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For Authors

Welcome

The Kent State University Press welcomes inquiries and proposals in our fields of publication, listed below. Please send a letter or email of inquiry briefly describing your project to our Acquisitions Editor, Clara Totten (ctotten1@kent.edu), following which you may be invited to submit a proposal. Proposals should be sent digitally via email and should follow the guidelines on the Submission Guidelines tab of this page. The Press does not return unsolicited materials.

  • Culture and history of Ohio and the surrounding region
  • Environmental and nature studies with a focus on Ohio or the surrounding region
  • Fashion history
  • Literary Studies:
    • Late medieval, Renaissance, and seventeenth century English literature
    • C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Inklings
  • Peace and Conflict Studies
  • Sports
  • True crime history
  • US history, especially of the Civil War era and abolitionism

We are not currently accepting proposals for works of fiction.

We do not publish poetry, except for the winners of the Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize.

 

Submission Guidelines

The Kent State University Press welcomes inquiries and proposals, whether you have completed a full manuscript or are in the early stages of writing. When submitting a proposal, please include the following:

  1. A proposed title for the book, your full name as you would like it to appear on the book, and, optionally, your pronouns;
  2. An abstract of no more than around 150 words (your book’s “elevator pitch”);
  3. A description of the project (2-3 pages, double-spaced) that includes
    1. its argument and purpose
    2. its importance and contribution to its field or subject area
    3. its target audience
    4. its suitability to KSU Press’s publishing program, and
    5. whether any part of the project has been previously published (if so, where);
  4. A table of contents in which each chapter is described by a short paragraph;
  5. A list of comparable/competing titles with explanations of how your project is similar to and distinct from each;
  6. A list of suggested readers who have not yet seen the manuscript. If this is an academic book, please do not include anyone from your department or your dissertation committee;
  7. Any opportunities you foresee for being able to help promote the book (e.g., giving author talks, belonging to a speaker’s bureau, a strong social media presence, etc.);
  8. If your project is a revised dissertation, whether the original dissertation is available or is embargoed (if embargoed, for how long);
  9. The total projected length of the manuscript in words, and the projected number and type of illustrations (to include tables, figures, photos, maps, etc.);
  10. The projected date for full manuscript completion;
  11. Your current CV or résumé;
  12. Two or three sample chapters, if available, one of which should be the introduction.

Download these guidelines

Please direct questions and inquiries to:
Clara Totten, Acquisitions Editor
ctotten1@kent.edu

For Authors Under ContractGuidelines for Authors Under Contract

For your convenience, the Kent State University Press provides the following downloadable guidelines in PDF format.

Electronic Manuscript Guidelines for Authors
Art Submission Guidelines for Authors
Copyright Guidelines for Authors
The Publishing Process

Note: Adobe’s Acrobat Reader software is required to view or print our submission guidelines.
If you don’t have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free here.

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