Below is a guide to what we want to
see in a book proposal – not every point in it will apply to every proposal.
1. Your full name, affiliation, and contact information
(including email and phone)
2. Tentative title, including subtitle if
applicable.
3. Summary: Please summarize the book in 2-3
paragraphs, including an overview of the core theme and arguments and a concise
statement of why there is a need for this book.
4. Contents: Outline the book’s contents, including
the title of each chapter and its key points, themes, or arguments. If a
contributed work, also include the name of each (prospective) author.
5. Length: Estimate how long the book will be and
provide the total expected word count to the nearest 5,000 words. It is
important to be as accurate as you can.
6. Audience: Please identify the intended
market(s).
i) Please avoid generalizations (‘this book is intended for all
undergraduate students, postgrads, researchers, scholars, interested readers
…’). Your book will likely appeal to more than one of these groups, but it
would be helpful to distinguish between main and subsidiary audiences. In
particular, please be clear about the level at which the book will be pitched.
ii) Try
to quantify the market as much as possible. To which field of political science
does it pertain? Is your book aimed at a specific type of course? How many such
courses are there?
iii) Identify
courses for which your book might make recommended or essential reading. Give
specific details where possible.
iv) Explain
how your book would appeal – e.g. through contributors, references, case
studies – to different national markets. Our main markets are the US and the
UK, but Continuum books are distributed around the world.
7. Competition: List comparable books on the market
(please provide full bibliographic information). How does your book differ? If
there isn’t a comparable book, suggest why not.
8. Biographical information
i) Give your title, current affiliation, and relevant
qualifications.
ii) Include
a brief bibliography of your relevant publications. If you have published
similar books before, try to provide sales figures if you can.
iii) Mention
any relevant networks you belong to (e.g., conferences you attend,
associations you belong to).
iv) Explain
your affective involvement: why does this matter to you? What is at stake for
you?
v) For
edited collections, please also include a brief biography for each author.
9. Delivery Date: Please tell when you expect to
have a complete manuscript. Avoid good intentions here and be realistic. If the
project gets approved, we have to put a delivery date on the contract, and that
date cannot be missed.
10. Features
i) Will your book need any illustrations? If so, roughly how many
and of what type? Would you provide camera-ready copy? Keep in mind that
permissions can be costly and difficult to secure.
ii) Please
list any other additional features you plan to provide, such as an index,
annotated bibliography, glossary, etc.
iii) If
you are proposing a textbook, please detail the pedagogical features it will
include, such as chapter summary, list of key terms, review/discussion
questions, boxes, etc.
11. Why we should publish: Finally, it is useful to
summarize the benefits the book offers to the reader. Many of these will be implicit in much of the above, but it is
worth spelling out what’s in it for the reader.
12. Reviewers/Endorsers: You are welcome to suggest
the names of 3-4 scholars who might be willing to review and/or endorse your
manuscript. If possible, please include affiliation and email.
Please also include a CV, as well
as any available sample material (sample chapter(s), introduction, or relevant
article).
Please submit all
materials to
Marie-Claire Antoine
Acquisitions Editor, Political Science
email:
mantoine@continuum-books.com
Continuum Publishers
80 Maiden Lane, Suite 704, New York NY 10038
