Publishing Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in publishing with College Press! We look forward to reviewing your book proposal. As part of your submission, please address the following items.

Working Title/Subtitle

  • Make it as creative yet accurate as possible
  • Remember: Search engines have to pick up on the title, subtitle or keywords

Basic Description of the Work

  • Provide a paragraph summary of the book. If someone were to ask, “What is this book about?” how might you respond?
  • Use descriptive terms to identify the strengths of the “product”

Author/Contributor Background

  • Provide a brief biographical sketch of each editor, author, and/or contributor
  • Emphasize both academic backgrounds and ministerial experiences
  • Note anything about the individuals that is noteworthy, e.g. previously published, editorial experience, academic experience, special recognitions, denominational positions, etc.)

Book Annotated Outline

  • Provide sections and chapters of the book – Include a paragraph description of each chapter
  • Incorporate a brief rationale for the outline of the book

Target Audience/Marketing

  • To whom is the book written? What are its potential uses and markets for the book?
  • Identify potential readers: Pastors and Church Leaders?  Students?  Church Members?  
  • Identity potential areas of marketability:
  • Group studies (Sunday Schools, Life Groups, Men’s or Women’s Groups, etc.)
  • Textbook (What classes? High School, College, Seminary, etc.) 
  • Theological traditions represented in the book
  • Connections the authors/contributors have that will aid in marketing

Advantages of this Text

  • Identify potential “competitors” and note the distinction of your book
  • Describe the unique strengths of your book compared to the weaknesses of other similar books
  • Note any “supplemental” material to the text (e.g., study questions, a blog, digital resources, etc.)

Timetable for Completion

  • Give an overall time frame (e.g., 6 months, 1 year, 18 months, etc.)
  • Identify where you are at in the book’s completion and what you will be doing to safeguard the quality of the continuing process

Additional Guidelines

Follow The Chicago Manual of Style (14th edition) rules. In essence:

  • Type your material on 8 ½” X 11” paper
  • Double spaced
  • One-inch margins all around
  • Use only one side of the paper
  • Pages should be numbered consecutively throughout
  • Do not use right-margin justification
  • All Scripture references must include the translation or paraphrase from which they came (College Press prefers The New International Version or The New American Standard Bible)
  • Footnotes must include author, name of the book, publisher, place of publication, copyright date, and page number of the quotation.
  • The author is responsible for obtaining - and paying for - permission to quote copyrighted material, and should include that written permission with the manuscript. Generally speaking, one must secure permission if a quotation exceeds one line of a song, one line of poetry, 100 words of an article or 200 words of a book. For further information see The Chicago Manual of Style.
  • Send readable copies (preferably not printed on dot matrix).
  • Do not submit artwork with your manuscript unless it is requested.
  • Always include sufficient return postage with any manuscript you want returned.
  • Keep a copy of everything you send (i.e., we cannot be responsible for lost originals).

 

Due to the large number of manuscripts we evaluate, we are unable to provide authors detailed explanations for our decisions.

 

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