LSE Press

To mark Work in Publishing Week the LSE Press team discuss what it’s like to work in publishing and their advice for anyone hoping to enter the industry. Philippa Grand (Head of Publishing), Elinor Potts (Communications Coordinator) and Lucy Ashworth (Publishing Assistant) share their thoughts. What qualities do you look for in applicants for internships or entry-level roles? Philippa Grand: I’m interested in candidates who are particularly keen to work in academic publishing over other areas of the industry and have given thought to the issues that concern our corner of the publishing world specifically – those who are excited about working with academics on research-led publications. I’m always impressed by applicants who are able to articulate why they want to work in publishing beyond simply ‘liking books’ (though that’s a good start!), and who show curiosity and willingness to learn about the wider issues facing academia and publishing more broadly. “Be open to which area you might want to work in – publishing has roles to suit everyone and getting experience across different functions early on will help you decide which is the best fit for you.” Philippa Grand What is one thing you wish you had known before starting in publishing? Elinor Potts: Don’t be afraid to ask questions, have faith in your opinions and experiences, and always back yourself!  Lucy Ashworth: I wish I’d realised earlier that most people in the industry genuinely want to help you! Be curious and learn from the people around you; that’s how you build relationships and open new doors. Take the opportunities that come your way, even the unexpected ones, because you never know where they might lead. What advice would you give to someone interested in a career in academic or open-access publishing? Philippa Grand: There’s lots of information and support out there for those looking to start a career in publishing. Join or follow organisations such as the Society of Young Publishers or the Society for Scholarly Publishing – they can provide useful guidance and support. The Publishers Association also has very useful information too. To get a wider picture of the issues within academic publishing blogs such as Scholarly Kitchen and LSE Impact Blog are great places to start as is following publishers you find interesting on social media. Find ways to get involved in the industry generally and get experience, for example working in a bookshop, getting involved with a university publication or volunteering on student journals. There are many internships and work experience schemes offered so research options on publisher websites.  Be open to which area you might want to work in – publishing has roles to suit everyone and getting experience across different functions – commissioning, production, marketing, sales – early on will help you decide which is the best fit for you. What skills are most valuable for someone starting a career in academic publishing? Elinor Potts: Aside from the obvious job specific skills, an attention to detail, organisational skills, and creative thinking are all really valuable attributes. The job market in publishing is highly competitive, so it’s important to ask for feedback from interviews, take it onboard, and not be disheartened if it takes you some time to break in. There’s lots of organisations like SYP, EvenUp, ALPSP, and IPG, which support early career publishers with this through mentorship programmes. What pathway did you take into publishing? Elinor Potts: I started off doing work experience for PRH and worked as a bookseller throughout university. I interned at literary agencies during the Summer breaks of my undergraduate and worked a temporary contract as an Editorial Administrator at Pan Macmillan after I handed in my dissertation. Alongside this, I set up a poetry anthology which I published with a friend and hosted launch events for. It took me 2 years of applying to jobs after I graduated (and studied for an MA part-time) whilst working as a Waterstones senior bookseller before I landed my first “proper” graduate publishing job. Earlier this year, I was named a Rising Star by The Bookseller magazine and ALPSP.  Lucy Ashworth: I completed an internship at Watkins Publishing during my undergraduate degree and that was when I realised I wanted to pursue a career in publishing. After that, I completed a Master’s in Publishing and carried out work placements with CILIP and Boldwood Books. The connections I made during those placements helped me secure a full-time role at Facet Publishing, the publishing arm of CILIP. It is important to remember that there is no “right” route into publishing. People enter through a range of different pathways and that diversity of experience is so valuable to the industry. What part of the publishing process do people often misunderstand? Elinor Potts: Publishing processes can be highly specific to the publisher, but I think people misunderstand how long it takes to publish a book beginning-to-end and how many different stages a book goes through before it is published.  