Authors of a monograph, editors of a collection of essays, or other publishable material, are invited to submit either a completed manuscript or a proposal for a future volume.
In either case the first step is to complete a standard Proposal Form.
This form provides the press with the basic data on you and the volume, so that we and an appropriate editorial board can make an initial evaluation. To understand the steps in the evaluation process, please see The Publishing Process.
You will notice in the Proposal Form that there are two areas where you as author or editor propose information but then it will have to be ratified by the Acquisitions Editor, and in these areas the press retains the ultimate decision.
First, the title and subtitle: for marketing and visibility reasons (since librarians suffer a surfeit of information today) the press’s strict policy is for the main title to comprise essential keywords so that the book “does what it says on the tin.” In other words, we would welcome a title like Viking Brooches in the Danelaw, but would not approve a title like Continuity and Change: Viking Brooches in the Danelaw. The logic behind our approach lies in SEO (search engine optimization) whereby we try and ensure that your book reaches its right audience.
Second, images: we allow almost limitless black and white images, provided that the author has gained permissions and paid any fees to the copyright holder, and can deliver the images to us in a suitable digital resolution. Colour images are possible but this may mean printing in four-colour, so can hugely increase the printing cost; but if this is affordable it means we can also allow unlimited colour. We agree to colour images when the scholarly argument requires colour, but not for esthetic reasons.
Proposal for a New Book Series
Scholars who wish to propose a new book series are invited to contact the Director of Arc to outline the concept, to judge if it fits the press’s publishing strategy, and to submit a Series Proposal Form.