Adina Popescu
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adinapopescu.com
Adina Popescu
@adinapopescu.com
960 followers 870 following 180 posts
History editor at Yale University Press
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adinapopescu.com
Excellent review of @calscherm.bsky.social's amazing The Plunder of Black America, available here yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...!

@yalepress.bsky.social 🗃️

lareviewofbooks.org/article/raci...
Quote from a Los Angeles Review of Books review of Calvin Schermerhorn's book The Plunder of Black America, showing a quote and the book cover on a yellow background. The quote reads: "Brilliant . . . several chapters are materpieces . . . stats become stories, and we must recon not simply with what happened but also with the real people it happened to."
December 1, 2025 at 2:36 PM
adinapopescu.com
And check out @bencarp.bsky.social's The Great New York Fire of 1776.

Who set the mysterious fire that burned down much of New York City shortly after the British took the city during the Revolutionary War?

yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
November 25, 2025 at 4:56 PM
adinapopescu.com
Hello historians 🗃️! Planning on attending #AHA26 and have book ideas in mind?

Now is a good time to start thinking about contacting editors to meet with in Chicago. It's fun, it's easy, and you'll be chatting with people who love to chat about books! 👇
Meeting with an editor at a conference * Identify likely publishers. They are ones who * have published in similar fields recently (in the last 5 years) * are attending the conference * Find the editor’s contact info (usually on the publisher’s website) * Email the editor a query letter * Introduce yourself * Describe your project briefly (1 paragraph) * Attach a book proposal if you have one * Ask if the editor is available to meet * Prepare for the meeting * It will be an informal 1/2 hour conversation * Be ready to describe your project without going deep into the weeds * Ask questions * Enjoy the conversation - this book may or may not be a good fit for that publisher, but treat this as professional networking because your next book might be
November 25, 2025 at 4:27 PM
adinapopescu.com
The perfect Thanksgiving read now out in paperback!

yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
Book cover of Andrew Lipman's *Squanto: A Native Odyssey* featuring red text on white background with squares of black and white images of cod, corn, a ship, fish scales, leaves, a building
November 25, 2025 at 4:10 PM
adinapopescu.com
Up and at 'em on Monday morning!
Hands typing on keyboard with a grey lavander point Siamese cat sleeping on them
September 8, 2025 at 1:23 PM
adinapopescu.com
Drop an old person that you're going to turn into in the future.
Old Agnes Varda thumbing her nose at young Agnes Varda
August 7, 2025 at 3:36 PM
adinapopescu.com
New kitchen rug is a hit!
A brown pointed cat stretching luxuriously to take up an entire small blue kitchen rug
July 14, 2025 at 12:57 PM
adinapopescu.com
Words to live by
Dry erase board with the words: We all came here to enjoy the summer. Eat the delicious food. Walk in the sunshine. Make wonderful music. Jump in the lake. Say the truth that you're carrying in your heart like hidden treasure. Be silly. Be kind. Be weird. There's no time for anything else.
July 8, 2025 at 5:52 PM
adinapopescu.com
The response is delightful. Was it a purposeful quote of Spinal Tap?

clip.cafe/this-is-spin...
“Over the past seven years there have been many changes made at HUP to further our strategic priorities. While this process has been challenging, as change always is, it has been necessary to ensure that we continue a successful trajectory. “HUP remains committed to its purposeful approach to the selection, development, and presentation of books, with an eye towards maximizing their impact. For that reason, ours has become an even more enviable and select list on which to appear, and our authors have come to appreciate the high-touch professionalism that we provide.”
May 2, 2025 at 4:54 PM
adinapopescu.com
Oh, to be a cat. Or even better, two cats.
Two pointed cats, one grey one brown, napping together on a chair.
April 7, 2025 at 1:22 PM
adinapopescu.com
Coming soon(ish) to a bookstore near you
Text announcing the future publication of new books by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and Ned Blackhawk
January 16, 2025 at 12:57 AM
adinapopescu.com
Very sad news today that the great Peter Kolchin, author of _Unfree Labor: American Slavery and Russian Serfdom (1987)_ and more recently _Emancipation: The Abolition and Aftermath of American Slavery and Russian Serfdom_ has passed away. RIP to one of the greats. 🗃️
January 14, 2025 at 3:39 PM
adinapopescu.com
Tgif
December 6, 2024 at 11:52 PM
adinapopescu.com
Looking for the perfect seasonal short read? Look no more! A beautiful and eye-opening book from Bancroft-winner Drew Lipman. 🗃️

yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
November 26, 2024 at 1:45 PM
adinapopescu.com
🗃️ STEP 2/3: Introduce yourself and your book

