Book Proposal Guidelines

  1. Author’s personal information
  • Name
  • Institutional affiliation
  • Email address
  • Mailing address
  • Include a biographical note (200 words maximum)
  1. Tentative title of book
  1. Brief project description 
    • Describe the proposed work in one paragraph (100 words maximum)
  2. Detailed project description (1,000 words maximum)
  • The description should explain the book’s purpose and how it will be achieved.
  • Highlight the work’s outstanding, distinctive, and unique contributions.
  • Include the main themes, arguments, contributions to Puerto Rican studies, and place in the literature (how is it similar and different from other similar books on the same topic?). 
  • Describe your intended audience. 
  • Is this manuscript a revised version of your dissertation? Note: we do not publish dissertations that have not been revised and turned into a book 
  • Has the manuscript, or any part of your manuscript, been previously published or distributed?
    • If so, do you hold copyright for the previously published material?
    • If not, who holds the copyright for these materials? 
    • Where have parts of the manuscript been published?
  1. Proposed book outline and chapter descriptions
  • Include a detailed outline of the book with paragraph-length description of each chapter.
  • If available, submit a sample chapter.
  1. Approximate manuscript word count
  • Estimate the total word count of the book—including the main text, endnotes, bibliography, and appendices.
  • Approximately how many photographs and/or charts, graphs, diagrams, etc. do you plan to include?

  1. Comparable and competitive volumes
  • Describe existing books in this field and discuss their strengths and weaknesses.
    • Spell out how your coverage expands on existing coverage and differs from other books.
    • Discuss each book in a separate paragraph—providing the publisher and date of publication.
  • For works with a primarily scholarly audience, discuss your project’s place in the current scholarship and its distinctive contribution.
  • If no other books address your particular topic, explain how exploring that topic advances current scholarly discussions.
  1. Market and audience
  • Who is the intended audience for the book?
  • If scholars: specify field(s)—both specific specialty as well as larger fields.
  • If students: is it for classroom use? Specify level and specific courses.
    • If your work is intended for use in the classroom, have you or other instructors assigned your materials to students?
  • If the general public: How will the topic’s relevance and currency appeal to readers without specialized knowledge in the field?
  1. Tentative date of manuscript submission
  • What portion of the material is now complete?
  • When do you expect to have a complete manuscript?
  • Do you plan to include material requiring permission (text, music, lyrics, illustrations)?
    • To what extent?
    • Have you started the permissions request process?
  1.  Reviewers
  • Please name three scholars working in your field who are competent to read your manuscript.
    • Indicate if any of these scholars has already read the work.
    • Please include email and affiliation of anyone listed.
  • We will seek to use some of these, along with reviewers of our own selection.