Proposals

Close-up of a stack of books on a shelf

Books can take the form of monographs or edited volumes of essays by multiple authors. Manuscripts should range from 60,000 to 90,000 words.

SIUP accepts simultaneous submissions of proposals, but not of complete manuscripts. Please indicate in the proposal cover letter whether you are not submitting the proposal to another publisher concurrently. For more information, review SIUP’s submission process and guidelines for authors.

Submission

Proposals should be emailed as Word or PDF attachments to the series editor, Elizabeth Wardle, at writingresearchseries@MiamiOH.edu, and/or to the SIUP acquisitions editor, Kristine Priddy, mkpriddy@siu.edu.

Proposals must contain the following components (no more than 8 pages, not including sample chapters).

  1. Overview of the book’s content. What are the research questions the book aims to answer, what methods are used to explore these questions, what theoretical frames are used, and what are the primary findings and argument? Please be sure to explicitly explain why/how the book is appropriate for this series (including its topic, impact, and methodology).
  2. Table of contents and annotated chapter outline. Provide an outline of the chapters, with titles and several sentences about the arguments and content of each.
  3. Audience, significance, and impact. Who is the expected audience for this book? What other books have explored similar topics/questions, and how does this book add to this knowledge? What is the book’s significance? What gap/niche does the book fill? What will the book’s impact be on pedagogy, practice, and/or policy? Since “impact” is a central focus for this series, please be as explicit as possible about this explanation.
  4. Proposed length. How long will the book be? This should include word count, including notes and bibliography.
  5. Status & proposed timeline. How much has been completed? What is the anticipated deadline for completion?
  6. Author credentials. Include one or two paragraphs outlining the author’s (or authors’) qualifications to undertake the project. Include a 2-page CV for a single author that highlights relevant experience and training. If there are multiple authors, please provide a concise biography for each contributor; do not include CVs for each author.
  7. Suggested peer reviewers. Please list 3-5 areas of expertise that most closely align with the book’s coverage and which should guide selection of outside reviewers. In addition, please provide the names of 3-4 scholars in the field who might serve as appropriate reviewers for this proposal.
  8. The introduction and one or two completed sample chapters.

Review

Authors are welcome to send proposals at any time. However, active review of proposals will take place each year in July and January. To ensure that proposals are read during the review period, please send your complete submission via email no later than June 30 or December 30. (This first year we are behind schedule, so summer proposals are due July 30, 2017).

The series editor and the acquisitions editor will jointly determine whether the book is appropriate for the series. If it is not, they will notify the author within a few weeks of receiving the submission. Authors are welcome to submit a short (1-2 page) inquiry to determine fit prior to submitting a full manuscript. This inquiry will be responded to within a few weeks.

If the manuscript is appropriate, the series editor and the acquisitions editor will send it out to two reviewers. Upon receiving the reviews, they will compile their recommendations and the series editor will write her own review and submit these to the SIUP editorial board. Feedback from the reviewers, along with the editorial board’s decision, will then be sent to the author. The manuscript will either be accepted with an advanced contract, or rejected.

Authors who submit proposals for the July review should expect responses no later than October/November. Authors who submit proposals for the January review should expect responses no later than April/May.

If the book proposal receives positive reviews and support from the board after this process, the author will be asked to submit a completed manuscript within a designated period of time (typically several months, in order to ensure timeliness of publication). The full manuscript will then go back out for review (ideally to the same initial reviewers). To be published, the full manuscript must receive two positive reviews from two different readers.