Submission Guidelines

Series Editors: Aimee McClure, Clarke University, Kelly Ritter, Georgia Institute of Technology, Aleashia Walton, University of Cincinnati, and Jagadish Paudel, Clemson University

Consulting Editor: Mike Palmquist, Colorado State University

The Practices & Possibilities book series invites proposals that address the full range of work within the field of Writing Studies, including teaching, learning, research, theory, and professional practice. The editors of the series will consider both proposals and complete manuscripts. Content suggestions and formatting guidelines for each are found below. Submissions to the series should be informed by the Clearinghouse invitation to contribute scholarly work, its statement on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and its statement on publication ethics. Our peer reviews should be informed by those statements as well and should also follow the guidelines provided in the description of Clearinghouse peer review processes. In addition, peer reviews are expected to be guided by the statement on anti-racist scholarly reviewing practices, which can be found at https://tinyurl.com/reviewheuristic.

Like other book series published by the Clearinghouse, books in our series are released under Creative Commons licenses. These licenses allow authors to retain copyright to their work. To learn more about these licenses, please view the Clearinghouse's Creative Commons Licenses page.

If the series editors determine that a proposal is consistent with the goals of the series and possesses strong scholarly merit, it will undergo a rigorous peer review by scholars drawn from our series Editorial Review Board, the WAC Clearinghouse Publications Review Board or the WAC Clearinghouse Editorial Board. Reviews are typically completed in two months.

The series editors will not consider work submitted simultaneously for consideration by another publisher.

Format for Proposals

Please provide the information outlined below. We request that you remove any identifying information so that we can ensure that our reviewers can undertake an anonymous review. Our submissions portal will ask you to provide the following:

  • the names of the author(s) or editor(s)
  • the complete title and subtitle
  • a brief description of the book

Please be prepared to upload one or more files that provide the following:

  • the rationale and projected audience for the book
  • ways in which the book complements or extends work published in the series or elsewhere on the Clearinghouse and, more generally, how it contributes to work in the field of writing studies
  • the proposed length
  • a preliminary table of contents (which may be annotated)
  • an introduction and one or more sample chapters
  • any features in the proposed manuscript that will require special attention in the design and production of your book, such as photographs, line drawings, or other illustrations; charts, graphs, or tables; technical or foreign languages; complex mathematical or scientific data; video, audio, or other multimedia elements; embedded data sets or applications

Please include in a separate file a copy of your current CV or resumé, as well as those for any co-authors or co-editors.

Format for Manuscripts

If you are submitting a complete manuscript for review, please provide a cover letter that provides the following information:

  • the names of the author(s) or editor(s)
  • the complete title and subtitle
  • the rationale and projected audience for the book
  • ways in which the book complements or extends work published in the series or elsewhere on the Clearinghouse and, more generally, how it contributes to work in the field of writing studies
  • any features in the proposed manuscript that will require special attention in the design and production of your book, such as photographs, line drawings, or other illustrations; charts, graphs, or tables; technical or foreign languages; complex mathematical or scientific data; video, audio, or other multimedia elements; embedded data sets or applications

To view our manuscript preparation guidelines, please see our Guide for Authors and Editors. We suggest following these guidelines loosely for an initial submission; if the book is approved for production, you will be asked to adhere closely to the guidelines. If the manuscript is found to be suitable for the series, we will ask, prior to sending it out for peer review, that it be revised to remove any identifying information.

Where and How to Submit

You may submit your prospectus and supporting material on our submissions portal at https://submissions.colostate.edu. Files may be submitted as PDF documents or word processing documents (Word, RTF, Open Document Format, Google Doc, etc.).

A Note on Open-Access Publishing

The Practices & Possibilities book series offers books in free digital editions and low-cost print editions. Books are offered through a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License (or whichever license is current at the time of publication). Copyright is held by the author(s) or editor(s) of the books (as well as by the authors of individual chapters in edited collections). The Clearinghouse and its print partners, most often the University Press of Colorado, cover the costs of reviewing, designing, producing, and distributing the books. Any proceeds from sales of print books in the series are used to support the publication of subsequent books. Our goal is to make work available to the widest possible audience while maintaining the highest standards in scholarly publishing. We welcome contributions to the series and to the larger goal of supporting open-access scholarly publishing. If you have questions about the goals of the larger WAC Clearinghouse project, please contact Mike Palmquist at Mike.Palmquist@ColoState.edu.