For Prospective Authors
This information should help you decide if UNC Press is an appropriate publisher for your manuscript, and if so, what a proposal should include and to whom you should send it.
Areas of Interest
Submitting Proposals
Manuscript Review Process
Author and Manuscript Inquiry Form
Dissertation to Book
UNC Press publishes nonfiction books for academic and general audiences. We have a special interest in trade and scholarly titles about our region. The Press does not, however, publish original fiction, poetry, drama, memoir, or festschriften.
Areas of interest include:
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African American studies American history American literature American studies Business/Economic history Civil War Era history Classics/Ancient history Cooking and Food history Craft studies European history Environmental studies |
Gender studies Latin American and Caribbean Studies Legal history Military history Native American studies North Caroliniana Regional books Religious studies Social medicine Southern studies Urban studies |
A number of the Press's books are published in special edited series. These series include:
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Civil War America
Envisioning Cuba
Gender and American Culture
Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks
John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture
Latin America in Translation/en Traducción/em Traduçao
Littlefield History of the Civil War Era
The Luther H. Hodges Jr. and Luther H. Hodges Sr. Series on Business, Society, and the State
The New Cold War History
New Directions in Southern Studies
Studies in Legal History
Studies in Social Medicine
Studies in the History of Greece and Rome
The Press also publishes for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, sponsored by Colonial Williamsburg and the College of William and Mary.
For more information about our recent publications and areas of interest, please consult our catalog and listings of books by subject.
We welcome your written proposal and will respond to your inquiry as quickly as possible. Whenever possible, please address your proposal to the appropriate acquisitions editor. A book proposal should include the following items:
a cover letter
a detailed description of the work and its contribution
a table of contents or proposed chapter outline
a c.v. or resume
We prefer that authors do not submit complete manuscripts unless invited to do so by an editor.
Our policy is to recycle proposal materials after consideration. If you would like these materials returned, be sure to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
If you would like to suggest a book that might be reprinted in a paperback edition, please send your proposal to the appropriate acquisitions editor.
The University of North Carolina Press
116 South Boundary Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-3808
Fax: (919) 966-3829
If you are a Press author and need more specific information about the preparation and submission of a manuscript, please consult the online version of STET: A Handbook for Authors.
Manuscripts invited for review will receive our careful attention. The first evaluation all manuscripts undergo is a preliminary in-house review, which determines the general suitability of a project for our list. This process may take several weeks. Thereafter, the manuscript will either be returned or sent to a scholar or expert in the field for a formal review.
The Board of Governors of the Press, which authorizes all publications, requires that every manuscript recommended to it by the Press have the written support of at least two outside peer reviewers. Their reports are made on a confidential basis, and copies are sent to the author. As our reviewers are distinguished scholars with many commitments, this part of the evaluation process can be time-consuming. We do our best to provide authors with thoughtful and useful responses to their manuscripts within a reasonable amount of time, and we keep authors informed throughout.
The review process represents an investment of intellectual concern, time, and money. We prefer to be the only press considering your manuscript, at least until we have received the first reader's report. We do understand time and tenure pressures, however, and we are willing to consider simultaneous submissions on a case-by-case basis.
Author and Manuscript Inquiry Form
If invited to submit a complete manuscript, your editor may ask you to complete an Author and Manuscript Inquiry Form, which provides us with pertinent information about yourself and your work. Please take the time to fill out this form carefully and completely as it plays an important role in our review process.
As Peter Givler, executive director of the Association of American University Presses, has written, "There is no magic formula that will guarantee acceptance [of a revised dissertation for publication], but by becoming aware of some of the characteristics of a dissertation that can hinder publication, you may increase the odds of placing your manuscript successfully" ("Notes from an Acquiring Editor," Imprimenda, Fall 1980).
The following is a brief annotated bibliography of useful sources for authors transforming a dissertation into a book manuscript.
Association of American University Presses Directory (published annually by the AAUP)
This annual directory lists information on scholarly presses in the U.S., Canada, and overseas. Entries on each press include names and contact information for acquisitions editors, plus a handy subject grid that shows which presses publish in particular fields.
Robin Derricourt, An Author's Guide to Scholarly Publishing (Princeton, 1996)
Derricourt, twelve years the publishing director of Cambridge University Press and a published scholar himself, brings a tremendous amount of knowledge to the subject.
William Germano, From Dissertation to Book (Chicago, 2005)
Here the focus is on revision and "revisioning" process. Excellent tips on how to approach the problem of turning the diss. into a publishable work.
William Germano, Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Books (Chicago, 2001)
Addresses such questions as: Why does an editor choose some books and decline others? How does a writer decide where to submit a project? How does the peer review process work? And what can an author expect from a publisher--before, during, and after publication?
Eleanor Harman and Ian Montagnes, eds., The Thesis and the Book (Toronto, 1976)
Though Luey's book has surpassed this one in many ways, this was once considered the bible on the subject and remains a useful reference.
Richard Lanham, Revising Prose, 3rd edition (Macmillan, 1992)
An excellent reference for all authors interested in strengthening their prose.
Beth Luey, Handbook for Academic Authors (Cambridge, 1995)
A very clear and informative treatment that covers such topics as revising a dissertation, finding and working with a publisher, the mechanics of authorship, etc. We think it is the single best guide.
Liz McMillen, "A Doctoral Dissertation Is Not Yet a Book, Young Tenure-Seeking Scholars are Told," Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 Februray 1986.
A useful, albeit somewhat dated discussion by editorial consultants of the ways academics often hurt their chances for publication.
William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, 4th edition (Allyn and Bacon, 1999)
Still the classic handbook for writing and revision.
