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Michelle Chen

@michellechn.bsky.social
7.3K followers 1.1K following 1.2K posts

Senior Editor at the Univ Press of Colorado (Utah State UP & U of Alaska Press) acquiring books in composition & rhetoric, folklore, & polar studies. Formerly at OUP (music), Palgrave (politics) & Bloomsbury (33 1/3). Based in Brooklyn. Opinions my own.

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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 3h
Agree with this wholeheartedly. Comps are a way of showing your editor you are knowledgeable about your area and how you see your book fitting into existing discourse. Try to avoid: 1) Books that are decades old 2) Ridiculously famous books/authors 3) My book is wholly unique and nothing compares
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 7h
Normal person getting a link to a baby shower registry: what a lovely array of items from which I can curate a thoughtful selection of gifts. Me: **panics in childlessness** Oh wait is that a sippy cup? I know what a sippy cup is. I'll buy 25 of those that's normal right?
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 20h
strength training 💪 aka reorganizing and reshelving my Norton literary anthologies
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
BRB I'm gonna go mispronounce "Einstürzende Neubauten" in a room full of white men just to feel something
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Currently looking over an absolutely *insane* predatory publishing agreement for a friend of a friend and I am once again here to remind you: Do 👏 Not 👏 Pay 👏 To 👏 Publish
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Well this sucks but hey look, here's a neat little collection of indie publishers you can still explore/support regardless of weather. Some personal faves: @graywolfpress.bsky.social @versobooks.bsky.social New Directions @europaeditions.bsky.social
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I would never bring an iced coffee to an interview and betray the fact that I am a true corporeal being with bodily needs rather than some sort of highly efficient spirit-wraith but that's just me
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Reposted by Michelle Chen
UPColorado @upcolorado.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Happy Friday to everyone except people who do this #booksky #justiceforbookspines #bookshelf
And image of someone placing books on a bookshelf with the spine facing inwards
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
dominate and derail every conversation by expounding on obscure poststructuralist theories (aka be That White Dude in every undergraduate philosophy class) hold my Barthes
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
My indie bookstore website is making me do MATH to achieve my objectives like what is this the GREs? (jokes aside, nothing but love for @greenlightbklyn.bsky.social)
A captcha quiz asking a math question what is 3+11
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Guys Mamdani broke the Met website
Delay message in entering the MET website
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Me: Can I put on some music? Friend: Sure Me: It goes kind of hard though. Friend: Ok...? Me: *proceeds to put on 2 hours of Gregorian chants*
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Every book proposal I received when I worked in Film & Media Studies (2010s)
A screenshot from The Good Place showing Chidi pointing at a chalk board with the words "Derrida" "Deleuze" and "Lacan"
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Apparently it's #hobbitday so I'm taking this opportunity to share @mytholder.bsky.social 2020 threads on reading HISTORY OF MIDDLE EARTH which is a wild and highly informative ride if you want to get inside Tolkien's head when he was writing LOTR 🤗 tinyurl.com/54n22cxj
tinyurl.com
Thread by @mytholder on Thread Reader App
@mytholder: So, for various reasons, I'm rereading the HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH books about the writing of Lord of the Rings. They're fascinating (for certain values of fascinating); what I'm going to ...
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Bingley: 5,000 pounds per annum 💰 Darcy: 10,000 pounds per annum 💰💰 My husband: approximately 30,000 Magic the Gathering cards 🤓🤓🤓
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Expense Report: what'd you eat all day? Me: *mumbles quietly* Expense Report: say again? I'm gonna need you to itemize Me: beef jerky & chex mix Expense Report: LMAO that's embarrassing. I bet your manager is gonna think you're weird. Me: stop Expense Report: Maybe he'll even fire you. Me: OMG STOP
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Reposted by Michelle Chen
Kate McKean @katemckean.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
What's a book advance? What's a "nice deal?" Do you own the publisher money if your book doesn't sell? MONEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED HERE! www.agentsandbooks.com/how-the-mone...
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A real convo I had during my campus visits: PROF: Do you speak to many other department chairs? Am I the only one who finds it so hard? ME: I think it's universally known to be a thankless position PROF: *lol sob* I'm REALLY struggling Academics. Go give your department chair a hug today 🥺
Screengrab from the netflix show The Chair showing Sandra Oh sitting smiling at her new desk as Department Chair, and then the chair breaks.
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Airport Uber Drivers: How are you folks doing today?! Ya'll on a vacation? Is this your first time here? How long are you with us? Where are ya'll from? How do you like it there? What's your favorite color? Airport Uber Drivers in NYC: [45 blissful minutes of slightly disgruntled silence]
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Nbd we just have two novels in the “Best of Alaska” section of the bookstore 💁🏻‍♀️
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Reposted by Michelle Chen
UPColorado @upcolorado.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Greetings from Anchorage's favorite local used bookstore, Title Wave Books! Behold our intrepid Director @darrinpratt.bsky.social proudly showing off one of our titles: IMAGINING ANCHORAGE by James Barnett and Ian Hartman #alaska #booksky #anchorage #history
A photo of Director Darrin Pratt with the book Imagining Anchorage at Title Wave bookstore
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Rate My Professors, but for academic publishers to rate how scholars behaved when writing their book 😈
