Proposal / Manuscript Guidelines

Proposal Requirements

  1. Your project outline or table of contents
  2. A sample chapter, or if not available, another writing sample related to your topic
  3. Your current professional resume, including past publications and speaking events

Publisher Expectations

Word Count

Our minimum word count for publication is 50,000 words in the final manuscript. Our maximum word count is 200,000 words.

In manuscript pages, this would be a range of about 200 to 800 manuscript pages. An average-size softcover handbook will be in the range of 62,000 to 100,000 words. An average hardcover textbook will have a range of 100,000 to 150,000 words.

If you expect your word count to be smaller or larger than these parameters, we will ask you to justify the special size with any unique attributes that demand a smaller or larger publication. An undersized manuscript can possibly mean the topic is too narrow for a textbook, while larger manuscripts might mean the topic is too broad or the text is over-written.

Your potential book budget will be based on the word count range you include in this questionnaire. If your proposal is accepted and a publishing contract signed, your contract will require that your final manuscript be at or below your projected maximum word count, or you will be asked to edit your final submission down to the contracted maximum word count.

Color

If your proposal requires color printing, please note this in your answers. We try to accommodate author color requests if necessary for graphic communication. However, color print costs can terminate a proposal if costs outweigh market potential for the book.

To qualify as required color, your photos or graphics must depend specifically on color to communicate correctly. A good example of color dependency would be a thermal image photograph, or similar images where color communicates the meaning of the image, rather than shapes or other distinctions. Photos that require color for communication are rare. Graphics, such as charts and line art, can usually be adjusted to communicate with shapes and text. 

Artwork

As author, you are responsible for creating or gaining permission to borrow all photographs, tables, and graphics in your book. ALL images must comply with recognized safe practices according to NFPA, NREMT or other guiding public safety organizations.

Sample Timeline

  • Proposal review - 30 Days
  • Manuscript submission
    • Peer review - 30 days
    • Developmental edit (if necessary) 30-60 days
  • Production
    • Copyedit - 30 days
    • Author review - 14 days
    • Layout - 5 days
    • Proofing and indexing - 30 days
    • Author review - 14 days
    • Corrections integration - 5 days
    • Cover Design - runs concurrent throughout the production process
  • Delivery of print and digital Files
    • Printed book 30-45 days to print
    • Digital eBook ready and loaded onto eBook platforms upon receipt of the print version.

This sample timeline is to be used as a guideline. The sponsoring editor will provide an accurate timeline upon manuscript submission.  If you feel your proposal requires a certain publication date to be marketable, please make that clear in your answers. We can only accommodate critical timelines as our production workload allows at the time of submission. 

Promotion

Please hold any self-promotion of your project until your proposal is accepted and the publishing agreement is signed.