SBL Text-Critical Studies

Guidelines for Book Proposals

1. Author Information. Give your name, preferred mailing address, phone/fax number(s), and e-mail address. Enclose a current vita which indicates your present position, educational background, and previous publications, with emphasis on how you are qualified to write the book that you are proposing.
2. Title of the Book. Indicate the tentative title of the book, with subtitle if desired, and give possible alternative titles and/or subtitles.
3. Description of the Book. In 200-250 words, describe the book that you are proposing. What is the nature and focus of the book? What is its major objective (thesis, argument, or purpose)? Imagine that you are writing the "blurb" for the back cover of the book or the description that would go into our catalog. What would you say to convince a potential reader to buy this particular book?
4. Table of Contents/Outline. Give a tentative table of contents of the book by chapters. Under each chapter title give a brief outline of the chapter and a brief summary of its contents. This summary should explain the focus and development of the chapter and indicate how the chapter advances the argument or discussion of the whole book.
5. Audience/Market. For what audience group(s), specifically, is the book intended: college students? seminary students? doctoral students? professors? established scholars in a specific field or sub-field? pastors or other religious professionals? general readers? Does the book have potential for textbook adoption, either as a basic (required) text or as a supplemental (recommended) text? If so, in what specific courses and contexts?
6. Prompting Need. Why will each of the target audience group(s) you have identified have any interest in what you wish to say to them? What need, concern, or interest exists in these target audience group(s) that will prompt them to purchase and read the book?
7. Key Features/Benefits. What are the most important features of the book (elements of its organization or argument, summaries of literature, illustrations, appendices, etc.)? What are the most important benefits that your intended audience group(s) will derive from reading your book?
8. Location/Competition. Where and how does the book that you are proposing "fit" into the universe of other previously published books? To what published works would you compare the book you are proposing? What does your book offer that these competing works do not? How will your book be superior to or different from them?
9. Prior Publication. Has any of the material in your book been previously published elsewhere, either by you or by others? If so, where and in what form? Do you control all publishing rights to this previously published material, or will permission clearance from other publishers be required?
10. Manuscript Submission. What is the estimated length of the proposed manuscript, printed double-spaced on 8.5 x 11" paper, with 1-inch margins, using 12-point Times or Times New Roman, plus the appropriate SP fonts for non-Roman characters? By what date do you expect to submit a completed manuscript? If possible, attach a sample of 15-25 pages, perhaps of the introduction or the first chapter, which shows your writing style. These should be pages which are typical of the book as a whole, especially critical to your argument, potentially controversial, or that give a good overview of the book.
11. Electronic Copy. What word processing program/ version and operating system are you using (e.g., WordPerfect 6.1 for Windows, Microsoft Word 7.0 for Macintosh, etc.)? Note that an electronic copy of the book must accompany the printed version . If you plan to use a word processor other than a recent version of Word or WordPerfect, you must receive prior approval from the editor. Authors should discuss the use of non-Roman fonts with the editor.
12. Electronic Data. Does your proposal include the publication of any material in electronic form (either on the Internet or on CD/DVD-ROM)? If so, what kind of information do you plan to publish electronically (databases, lists, textual material, images, computer programs, additional information)? What format will your data be in (HTML, SGML, XML, GIF, JPEG, database, etc.)? What do you estimate will be the total number of megabytes that your data will take up? Will delivery of your data require any special programs or custom programming?