You—the author—have the ultimate insider’s perspective when it comes to your book. You know everything about each object you analyze and how your ideas develop over the course of your chapters. Publishers come to your book through a very different perspective.

Nothing seems to stress authors of first books more than this question: when should I write and submit my academic book proposal to university presses? When I was writing my own first book, the resounding answer my mentors gave was: wait until the full manuscript is done. For a while, this seemed like good advice.

Writing and submitting an academic book proposal can seem like a daunting task. Below, I answer some of your most common questions and offer the best resources to consult to prepare your academic book proposal.

You know that you will eventually work with an “editor,” on your book’s path to publication. But did you know that, beyond developmental editors or copy editors (people you or the press hire to help revise and perfect the manuscript), you might also work with two very different types of editors at your university press?

Of all the parts of an academic book proposal, the “competing works” (sometimes called “competing titles,” “competing books,” “market competition,” or simply “competition”) section is probably the most daunting and least understood by first-time academic book authors.We don’t usually tend to think of our work as “competing” with others, and the idea that we need

When I was writing my own book, the whole publishing process felt opaque and high-stakes. I erroneously associated speaking with editors at a conference with formally “pitching” my book. Because I was strongly encouraged to wait to draft and submit book proposals until the full manuscript was (nearly) complete, I also avoided talking with editors,

Prestige aside, from the outside, it might seem like all university presses (and editors) are identical. You write your book, it goes through peer review, you revise it, and eventually it’s published. This broad schema, though, elides small but significant differences between presses’ and editors’ working styles that can significantly impact your book (and, in

Some university presses ask hopeful book authors to list scholars who can serve as peer reviewers for their academic book proposal or full manuscript. In this post, I help you determine whom you should list as possible reviewers. Then, I answer other common questions authors of first academic books have about compiling this list of

1. Your book proposal will only be read by academics in your field. Reality This is only partly true. Your proposal will be read by several audiences, only some of whom will be academics in your field. So, your book proposal needs to be legible to both specialists in your field and intelligent non-academics.