MAI Press Submission Guidelines
MAI Press welcomes submissions in all disciplines, as long as the material relates to Asia. For books we accept book proposals and manuscripts for consideration. For working papers, we accept manuscripts. The following are suggestions on how you can present your ideas to us.
Book proposals
Your book proposal should cover the following areas:
- About the author(s). What is your background in relation to your proposed book? If you are proposing an edited volume of chapters by different people, please include a list of authors, with their institutional affiliation and other relevant information.
- About the book. Supply a brief summary of the book. Provide chapter outlines if possible. In the case of an edited volume, please include an outline of the theme that unites the chapters.
- Competition review. What else has been published on this topic? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the competition? Why is your book different, or better?
- Market review. Who would read your book and why? Would your book be suitable as a prescribed text? Have you written a book on a popular subject, or something that's attracts media attention. Unfortunately one of the matters we have to take into account is the financial viability of a book. The broader your market, the happier we will be. However, this is not the only criterion for publication, and we would consider a book for a small market if it were seminal.
- One or two sample chapters. This will give us an idea of your writing style. If the work is from a thesis, your sample chapters should not be lifted straight from the thesis, but be adapted in content and style to book chapters.
If your book proposal persuades us that your work might be suitable for us to publish, we will ask you to send us the entire manuscript. If we feel that the idea needs more work, or it is not suitable for us to publish, we will advise you in writing.
Manuscripts
If you already have a manuscript, by all means send it to us. Alternatively, we might ask you to send a manuscript after we've seen your book proposal. To be accepted for review, a manuscript must:
- be on paper;
- have no binding (we have to photocopy it);
- be anonymous - that is, no authors' names to appear anywhere, except perhaps on the front page;
- have numbered pages, with continuous numbers, not starting afresh for each chapter;
- have Harvard referencing;
- include any maps, diagrams or illustrations referred to in the text, even if they are draft copies.
We find that the better presented a manuscript, the more likely the readers are to be well disposed to it. Don't forget to include a covering letter giving us your email and postal addresses. After we have made a decision on a manuscript, we advise the author in writing.
Working papers
As well as books, we publish working papers and occasional papers, on subjects relating to Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia and Japan. Our preferred length for a working paper manuscript is 15,000 - 20,000 words, although this is flexible. A working paper can be a collection of short papers, though it is generally one long paper. If you have a manuscript that you think would be suitable for a publication of this type, please post us a hard copy at the address below.
Adapting a thesis
Please do not send us your thesis. The purposes, audience and writing style of a thesis and a book are substantially different. There is usually considerable work involved in turning a thesis into a book manuscript, and this is the author's job not the publisher's.
A thesis may be suitable for adaptation into a book if it contains original theory or research. A thesis that simply brings together other people's theories or research will not be useful as a book.
If you are at the stage of seeking a publisher for your thesis, we suggest that you start by developing a book proposal and sending it out to suitable publishers. The feedback from this will guide you in adapting the thesis for publication.
For some authors, turning a thesis into a manuscript can be as simple as removing the literature review. However, most authors need to consider their writing style, the structure, and whether the material is up to date. The following points are intended as a general guide:
Cutting
- Delete the literature review.
- Delete any sections that simply outline the contents, such as synopsis, abstract, chapter outlines, and summaries of chapters in the introduction, the beginning and end of chapters. Your introduction should explain your theories, not other people's work, or put your book in context.
- Delete any padding, or any quotations and references you made to back up your own work. In a book your theories must stand on their own. This does not mean that you should delete your evidence; only that you do not need to call on existing works to back up what you have proven or discovered yourself.
Rewriting and Expanding
- After cutting out unnecessary information in this way, think about your reader. Who will want to read your book? What will they want to get out of it? Are you writing for the academic community, students, a general audience, or a combination? Make sure that your language is accessible to your readers. Use straightforward language and a logical, flowing structure for your narrative. Don't try to impress people with the most complicated, jargon-laden sentences you can concoct. Write a book that people will enjoy reading.
- Remember that whilst your examiners were probably experts on your topic, your readers may come to the work from many different backgrounds. If you mention events, people or other information that may be unfamiliar to the non-expert, put them into context. You can assume that your reader has some informed interest in your broad subject area.
- It can be helpful to ask some friends or colleagues to read a chapter as you develop it. Ask them to tell you what is unclear and what is over-emphasised.
- Make sure that there is nothing in your manuscript that is out of date. This may even require further research.
Research Quantum
Authors who are academics in Australian institutions should be aware that MAI Press publications are recognised by DEST for the purposes of Research Quantum. We are happy to advise our authors and their universities on this matter at the time of the RQ count, as the details of the guidelines change each year.
Our address
We do not accept submissions by email. Please send a hard copy of your manuscript or book proposal to the following address:
- Ms Emma Hegarty
- Publications Officer
- Monash Asia Institute Press
- P.O. Box 197, Caulfield East, Victoria 3145, Australia