What’s the best part of working with authors? Elinor Potts: I love sharing endorsements with authors, departments and teams and sharing words of praise from influential thinkers and tastemakers about our publications. In 2025 alone, we’ve had four Nobel Prize winners endorse books by LSE Press authors (so far!). Lucy Ashworth: For me, it’s the opportunity to learn from them. Our authors come from an incredible variety of fields, each with their own expertise and passions. Reading and working on their books, and having conversations about subjects they know so deeply, is both inspiring and eye-opening. It constantly broadens my understanding of topics I might never have explored otherwise. How do you promote academic books to ensure they reach the right audiences? Elinor Potts: Finding the right audiences for a book is essential for it to make a serious impact. The research-based titles we publish at LSE Press are intended to inform academic debate with the potential to change policy and influence people’s world view. Collaboration and communication between the author and marketing/comms publishing teams makes audience segmentation and planning more specific and therefore more valuable.  What makes working at an open access university press unique? Elinor Potts: LSE Press is a great example of an academic publishing house on-the-up. It’s exciting working as part of an operation which has ambitious plans to grow and is serious about publishing work which is impactful and starts conversations. If you could describe working at LSE Press in three words, what would they be? Elinor Potts: Creative, strategic, ambitious. What trends in publishing are you keeping an eye on? Philippa Grand: AI is the big topic of conversation across all of publishing at the moment – how it might reshape how we work as publishers and what it might mean for authorship. Beyond that, there’s an ongoing conversation about equity, inclusivity and diversity both in terms of staff employed by publishing houses and authorship – who’s work gets to be published.  This extends to how we publish too – in open access publishing I’m interested in how approaches like ‘diamond’ open access (where there are no fees for either author or reader) offer a more equitable, inclusive model. LSE Press is part of a broader movement in academic publishing reviving the institutionally-based press as an alternative to large, for-profit commercial publishers – I’m very excited to see how this movement grows and starts to bring about change. What would you say to a publishing hopeful? Lucy Ashworth: Remember that publishing is a wide and diverse industry. You may find opportunities in organisations you never even knew had a publishing department, stay open-minded and give different pathways a chance. You never know which one will be the perfect fit! Elinor Potts: Find a mentor through an organisation like SYP to guide you and give you advice as you share applications and interview. Use your network and ask people to meet you for coffee (online or IRL) to talk through any questions you have about breaking into publishing. Ask for feedback always. Don’t be disheartened with rejections, they are common in such a competitive industry and it’s not a reflection of your excellence and experience. Know your worth, and never settle for unpaid opportunities. Find out more about Work in Publishing Week here. Sign up to the LSE Press newsletter for the latest updates. The post Work in Publishing Week: Advice from the LSE Press team first appeared on LSE Press .

This Open Access Week, LSE Press are pleased to share that our open access books and journals have been accessed over 2 million times.  Niamh Tumelty, LSE Library Director and LSE Press Managing Director notes: “It seems so appropriate that LSE Press has reached 2 million digital downloads across books and journals during Open Access Week. Our aim is to share knowledge openly with the widest possible audience, making a genuine difference in the world by shaping the academic debate, influencing public policy and contributing to the broader conversation.”   — Niamh Tumelty, LSE Library Director In this blog, we reflect on what this achievement means to us and why open access is not just a publishing model but a commitment to equity, accessibility, and impact. Members of the LSE Press team share their thoughts on this year’s Open Access Week theme: Who Owns Knowledge?  We also offer a behind-the-scenes look at how the book publishing process works at LSE Press. LSE Press display cabinet in LSE’s Senior Common Room Since launching in 2018, LSE Press has championed open access to democratise knowledge, counter misinformation and support rigorous social science research that engages with real-world issues. Two million downloads is more than a milestone for the Press but a clear sign of a global demand for trusted, freely available academic research. Open access means making research and knowledge freely available to everyone, regardless of geography, institution or finances. LSE Press champions diamond open access, ensuring our publications are not just free to read but that we can also, in many cases, publish without author-facing fees too – not least via support from libraries that we receive via our membership of the Open Book Collective and our Jisc scheme. From our rigorous peer review process to the guidance of our Editorial Board, everything we do is shaped by a commitment to high-quality, impactful, and inclusive publishing. By publishing open access, we ensure the broadest possible readership for our books and journals. As a non-profit university press, we share the values of academic and library communities and aim to work in partnership with our authors and editors. Reflections on Open Access Week 2025: Who Owns Knowledge? The theme of this year’s Open Access Week, Who Owns Knowledge? asks a pertinent question about how, in a time of disruption, academic communities can reassert control over the knowledge they produce. Our Communications Coordinator, Ellie Potts, shared her reflections: “The question ‘who owns knowledge?’ is difficult. Its deceptive simplicity ushers hesitancy. Am I qualified to offer a response? Is anyone? Where do you begin? As a marketer of open access publications in the social sciences; a former student; and a present apprentice, I believe strongly in the democratic dissemination of research regardless of institutional affiliations or borders. Knowledge and research-based ideas should be shared openly to provoke enlightened discussions, policy changes, and new ways of thinking about moving through the world. Knowledge belongs to everyone.”  — Ellie Potts, Communications Coordinator, LSE Press Philippa Grand, Head of Publishing at LSE Press,  notes, from a publishing perspective, that: “In order to address the global challenges of our time, knowledge needs to be freely and widely accessible, and not ‘owned’. By removing paywalls, open access publishing allows knowledge to have a truly global reach and impact, helping to democratise scholarship. Further, publishing under a diamond open access model, which is fee-free to both readers and authors (and which is a model LSE Press uses for many of our publications), opens up opportunities for more researchers, including those with limited access to funding, to publish their work open access too. Diamond open access fosters a more equitable and inclusive publishing ecosystem where the production and dissemination of knowledge is guided by scholarly values rather than financial means or concepts of ownership.”  — Philippa Grand, Head of Publishing, LSE Press The book publishing process with LSE Press We are currently open for book proposal submissions and keen to hear from scholars who share our vision for open, impactful, and rigorous social science research that seeks to reach a broad audience and make a difference. Whether you’re working on a monograph or an edited volume, are an early-career scholar, or an experienced author, we aim to make the publishing process clear, supportive, and inclusive. Interested authors should look at our ‘publish with us‘ information page where you can also download our book proposal form. Proposals (including sample chapters) should be sent to [email protected]. Our Managing Editor, Alice Park, oversees the commissioning process, and you can always get in touch with her at that email address to discuss book ideas, before submitting. If we think your book proposal would be suitable for our programme, we will then send it out to external experts for peer review. After review, successful proposals are then presented to the LSE Press Editorial Board, comprising of LSE scholars from across social science disciplines, for a final decision. We work with you throughout the submission and proposal development and revision process to ensure your manuscript is of the highest quality.  Once finalised, your manuscript will be passed to Justin Clark, our Production Manager, who oversees the production process. We pride ourselves on ensuring the highest standards through copyediting, typesetting, and design.  On publication, your book will be distributed via all major open access platforms and indexed in relevant databases. The LSE Press Comms team, Elinor Potts and Lucy Ashworth, work closely with you to ensure that your book reaches as wide an audience as possible. All titles are available open access in PDF, ePub and Mobi formats and for purchase at low cost via online retailers. Our books can also now be downloaded straight to a Kindle via Amazon, for a small fee (covering Amazon admin costs) of 99p.  For more information, consult the ‘Publish with us’ webpage. Looking ahead As we celebrate Open Access Week and surpass 2 million downloads of our books and journals, we look ahead to the future – look out for exciting, new books from us over the coming months: Nicholas Stern’s new book on the economics and opportunity of climate action The Growth Story of the 21st Century: The Economics and Opportunity of Climate Action, featured in The Guardian. Reading Wars by Don Herzog – an ambitious history exploring the heated, even murderous, political struggles over who gets to read and what is deemed acceptable to read from the 1500s to the present day. The first titles in the RGS-IBG series to be published since the series was acquired by LSE Press. To keep in touch with news from LSE Press sign up to our newsletter here. The post More readers, more impact: The power of open access first appeared on LSE Press .

