The Wallace Johnson Program for First Book Authors, sponsored by the American Society for Legal History (ASLH), is designed to provide advice and support to scholars working toward the publication of first books in legal history, broadly defined. In conversation with peers and with the advice of senior scholars, participants will learn about approaching and working with publishers, and will develop and revise a book proposal and one to two sample chapters.
Applications for Johnson Fellows are invited from early career, pre-tenure scholars, publishing in English, who have completed PhDs or JDs and are working on first books in legal history.
Scholars with expertise in all chronological periods and geographical fields are encouraged to apply, as are scholars who may not (yet) identify as legal historians.
The program includes the following elements:
- Fall 2019 (Nov. 21, 2019): one-day, pre-conference workshop at the ASLH Annual Meeting (Boston, MA), introduction to book publishing and proposal writing;
- Spring 2020 (date TBD): remote meeting, feedback from program leader and peers on draft book proposal;
- Summer 2020 (last week of July): two-day workshop on draft chapters, University of Pennsylvania Law School; and
- Fall 2020 (November 11-14, 2020): Wallace Johnson Fellows Roundtable at the ASLH Annual Meeting (Chicago, IL).
Applications, including project description (up to 1,000 words) and two letters of recommendation, are due by June 30, 2019.