Submitting a Book Proposal to Cambridge University Press
These notes are intended to help you put together a detailed outline of your book
and to give you an idea of the process that Cambridge follows once the proposal
has been submitted.
Don’t feel that you have to follow this framework exactly. However, the
following headings do cover most of the important information that we need in
order to evaluate your proposal.
Title (and subtitle, if any)
A clear and accurate title is important in marketing your book. As a general rule
the main title should have no more than seven words. (If the title looks like it will
be longer than that then consider using a subtitle too. Many people use search
engines when hunting for books so if key words or acronyms are in the subtitle
they will still be seen.)
Author Name and Affiliation
You should include your mailing address, e-mail, and phone/fax numbers.
Background
This should outline the general field, how it has evolved, where it is going, its
commercial importance (if any) and so on.
Brief Description of the Book
Here you should set out, in a few paragraphs, what specifically the book will be
about. You should discuss the approach you intend to take (e.g. the balance
between theory and practice) and any particular pedagogical or presentational
features that will characterize the book.
Reasons for Writing the Book
Why do you think this book should be published and how will it benefit the
readers?
Market and Readership
Here you should describe exactly who the book is aimed at (e.g. graduate
students, researchers, practitioners in industry, etc) and in what subjects they
work/study (e.g. electrical engineering, computer science, applied physics, etc).
If the book can be used as a textbook then you should describe the type of course
for which it could be adopted. In this section you should also describe the
prerequisite knowledge that you’d be expecting of your readers.
Competition
Here you should give details of the main competing books (author/ title/
publisher) and discuss how your book will differ from them. What aspects will
give your book an edge? This analysis is particularly important if the book you’re
proposing is a textbook.
Table of Contents
This should give the chapter headings along with a sentence or two explaining
what each chapter will cover. You should also include the first level of
subheadings. If you already have a more detailed table of contents then do please
provide it.
Manuscript Information
This should include estimates for:
- how long you think the book will be (in printed pages)
- a delivery date for the finished manuscript
- the number of figures the book will have
Author/ Contributor Information
Please provide a brief resume/CV for each author. If the book you’re proposing
is an edited volume then it would be very useful to have the names and
affiliations of each of the intended contributors. Ideally, each of them would also
provide an outline for their individual chapter.
Sample Writing
A detailed proposal, running to about five or six pages, is the minimum we need
to be able to get the assessment procedure under way. If you have any sample
sections or chapters then you should send those to us as well, as long as you’re
happy that they give a reasonable idea of the style that you’re after. We make it
clear to reviewers that what they’re seeing is not the final version.
The Assessment Process
Once you’ve submitted the proposal it will be read by the appropriate editor. If
the editor feels that the proposal is fine as it stands then it will be sent out to a
number of experts in the field. The feedback from these reviewers (whose
identities are withheld) will be discussed with you. There is no compulsion to act
on every suggestion that the reviewers make but their constructive feedback very
often results in a better final book.
If the reviews are positive and if the editorial and marketing teams feel that the
book would be a good fit with our list then the editor will recommend to the
Press Syndicate, our governing body, that you be offered a contract for your
book. (The Press Syndicate is a committee of senior Cambridge University
academics whose research interests span a huge spectrum of fields.)
Dr Philip Meyler
Publishing Director, Engineering, Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building
Cambridge, CB2 8RU
UK
Tel: +44 1223 325760
Fax: +44 1223 315052
E-mail: pmeyler@cambridge.org
http://www.cambridge.org