Publishing involves a matching process between manuscript and publisher. Virtually all have particular strengths and styles. For both authors and publishers, happiness and long life come when a book is matched with a publisher who has a strong list in the discipline.

So before submitting a book proposal to Harvard University Press (or any other publisher), do some preliminary research. Who published recent books in your field that you especially admire? Which publishers' websites describe books in your area that resemble the one you plan to write? Which publishers seem especially good at reaching the audience(s) you are aiming for? Coming up with a short and focused list of possible publishers will save a lot of time, worry, and postage in the long run.

Harvard University Press publishes scholarly books and thoughtful books for the educated general reader in history, philosophy, American literature, law, economics, public policy, natural science, history of science, psychology, and education, and reference books in all the above fields. All HUP books are published in English, with translation rights bought by publishers in other countries. We do not publish original fiction, original poetry, religious inspiration or revelation, cookbooks, guidebooks, children's books, art and photography books, Festschriften, conference volumes, unrevised dissertations, or autobiographies.

Finally, proposals sent to Harvard Press should be in English and should be typed double-spaced and single-sided on standard-sized white paper. They should not be sent electronically, either as disks or as attachments to email messages.

What Should Be in a Proposal?

A proposal should give the Harvard Press editors and marketing staff—most of whom will not be specialists in your area—a clear and detailed idea of what your book will be about. The proposal should tell the Press staff why you are writing this particular book at this particular time in your own career, and more important, in the development of your field.

• What problems are you setting out to solve?
• What confusions do you wish to clarify?
• What previously unknown or unfortunately neglected story are you planning to tell?
• A proposal should give an answer to what might be called the Passover question: "How is this book different from all other books?"
• The follow-up and equally important questions, Why does that matter? To whom?

Possible audiences are as variable as publishers.

• Is your book for specialists in your field?
• In some particular area of a larger field?
• Is it a book that students might use, and if so, students at what level?
• Is it a "trade" book—that is, one intended for general readers, those without specialized knowledge in your area?

Whatever your answer, consider carefully the kind of approach, terminology, level of explanation, and scholarly apparatus that your book will need to make it most compelling for your ideal reader.

Proposals can take different forms, but readable, informative, and successful ones usually include:

• a narrative description of the proposed book's themes, arguments, goals, place in the literature, and expected audience; state your argument concisely and clearly
• a comparison of the proposed book to other books now available intended for the audience that you seek (if you are writing a specialized monograph, it is not especially illuminating to compare it to a popularized treatment of the same subject)
• a summary of your own professional experience, past publications, and relevant research, aimed at explaining why you are the right author for the book you intend to write
• an annotated table of contents, with a brief description of the contents of each chapter
• an estimate of the probable length of the book, the illustrations (if any) that you wish to include, the time it will take you to write it, and any possible complicating factors.

If the book is multi-authored, please:

• provide biographical information on each author (a one-paragraph summary is preferable to a full c.v. at this preliminary stage).
• make it clear which authors have committed themselves to contributing a chapter and which ones you are negotiating with *note whether any chapters, or substantive sections of chapters, have been previously published.

As a general rule, the more an author can show to a publisher, the stronger his position will be. If some chapters of the manuscript are already written, say so in your cover letter; however, you need not send them with the initial proposal.

Who Reads a Proposal?

Proposals are most likely to be read quickly when they are addressed (by name) to the appropriate acquisitions editor; check the Press web site or make a quick telephone call to the switchboard to determine which editor would be most suited to your work. Editors may decline to pursue a proposed book. They may encourage the author to provide more information or send in the chapters that are already written. They may consult with outside reviewers, and they will certainly confer with other editors and members of the Press staff, before making any formal commitment. Bear in mind, then, that your proposal may be read not only by editors but by specialists in marketing and production, and answer any questions they may have ("why are fifteen fold-out maps necessary?") as clearly as you can.

For more extensive advice, consult:

William Germano, Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious About Serious Books (University of Chicago Press, 2001)

Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunate, Thinking Like Your Editor: How to Write Great Serious Nonfiction--and Get It Published (Norton, 2002)

Where Should a Proposal Be Sent?

Postal Address

Harvard University Press

Editorial Departments

79 Garden Street

Cambridge, Massachusetts

02138

USA

Email

Contact_HUP@harvard.edu