All you need is a short note explaining what your book is, how it fits into what the press does, and who you are. Example below.

STEP 3/3: Meet with editors 👇
Dear ________,   I hope that this message finds you well.    I wanted to reach out because I’m finishing a book manuscript that may be of interest to Yale University Press. It’s called __________, and is a study of __________. The book also explores __________.    I am conceiving of the book as something that could reach not only historians of __________, but also general readers interested in __________. I think that it could complement some of the recent scholarship that Yale University Press has recently published placing __________ in a __________ context, including __________, __________, and __________. I think it could also sit nicely with YUP’s publications on the long history of __________, such as __________ as well as __________.   Please let me know if this is something that you might be interested in discussing more. I have completed __________ of the manuscript, and I would also be happy to send a full proposal and an introduction/sample chapter.     All my best, __________   ------ Name Title Institution email phone
November 22, 2024 at 2:57 PM
adinapopescu.com
Out in Feb! @calscherm.bsky.social's The Plunder of Black America, the history of the racial wealth gap told through the stories of seven Black families who struggled to build generational wealth. 🗃️

“A triumph and a startling revelation.”—Justene Hill Edwards

yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
Cover of the book THE PLUNDER OF BLACK AMERICA by Calvin Schermerhorn (Yale University Press) showing an empty photo frame, glass broken, on black background
November 21, 2024 at 8:05 PM
adinapopescu.com
Thrilled to be able to share the cover for @juliagaffield.bsky.social's I HAVE AVENGED AMERICA, coming next summer from Yale University Press. An absolutely captivating and essential read whether you know a little or a lot about the history of Haiti. 🗃️

yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
cover for the book I Have Avenged America: Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Haiti's Fight for Freedom by Julia Gaffield, showing a painting Jean-Jacques Dessalines hands on hips looking defiantly at the viewer.
November 19, 2024 at 7:01 PM
adinapopescu.com
Laid out with my first COVID but in the best company.
October 30, 2024 at 11:56 AM
adinapopescu.com
That is all.
Aggretsuko RAGE
April 18, 2024 at 10:55 PM
adinapopescu.com
Sometimes it feels so very gratifying to be a book editor.
Strand Bookstore employee standing among bookshelves holding a copy of Ned Blackhawk's Rediscovery of America. Text: It's Staff Pick Friday. And Mia recommends The Rediscovery of America by Ned Blackhawk. "If you are American, or consider the United States to be your home, this is required reading."
March 8, 2024 at 7:15 PM
adinapopescu.com
Out today—check it out. yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
Book cover for Yale and Slavery
February 16, 2024 at 2:05 PM
adinapopescu.com
Words to live by in the new year:
“There were some filmmakers speaking in an auditorium like this one about how documentaries should be made, how we should be like a fly on the wall and not interfere. And I just couldn’t take it anymore so I grabbed the mic and said, “No! We are directors. We are creators. We should be the hornets that sting.’ ” — Werner Herzog, New Yorker, 2014 Herzog continues: "There was a roar of disgust against me so I shouted, 'Happy New Year losers!'
January 1, 2024 at 2:09 PM
adinapopescu.com
Office mates getting started on a solid day’s work
Three pointed cats snuggling in a tight pile
December 12, 2023 at 2:18 PM
adinapopescu.com
Good times at #wha2023 with Ned Blackhawk and Alejandra Dubcovsky
October 28, 2023 at 4:07 PM
adinapopescu.com
Same here, big guy.
Siamese cat standing over a sign that says “I can’t even”
October 17, 2023 at 12:20 AM