Derek Krissoff
Helping authors and publishers build communities around their books
About me
I’m a publishing professional with 25 years of experience, most recently at West Virginia University Press, where I worked as director from 2014 to 2023. Under my leadership West Virginia earned praise for its overall publishing program in the Chronicle of Higher Education (“a new publishing heavyweight”), NBC News Online (“small yet fierce”), and the New York Times (one of the university presses “keeping American literature alive”). I live in Pittsburgh.
My own acquisitions include Deesha Philyaw’s The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (finalist for the National Book Award, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award, and winner of the LA Times Prize for first fiction), Jim Lewis’s Ghosts of New York (a New York Times notable book of the year), and Neema Avashia's Another Appalachia (Book Riot's best LGBTQ memoir of the year).
You can find out more about me (including interviews, published work, and more) here.
Services
I offer publishing help in a number of areas, with an emphasis on communications work.
For authors:
Help with query letters, author questionnaires, and other material that positions and explains your work (before, during, and after publication)
Broad consultation about framing—and catalyzing a community around—your book
For publishers:
Copywriting, blog entries, author interviews, press releases, sales kits, social media posts, and other work that communicates about books and authors
Contact me
In 25 years of publishing, I’ve covered a lot of territory—so if there’s an area you don’t see listed where you think I might be helpful, please feel free to ask!