renown. Memorializing their lives will reveal the

   country's ongoing diversity, its essential pluralism.





   The subjects of articles have been selected by the general editor,

   John A. Garraty (Gouverneur Morris Professor Emeritus of History,

   Columbia University) and his immediate staff; a group of associate

   editors, some 193 eminent scholars and nonacademic experts located

   around the country and abroad; various other scholars who have

   taken a keen interest in the project; and, with the advice of both

   associate editors and contributors, the four project editors in the

   Cary, North Carolina, office of Oxford University Press.



   Most articles average 1000 words in length (exclusive of the

   bibliography), at $50.00 per essay (a result of funding from grants

   obtained by the ACLS in the late 1980s). Our scheduled publication

   date is late 1998, but we must have essays in our office much

   earlier for editing purposes. Because we deal with so many

   contributors (over 10,000), we ask them to establish their own due

   dates depending on the number of essays they wish to contribute and

   their schedules. (For 1st time contributors, the first essay must

   arrive within three to four months so it can be evaluated prior to

   making additional assignments final.)



   A sample manuscript is attached to this announcement to give you a

   better idea of the style, format, and content of ANB articles.



   When manuscripts are submitted, they are sent to appropriate

   associate editors for review. They then are passed along to

   Professor Garraty's office at Columbia, where they are approved or

   returned to authors for revision. The approved manuscripts go back

   to Oxford University Press in Cary to be factchecked and copyedited

   under the supervision of the project's copy chief and two

   assistants. Authors see the copyedited versions of their

   manuscripts and give their approval or request changes. After

   copyedited manuscripts are returned to the Cary office, they are

   put in final shape for typesetting.



   Because the project has been ongoing for nearly six years, we have,

   for the most part, already approached the obvious senior scholars

   for the areas being covered. Thus, in our attempts to broaden the

   network of ANB authors, WE WELCOME SUGGESTIONS OF AND VOLUNTEERS

   FROM JUNIOR FACULTY, POST DOCTORATES, AND PHD CANDIDATES who are

   seeking to publish in a scholarly work like the ANB.



   Lists of currently unassigned subjects are available in the

   following categories:

   Precolonial and Colonial History Politics, the Military and

   Diplomacy (separate lists by era: 1763-1815, 1815-1850,

   1850-1878, 1878-1914, 1914-1945, 1945-1995), Religion, Education,

   Business, Law, Medicine, Science and Technology, Social Sciences,

   Social Reform, Literature, Art, Architecture, and Applied Arts,

   Performing Arts, Sports, and Miscellaneous Persons



   To obtain a copy of one or more of these lists, please email or

   write to:

   Available Subjects

   American National Biography 2001

   Evans Road Cary, NC 27513

   Internet Inquiries to: anb[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]oup-usa.org



   Please include your name and mailing address (email and regular

   mail) and a brief summary of your writing/research experience.