Guidelines for Book Proposals

For ca. fifty years John Benjamins has been serving the international academic community by producing high quality research materials. As publishers we are fully independent, flexible, with short lines of communication.

These guidelines are for authors/editors of manuscripts submitted for publication with John Benjamins. A prospectus prepared along these lines will help us to assess your proposal in terms of intended readership, the market, and suitability in our publishing program. In order to guarantee the quality of our publications, proposed manuscripts are subject to peer reviewing and a decision on publication will be based on referee reports, series editors assessments, and market expectations. When your proposal is under review, we consider that, in line with professional standards, you are granting John Benjamins the first right of choice for publication. The reviewing process is aimed at providing constructive comments. All information supplied will be confidential and only for internal use.

About the book

1. The manuscript in question

1. Author(s)/Editor(s) names.
2. Title (tentative).
3. Estimated length (in number of words, including notes and references).
4. Number of tables.
5. Number of figures and/or plates.
6. Number of contributions (for collective volumes only).
7. Any special features; such as, for instance, accompanying audio, video, or datasets (unless those are hosted elsewhere). Please indicate the number, type, and size of such files.
8. Open Access requirements: if you want or need the e-book edition to be Open Access, please indicate this so that we determine the OA publication fee at the earliest possible stage. For more information, see our Open Access Policy.
   

2. Outline of the book

It is important for the evaluation process and later for promotional purposes to know the exact nature of your book. For this reason we would like you to focus on the following aspects related to the outline of your book:

1. What type of book is it (e.g., research monograph, collection of articles, reference work, text book).
2. What do you see as the main selling points? Emphasize the unique aspects regarding origin, content, style, and methodology. We would appreciate it if you mentioned your motivation and particular qualifications to write/edit the work.
3. Include any new findings of fact, statements, theory or viewpoint that the book contains.
4. In case the book is a textbook you should clearly mention the intended level of its audience, and if it has been field-tested in the classroom please let us know how (with details). Are you going to use the textbook yourself for a course, and do you know of other places where the book may be used?
5. If your book is based on a Ph.D. thesis, explain how you have revised this into a research monograph.
6. If your book is a revised edition of an earlier published book, please list the main differences between this and the previous edition.
7. Please send a copy of the table of contents and a concise description of the volume. In the case of an edited collection, also include abstracts of the individual chapters.
8. Please indicate the intended readership of your book.
9. List any publications your manuscript is related to or will directly compete with. Please include author(s)/editor(s), year of publication, title, publisher, and price if known.

3. Possible reviewers of your manuscript

Please list up to three professionals in your field (with their addresses) who are qualified to objectively read and evaluate your manuscript. Please provide names and email addresses. We may or may not approach the suggested reviewers as we may be using our own network of reviewers, or those suggested by our series editors.

About the authors(s)/editor(s)

4. About the author/editor

• Full name
• Academic status
• Academic affiliation
• ORCID (if available)

5a. University address

• Department
• University
• City & Postal/Zip code
• Country
• Telephone number
• E-mail

5b. Home address (only if preferred for correspondence)

• Street & number
• City & Postal/Zip code
• Country
• Telephone number
• E-mail

6. Personal profile

• Please attach your CV, and/or
• Include your degrees, former academic affiliations, etc.
• List titles, publishers, and publication dates of any previous books, journal articles, or presentations you have (co-)authored or (co-)edited.
• list your fields of academic interest.

Submission instructions

If possible, please submit your book proposal as attachments by e-mail, either directly to the series editors of one of our book series, to one of our acquisition editors, or to proposalsbenjamins.nl. Please label attachments clearly with the name of the author(s)/editor(s), rather than “benjamins-proposal”, which would not distinguish them from other proposals at our end.

On the basis of the book proposal, and after consultation with our series editors and advisors, we will determine whether the proposed book would fit our program, and if so, ask you to submit the full manuscript for reviewing. Should your manuscript be accepted for publication we will get in touch concerning contractual matters, submission guidelines and a further marketing questionnaire.

We look forward to receiving your proposal.

John Benjamins Publishing Company
P.O. Box 36224
NL-1020 ME Amsterdam
The Netherlands