Cara Jordan
Editor | Publisher |
Art Historian | Educator
Academic and visual art editor with a PhD in art history and 20+ years’ experience in the publishing industry. Currently leading a team of editors at Flatpage.
About Me
Helping authors write accessible texts and connect with audiences.
I’m an editor and publisher with a background in art history and more than twenty years of experience working with ideas, authors, and publications.
I received my PhD in art history from the Graduate Center, City University of New York, where my research focused on contemporary and socially engaged art. Before moving fully into editing and publishing, I worked as an art historian, researcher, writer, and university instructor. That academic background continues to shape how I think about publishing today: as a way of making complex ideas clear, accessible, and meaningful to readers.
I’m the cofounder of Flatpage, an editorial agency and independent publishing house working with nonfiction authors and organizations. My work there spans editorial direction, publishing, and the development of programs that help writers understand how ideas move from manuscript to publication.
Alongside my work at Flatpage, I teach, lecture, and lead workshops on editing, writing, and publishing. My interests include editorial practice, academic and nonfiction publishing, writing for general audiences, art and museum publishing, and the changing relationship between authors, editors, publishers, and readers.
From art history to publishing
I trained as an art historian, earning a bachelor’s in art history and French from the University of Colorado Boulder and a PhD in art history from the CUNY Graduate Center in New York.
My doctoral research examined Joseph Beuys, social sculpture, and the reception of these ideas in the United States in the 1970s and ’80s. More broadly, my scholarship focused on contemporary art, socially engaged practice, and the relationship between artistic production and social and political life.
My research resulted in scholarly articles, exhibition and museum publications, and books, including the coedited volume The Art of Direct Action: Social Sculpture and Beyond. Later, I was the primary researcher and author of Peter Halley, Paintings of the 1980s: The Catalogue Raisonné.
Working in academia also introduced me to the editorial side of intellectual life. Over the course of my career, I have experienced publishing from many positions—as an author, researcher, journal editor, developmental editor, copyeditor, educator, and now publisher.
That range of perspectives informs how I approach publishing today.
What I Do
Teaching & Speaking
Teaching has been part of my work since my years as a doctoral student. I previously taught art history within the City University of New York system and now teach advanced copyediting through UC San Diego Extended Studies.
I also lecture, teach workshops, moderate conversations, and speak to universities, museums, professional organizations, and other groups about editorial and publishing topics.
Subjects I teach and speak about include:
- Editing and editorial practice
- Academic and nonfiction publishing
- Writing for general audiences
- Turning academic research into a book
- Book proposals and publishing pathways
- Museum and cultural publishing
- Editorial style and style guides
- Working effectively with editors
- Accessibility, clarity, and authorial voice
I’m particularly interested in helping academics, researchers, artists, and other experts understand publishing beyond the university—and in helping people with specialized knowledge communicate their ideas to broader audiences.
Interested in inviting me to teach, lecture, or participate in a conversation? Get in touch.
Publishing & Editorial Work
In 2021, I cofounded Flatpage with David Hariri. Flatpage is an idea-driven editorial agency and independent publishing house supporting nonfiction authors and organizations.
Rather than reproducing Flatpage’s services here, you can learn more about our editorial and publishing work at flatpage.com.
My Publications
Current Interests
Much of my work today revolves around a broader question: How do worthwhile ideas find their readers?
I’m especially interested in the space between academic expertise and public readership; how editors and publishers shape ideas without erasing an author’s voice; how scholars can write for audiences beyond their disciplines; and how publishing is changing in response to new technologies and new ways of reading.
These questions inform my work as a publisher, editor, and teacher.