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Reposted by Michelle Chen
Dawn Durante @dawnd.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Such great advice! It is also useful for editors trying to learn more about your work. If I see an interesting panel in a conference program, for example, I’ll look someone up. What I find online can confirm if that scholar’s work lines up with my acquisitions work and inform whether I reach out.
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The mountains in Anchorage are alright 🏔️
Lookout from Flattop Mountain trailhead
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Reposted by Michelle Chen
UPColorado @upcolorado.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
When you try to get a "tiebreaker" third peer reviewer. Happy #PeerReviewWeek to everyone (even Weird Barbie)!
Three barbies, each representing Peer Reviewer 1 (regular barbie), peer reviewer 2 (supreme court justice barbie) and Peer Reviewer 3 (weird barbie)
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
My boss: Let's have a lazy morning and chill before our meetings. Me: Of course! I am chill. I can be so chill. Chill is my middle name. So I'm thinking we leave at 9:20am on the dot to allow 40 full minutes for unexpected delays, just because I'm so chill.
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Ahh yes, all the normal amenities you'd get in a hotel. (Hi from Anchorage!)
A can of Counter Assault Bear Deterrent
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I’m starting to see a theme here #alaska
Taxidermy of a brown bear
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Diamond Open Access aka setting this Google Doc to "anyone with link can view"
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Well guys, I’ve made it to Alaska. Greetings from the University of Alaska Fairbanks! This is my new friend FYI.
Polar Bear statue
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Yes! And the misconception that author copyright = all rights. A typical License to Publish agreement is just as restrictive as one where the author keeps copyright. What you actually want is to grant nonexclusive rights to publish, but no book publisher would agree to that (for valid reasons).
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The horrors persist and one of them is trying to print an excel spreadsheet
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Me reading a proposal that says the book "has no competing titles"
Image of Winnie the Pooh looking confused reading a piece of paper
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
But then what else do you feed the people-pleasing monster that lives inside your brain asking for a friend
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Me as a reader: Anthologies are awesome! Nothing beats a really good anthology. There should be more anthologies. Me as an editor: Anthologies are evil. Anthologies drink the blood of their enemies. Anthologies killed my entire family.
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
British people will just be like "let's touch base 27/9/26!" as if their dating system is not absolutely insane
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
"Frozen grapes are a great substitute for ice cream" LIES. They taste like grapes that have been frozen. Do yourself a favor and just eat ice cream.
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
What's hilarious about this is that the venn diagram of people who know about Gayatri Spivak and people who have money to be scammed out of = two distinct circles
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Icon
Image of Julia Stiles from the movie Ten Things I hate About You reading the The Bell Jar
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
In defense of (small) publishers re. this Anthropic rights reversion debacle, the spreadsheet the lawyers gave us to fill out on ridiculously short deadline was so large it froze my computer multiple times. Mistakes are inevitable. Get your $ but plz don't assume ALL pubs have malicious intent.
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Excuse me WHERE do people say this? As a Chinese person I am simultaneously offended and delighted to be ~noticed~
Screenshot of the dialect quiz
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Fall is the perfect season except for everything having to taste like pumpkin spice (I said what I said)
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
"Figuring out a book’s core thesis is often the most intellectually challenging step of the process...it’s in the writing that we figure out what we really want to say." THIS. Rewriting an MS is a totally valid part of the process. Kill 👏 Your 👏 Darlings @lportwoodstacer.bsky.social
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Doing a libel / defamation read of a manuscript i.e. the author has helpfully highlighted ALL THE TEA and I'm scrolling through like 👀
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Just casually setting a manuscript delivery date for 2032 as if I'm not hoarding expired amoxicillin for the end days
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Pssst classical music lovers: check out this new collection of Michael Steinberg's writings which I had the very good fortune of acquiring at @oxunipress.bsky.social (NGL pretty excited to see it get the media coverage it deserves)
nytimes.com
From the Kindertransport to The Boston Globe: Remembering a Master Music Critic (Gift Article)
“The eloquence and depth of his prose remain for me the gold standard,” John Adams writes of Michael Steinberg, who excelled at his craft in the 1960s and ’70s.
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
It Happened To Me [my partner started reading Dungeon Crawler Carl]
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Gratuitous extra AND a permissions liability. Every time you use an epigraph a scholarly editor somewhere sheds a single tear.
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Just left a very hip coffee shop where they were unironically playing the entirety of Avril Lavigne's "Let Go." Are the early 2000s now cool?
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Michelle Chen @michellechn.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I'm getting ready for a whirlwind campus tour of Alaska this fall and excited to be giving a talk at the Alaska State Museum on September 19th in Juneau! So if you're in the area, come learn about the University of Alaska Press and what we're ~up to~ these days
Flyer for The Publishing Process: from Proposal to Print: a book talk with Michelle Chen and Darrin Pratt.
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