Saturday, May 09, 2009
Call for book proposals for our series: New Literacies
Those of you in the northern hemisphere who see summer stretching before you with no classes to teach and hours and hours of empty time, and those of you in the southern hemisphere who are battening down for winter and long, empty, chilly nights, might want to think about working on a book proposal to submit for consideration for publication in our series with Peter Lang.
The series--New Literacies and Digital Epistemologies--focusses on publishing single-authored and edited books hat focus on some aspect of new literacies. For us, new literacies are best described as newly developed or newly understood "socially recognized ways of generating, communicating and negotiating meaningful content through the medium of encoded texts within contexts of participation in Discourses (or, as members of Discourses)” (Lankshear and Knobel 2006: 64). The series does have a definite lean towards sociocultural theorisations of literacy practices, but not exclusively so. To obtain a sense of what's already been published in this series, and the kinds of things we're looking for, click here, then type "new literacies" into the series title window. Our scope is really quite open.
In terms of putting together a book proposal, the following template offers a starting place.
Book proposal template
1. Proposed book title
2. Author details
3. Summary description of and rationale for proposed book (a paragraph or two)
4. Statement regarding intended audience or readership
5. Competing books in the area
Identify closest competitors and explain how your book will differ from these.
6. Course relevance
If possible, sketch ideas for specific university courses and the like where this book can be used. Part of submitting a successful proposal is showing a market exists for it.
7. Background to the proposed book
This is a more extended explanation of the proposed book. This section may well have a bibliography
8. Features
Explicitly identify things in the proposed book that make it distinctive
9. Recent Relevant Publications
List relevant publications that show you have an established track record
10. Provisional Outline of Contents
Provide a chapter-by-chapter account of the proposed book; include proposed author names if proposing an edited collection
11. Approximate Word Length
95,000 words (including the bibliography/ies is a good length to aim at)
12. Timetable
Indicate a realistic date for completion of the manuscript
Additional tips
- Describing your proposed book in terms of it being based on your doctoral research, or on a conference symposium, won’t work in your favour
- Write your proposal with an international audience in mind (e.g., don’t use terms like “sophomore” or regional acronyms; don’t assume widespread knowledge of a regional policy)
- Be as succinct and to-the-point as possible (5 single-spaced pages for an entire proposal is a typical median length)
You can also get in touch with us (knobelm@mail.montclair.edu; colin.lankshear@jcu.edu.au) and ask for advice or sample proposals, too. Email us your finished proposals and we'll set them on the review path.
Labels: academic, book, writing
