Prepare to submit
a book proposal
Whether you want to write a book yourself, or edit a collection or an entire book series, find out how you can submit your book proposal.
Below you’ll find information on preparing a proposal, and an overview of our process and our book types, as well as details on our ethical stance, your rights, and permissions... and a form to get the conversation going.
You can navigate this content by using the 'On this page' and 'In the books hub' menus, or by following the links at the bottom of each page.
- Books hub
- Prepare to submit a book proposal
- Prepare your manuscript
- Promoting your book
Getting started
A book proposal enables you to set out your ideas for your book – including its topic, goals and scope – and to indicate which audience the book is for and any likely competitors. Experienced authors will be comfortable creating well-structured proposals, but if you're not or you just want to know how we do it, this page includes information to help you.
And don't worry if your idea is only speculative at this stage; we're here to help, and we'd love to talk to you about it; many successful books have been published after conversations with our publishers (commissioning editors). Drop us a line using the form below to chat about your idea.
First things first
First things first, you need to make sure that we're right for you; and this applies to methodology as much as topic. You can find a list of subjects and an outline of our process below to help you decide; click on a topic to see more information and a list of books.
Is a book the right format for your research?
We publish in a variety of formats, designed to offer you choice and flexibility. Visit our Bookstore to see whether your idea brings fresh knowledge and is a good fit with our publishing programme.
Monographs: Detailed written studies that focus on a single, specialist aspect of your field. We publish single-authored monographs and edited collections, both as part of an existing series, or as a single title.
Business titles: Applied content across a broad range of subjects including marketing, leadership, and human resource management.
Handbooks: Comprehensive and authoritative works on topics across social sciences and business.
Textbooks: Academic textbooks targeted at upper undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Emerald points: A short form, quick-to-publish book format, peer reviewed research of between 20 and 50,0000 words, published within 12 weeks of acceptance of the final manuscript.
Understand the process
- Submit proposal
- Internal editorial review
- External peer review
- Response to peer review
- Contract
- Writing your book
- Manuscript submission
- Production
- Sales and marketing
- Publication
How to fill in a book proposal
[content to come]
Book proposals
- Your details and CV
- Information about your book idea, including a summary, TOC, description, disciplines and USPs
- An idea of your proposed audience – for example, academic researchers or postgrads
- Competing titles
- Manuscript information, such as estimate delivery date and word count
- Additional info on promotion and marketing options
Book series proposals
- A synopsis of the series
- Proposed content of the series
- Number of titles the series will publish per years
- Editorial board (optional) and affiliations
- Competing books/series currently available
- Marketing and promotion info
- Reviewers
- Features and illustrations
- Series editor info and biographical notes
The team was incredibly supportive, dynamic and truly interested in the substance of the works published.