In this blog, we mark Open Access Week 2025 by speaking to LSE Press author Naila Kabeer. In this conversation with Professor Kabeer, the blog explores how the model of open access publishing maximises global impact, and how it has informed the reception of her research in the case study of her 2024 publication, Renegotiating Patriarchy: Gender, Agency, and the Bangladesh Paradox. LSE Press: Hi Naila, thanks for speaking with me as part of our Open Access Week celebrations. What made you want to publish Open Access with LSE Press? Naila Kabeer: I wanted to publish Open Access because I mainly write about the Global South and South Asia, and books tend to be very expensive for audiences there. By having this book published completely Open Access, I knew I could reach audiences in the Global South and students, who would otherwise have to rely on libraries or couldn’t afford the book at all. If I could tell people, “You can download this book anytime you want,” then I could reach the audience I wanted, not just typical academics in my field. Now, whenever I travel and speak about my book, I can say: “Yes, you can download it for free from the LSE Press website!” Open Access was a priority because accessibility is very important to me. I liked the idea of publishing with LSE Press, not only because it’s Open Access but because it’s also my home institution. I knew the team and the kind of author support I would receive. With a big commercial publisher, you’re one in a thousand, or a million, but with LSE Press, there’s a local community connected to the publisher who are genuinely interested in my work. A copy of the physical book of ‘Renegotiating Patriarchy: Gender, Agency and the Bangladesh Paradox’ by Naila Kabeer features a group of women in colourful saris with their backs turned. One woman in a yellow sari faces back to the camera. Credit: LSE Press Open Access is all about knowledge sharing. How important is that to you? Hugely important. In many parts of the world, especially the Global South, people just can’t access certain books. There’s something powerful about being able to download a book immediately, without having to jump through the hoops of ordering and waiting for it to arrive. It’s just there. If I see a reference to something relevant and it’s Open Access, I can access it immediately, even on a bus or a plane. That immediacy can influence what I’m writing in real time. I know it’s a free resource I can read. It’s subjective and emotional, being able to get it right now makes me more likely to read it. Open Access books are like a global library, portable, accessible and shareable. “The culture of Open Access still isn’t strong enough globally, we need to build more partnerships and expand networks.” Naila Kabeer What would you say to early career researchers about making their research Open Access? I see a lot of young researchers gravitating toward well-known university presses because they feel unsure about publishing with newer presses. But LSE Press is building a strong backlist and doing great work to publicise their books. The team is terrific. Open Access books are more important than ever, especially for the younger generation who are trying to stay informed amidst the noise of social media. Trusted, peer-reviewed content helps counter misinformation. Open Access publishing is a way of building a movement. The final chapter in my book urges readers not to expect every country to follow the same path as the West. Research every country on its own terms. Of course, we learn from others, but inequality and difference mean that authority doesn’t lie in just one part of the world. Making books like mine accessible sends a message: real voices matter. Academic presses can make a big impact, but only if the truth is widely shared, not just whispered among friends. These books carry that stamp of truth and are reaching wider audiences. The theme of Open Access Week 2025 is ‘Who Owns Knowledge?’ What’s your take on that? As an academic, the knowledge I create comes from my research and interactions with people. So in that sense, I don’t own it, I’m shaping what I hear into a story about the phenomena I am studying. A lot of my research takes the form of conversations and I always gain consent. But people in Bangladesh are often puzzled, they ask, “Why do you need my consent to talk to me?” Many say, “You’re the first person who’s ever asked me about my story.” One of the things I enjoy most is asking people to tell me their stories. Of course, I locate those stories within context, but they tell us something important about the world. I don’t feel I own that, they do, but I’m helping to share it. Who owns knowledge? I think it’s part of the commons. Some of us are in a position to find that knowledge, to tell those stories, but it’s a collective endeavour. I hope I never “extract” knowledge. You can tell when someone doesn’t want to talk, you move on. Credit: © Jannatul Mawa. Has Open Access changed what types of books are being published? Are we seeing things that might not have been published traditionally? Yes, absolutely. Open Access has made the publishing process easier and allowed publishers to take more risks. Traditional publishers have often been very safe, publishing similar kinds of books. But Open Access is part of the zeitgeist. It supports work that challenges how research is packaged. Traditional publishers have created a narrow image of what “counts,” which can discourage academics from experimenting. Open Access expands the range of topics and approaches that can be published. And as we think about the environmental impact of printing, Open Access also helps us move toward a more sustainable model, one that increases accessibility, democratises knowledge and fits the future. What more can publishers do to amplify real voices, like those in your book? LSE Press made the publication process incredibly easy, and they’ve been very open to working with local publishers around the world. That’s something I really value. Building partnerships globally is crucial, not everyone has a computer, so relationships that help create local print editions are really important. Publishers should also connect with universities around the world, especially in the Global South, to let them know these books are available for their students. The culture of Open Access still isn’t strong enough globally, we need to build more partnerships and expand networks. The more people know about these books, the more likely they are to access and share them Renegotiating Patriarchy: Gender, Agency, and the Bangladesh Paradox is free to read and download via Open Access publication from the LSE Press website here. The post Who Owns Knowledge? An Interview with Naila Kabeer first appeared on LSE Press .

