Book Proposal Submission Guidelines

How to Submit a Scholarly Book Proposal

Unless otherwise invited to do so by one of the Press editors, we prefer to receive a prospectus in advance of a complete manuscript. The submission of unrevised dissertations, unless solicited, is strongly discouraged. Your prospectus should include, at a minimum, the following information:

An overview of the book, including a summary of its main contributions; a description of the theoretical framework and methodology that you employ (if applicable); a comparison of your work to other books in the field and an explanation of how your research distinguishes itself from them; a description of the book’s target audience(s).
Table of Contents and chapter summaries.
At least two substantive sample chapters.
Current curriculum vitae. If your proposal is for a collection of essays, include a list of contributors’ affiliations. Manuscript specifics, such as estimated word length (including notes and citations), delivery date, and number and type of illustrations (if applicable).
Your contact information, including mailing address, phone numbers, and e-mail address.

Manifold Scholarship

The University of Minnesota Press is currently accepting proposals for book projects specifically developed for Manifold Scholarship. Manifold is an intuitive, collaborative platform for scholarly publishing. With iterative texts, powerful annotation tools, rich media support, and robust community dialogue, Manifold transforms scholarly publications into living digital works.

For details on this initiative, please click here.

Manifold will develop and support scholarly publications on an interactive, open-source platform alongside the print edition of a book. Projects under consideration for Manifold will benefit from the same levels of editorial development and evaluation as the press’s established scholarly book program.

Proposals for works submitted for Manifold should contain an additional 1–2 pages considering the following questions:

What makes the book project particularly suitable for Manifold?
What aspects of an online platform (networked material, online communities, digital archives, etc.) would the project take advantage of?
Does the author or authors have access to materials, such as additional text, images, audio and video, that can serve as supplemental content available with the Manifold edition?
What subvention sources, if any, might be available to support the open-access edition?
Manifold Scholarship has the ability to transform monographs into evolving works of scholarship. What level of engagement is envisioned, both before and after the publication of the monograph? This might include the uploading of works in progress, curation of additional archival or research materials, the development of public scholarship, dialogues with reader communities, open peer review, etc.

Please note: We make every effort to respond to inquiries promptly but may be delayed owing to individual circumstances. Please expect an average response time of four to six weeks. Because of the high volume of submissions, we are not able to acknowledge receipt of unsolicited proposals. We do not return materials unless you provide a prepaid return envelope. We send a standard rejection letter for projects not suitable for our editorial program.

Policy on Simultaneous Submissions

In some cases, we will consider simultaneous submissions. Address this issue in your initial query to the acquiring editor.

Individual proposals should be directed to the appropriate acquiring editor at this address:

University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520

If you are not sure which editor would be most appropriate for your work, please send a submission query.

True Rafferty Interviewed by Nathan Heald