Things to consider:
1. Check out what fellow editors have done, especially on the theme
issues related to the subject field.
2. Google the subject and Listserv.
3. Study the resource pages that come up on the search (some are
and some aren't lists).
4. Write up a list of lists.
5. Sub to the lists and post the announcement.
6. KEEP TRACK.
7. Also, tell your university's PR, tell every list and association
you're already in, and add it to your sig file.
Call For Papers, CFP:
1. Write an "exciting banality" that's so all-encompassing that
everyone can say Wow, yeah.
2. Work in every possible keyword you can think of in terms of
subject areas.
3. Add every possible treatment.
4. Mention every possible author and audience member.
5. Smile.
6. Write up a brief announcement that points people to the CFP page
once it's approved and posted.
Avoid spam as in this example:
One of our editors, who has been doing a fine job of
sending out CFPs, was recently rebuffed by a listowner
for sending out "spam." This editor sent me the following
excellent question:
"I have some serious questions borne out of my frustration with this
system. What is the problem with sending a CFP in one e-mail to several
listserves at once? I gather from the posting that the real problem
isn't that it's an attachment (and I learned after my first attempt not
to do that, believe me), but more that it's considered spam because it
is sent out to several lists at once. If THAT is the problem, then how
on earth is this to be done? Paste text to one list at a time?"
As logical as it may seem to send out one CFP to many listservs
in one large message or in an attachment, such a posting will
be perceived as spamming by the listowners.
The answer to the question above is "Yes, one must paste text to one
list at a time."
I belong to about ten listservs. I do not receive messages from
all of them, preferring instead to receive messages from them in digest
form or not at all. But I am subscribed so that I can send CFPs
to them.
Moreover, I do not send CFPs to all of them at the same time but
instead stagger the listservs, sending CFPs to a few each week and
keeping track of which ones I posted to...
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