Guidelines for Preparing New Book Proposals

We welcome suggestions for new books and are happy to evaluate any proposals that are submitted to us. You will find here a listing with the names of our commissioning editors and their e-mail addresses.

It is not necessary to have written the whole book before you approach us. It is better to draft an overall plan and then to talk to a publisher at this early stage. If you are ready to submit a proposal we recommend you structure it along the following lines, in order that we can evaluate your project:

1. Overview 
A summary (200-300 words) of the book's aims and scope. 

2. Contents 
A contents list with a short paragraph describing each chapter. 

3. Readership 
A realistic assessment of the intended readership. Please try to be specific and stress the major markets. 
Consider the following: 

• What level is it pitched at?
• If applicable, for which course(s) will it be used? Will it be required for supplementary reading?
• Is its appeal international or confined to a particular geographic market?     

4. Competing titles 
A description of the book in relation to competing titles. 
This should include: 

• The author, title, publisher, publication date, price and number of pages of the main competing titles
• Any unique features that will distinguish your book from the competition     

5. Other relevant information 

• Your timetable: what stage are you at now, and when do you hope to complete the manuscript?
• How long is the final manuscript likely to be? (i.e. number of words)
• How many line diagrams and photographs will there be?
• Will there be any unusual text features, such as colour or fold-outs?     

6. About the author(s)/editor(s) 
Please provide some brief information about yourself and your co-authors, where appropriate, including any details of previous publications.