Curatorial Corner – Calling All Authors: A New Chapter in Music Publishing

Are you a writer with an idea for a scholarly yet engaging music history book? We at the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music (BSACAM) want to hear from you! And no, the book proposal does not have to be about Bruce in any way. In fact, we are eager for submissions that tap into the broader “Center for American Music” piece of our mission.

In case you missed it: in September 2024, we announced a partnership with Rutgers University Press (RUP). A long-standing academic press based in New Brunswick, RUP has already published major works on Springsteen—including titles like Shades of Springsteen: Politics, Love, Sports, and Masculinity by John Massaro and We Take Care of Our Own: Faith, Class, and Politics in the Art of Bruce Springsteen by June Skinner Sawyers. (Catch our “Conversations with our Curator” sessions on these books here and here.)

This dynamic collaboration will publish music history books under a special BSACAM imprint, uniting academia, music history, and accessible public scholarship.

Here’s how it works: initial pitches are sent to me. They are presented to our editorial board at quarterly intervals.

I currently chair that board, with support from BSACAM Executive Director Bob Santelli alongside RUP Executive Editor Peter Mickulas. We’re joined by academics such as Sean Wilentz (Princeton University), Douglas Brinkley (Rice University), Lou Masur (Rutgers University), Ken Womack (Monmouth University), and Jim Cullen (Greenwich Country Day School); music writers such as Holly George Warren and Anthony DeCurtis; and public scholars such as Marquette Foley and Dwandalyn Reece (both currently with the Smithsonian Institution).

Once the editorial board decides to support a project, we turn the author over to Peter on the RUP end to take it from there. All submissions are subject to rigorous peer review. Scholarly integrity is a must, although readability and the potential to speak to wide audiences are also integral.

Among the first books you’ll see from this imprint are Ties That Bind: Iconic Objects from the Collection of the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music at Monmouth University (me, Santelli, and Womack) and Born in the USA: Bruce Springsteen, Bart Haynes, Walter Cichon—and the Vietnam War (just me).

As noted at the outset of this blog post, however, we are not just publishing Springsteen books. We are keen to publish scholarship related to the “Center for American Music” part of our mission. Towards that end, we have an exciting book in the pipeline on country music in NJ—but we’re eager for more. We want proposals that support our broader commitment to expanding and democratizing the narrative of American music—spotlighting stories, voices, and traditions that have been overlooked, marginalized, or underrepresented in mainstream scholarship.

Will your project fit? Reach out to me at mziobro@monmouth.edu and let’s chat!