We’re delighted to announce that Elinor (Ellie) Potts, LSE Press’s Communications Coordinator, has been selected as one of the winners of the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) Rising Star Awards 2025.  This follows on from her selection as a Bookseller Rising Star earlier this year. ALPSP Rising Star Award recipients (left to right) Eleonora Colangelo, Elinor Potts, Isobel Birks, Elizabeth Fraser. The ALPSP award is sponsored by PLS and provided Ellie free registration and expenses to attend the ALPSP Conference and Awards in Manchester in September. The Bookseller’s Rising Stars is an annual list of the book industry’s up-and-comers, comprising of forward-thinking individuals from across all sectors of the industry.   Ellie joined LSE Press after roles within trade publishing and as a bookseller and writer, bringing a unique blend of experience to an academic publishing role. She has been instrumental in establishing and shaping the Press’s marketing and publicity offer, receiving much praise from authors in the process. As well as her day job, Ellie has a broader commitment to publishing – alongside completing an Apprenticeship in Marketing Management, she is a member of the Open Institutional Publishing Association’s Comms Working Group, volunteers as a mentor for the Society of Young Publishers and ALPSP and is a Managing Editor at The Philosopher, the journal of the Philosophical Society of England. She is also co-founder of the poetry journal, Away With Words – Selected Verse, published by Toothgrinder Press. Philippa Grand, Head of Publishing, LSE Press says: “Ellie’s creativity, dedication and indefatigable drive have been fundamental in ensuring LSE Press, a new press in a crowded market, is already standing out from our competitors. She has shaped our comms offer to provide our authors with a supportive, personalised experience that increasingly falls short elsewhere. I’m absolutely thrilled for her that she has received this double recognition from the publishing industry this year. It is so well deserved.” Ellie says: “It’s an honour to be recognised and receive these awards. I’m grateful for the support of the LSE Press team. Looking to the future, I want to continue getting out of my comfort zone, meeting new people, and staying on the path of lifelong learning. I’ve benefitted so much from both receiving and offering professional mentoring, and I love opportunities to engage with different groups of people and hear fresh perspectives on the work we do in publishing. The Bookseller asked how I hope that the publishing industry develops over the next few years, and I said that, from the perspective of a book marketer, I hope that there is more reciprocal and proactive giving back to the communities that engage with our products. Dialogue, activism, and engagement – particularly engagement for the sake of creating a fairer publishing world, is an important practice that engenders positive changes and helps to dismantle imbalances. In the academic publishing world, I think open access publishing is an exceptional mode for building a fairer industry, and wider world, through the free and fair exchange of ideas, regardless of institutional affiliations or borders. Open access, non-profit publishing has the rare ability to directly shape public debate, and influence policy much more readily than for-profit publishing.” Find out more about the ALPSP Rising Star Award: https://www.alpsp.org/news-publications/industry-news/alpsp-rising-star-awards-2025-winners-announced/. Find out more about this year’s Bookseller Rising Stars: https://www.thebookseller.com/rising-stars The post LSE Press Communications Coordinator selected for 2 rising star awards first appeared on LSE Press .