We encourage submissions. Send your manuscript as outlined below to Chad W. Post.
SUBMISSION POLICIES AND EDITORIAL PROCEDURES:
1. CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS
Dalkey Archive Press is currently seeking book-length scholarly works. Areas of interest include:
- Monographs on authors from throughout the world in the aesthetic tradition represented by Dalkey Archive Press’s list
- Encyclopedic companions to contemporary fiction from around the world
- Literary history and theory
- Cultural studies
- Collections of interviews
- Aesthetics
- Bibliographies
2. SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS
Submissions should include all of the following:
- Cover letter
- Abstract
- Curriculum vita
- Full manuscript with table of contents. If a full manuscript is not yet available, submit a minimum of one sample chapter, and indicate both the estimated length of the work once completed and the estimated date of completion. In the case that the submission is a dissertation, please edit out all unnecessary documentation and summaries that would not normally be included in a published book.
- English translation, in the case that work was originally written in another language. It is the author’s responsibility to make translation arrangements.
- SASE if the manuscript need be returned.
3. PREPARATION OF MATERIALS
Dalkey Archive house style follows the formats prescribed in the Chicago Manual of Style. If a manuscript is accepted, the work must be formatted in compliance with these and other specifications, as outlined in Editing, Design, and Production (section 6). For the purposes of submission, however, manuscripts must be at least:
- Supplied in electronic format as a Word document, whether a hard copy is sent or not
- Double-spaced in legible format
- Paginated consecutively
- In general, follow the electronic preparation guidelines set forth by the Association of American University Presses
4. EVALUATION
The Press’s in-house editors will initially review all submissions. The Press’s editors will make a final publication decision based on peer-review reports. Please note that, due to the number of manuscripts it receives, the Press is very selective in each of its areas of interest (see section 1). The editors will usually reach a decision in 1-2 months, but the final decision to publish will be made only upon receipt of a complete manuscript.
5. FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS
Dalkey Archive Press, a nonprofit organization, selects the authors and books it supports solely on the basis of their merit, not sales potential, and so operates in such a way as to best serve scholars, students, and the general public. Accordingly, the Scholarly Series was created to expand the opportunities for specialized scholarly research by making available those works that may otherwise go unpublished because of limited demand in the marketplace. To make this program possible, authors of scholarly works supplement some of the publication costs involved in bringing their book into print. This is most often achieved through subventions from their institutions and/or related organizations.
If a manuscript is chosen for publication, the necessary level of subvention, including a detailed breakdown of all costs involved in bringing the book into print, is itemized and reviewed with the author. These costs include such items as copyediting, layout and design, production, and promotion (see section 7). Typically the Press covers over half of these costs while the author secures funding for the remaining portion. The standard contract offers the author royalties of 6% on net sales of the book, 10 author copies, and a 40% discount on additional units.
6. EDITING, DESIGN, AND PRODUCTION
Accepted manuscripts are delivered to an in-house editor as Microsoft Word documents or a clean and camera-ready edition of the original book (if a reprint). Extensive alterations to the text should not be necessary at this stage. The author must secure all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyrighted material in the book, including book and translation rights, as necessary, in the case of works newly translated into English. The creation and accuracy of the index (if any) is the author’s responsibility, and will be done during the proofing process, following the design and typesetting of the manuscript.
In rare cases, the editor may request that the author provide a book’s final layout. This occurs when a work is exceptionally long or technically complex.
7. MARKETING AND PUBLICITY
Marketing is a substantive part of the Press’s mission, and it is especially important with books of this specialized nature. Thus, Scholarly Series titles are marketed by our in-house marketing and sales staff, sent to appropriate review sources, included in seasonal catalogs, listed in the back of each published volume, advertised in professional journals, publicized at conventions, and promoted through direct mail. Due to the specialized nature of many Scholarly Series publications, the author also participates in marketing by helping identify appropriate contacts in their field for reviews, blurbs, and classroom adoptions.
