Publish with us

Authors
Our authors are faculty members who hold teaching positions at post secondary academic institutions.  

Our Mission
Simon Fraser University Publications is dedicated to publishing textbooks of high production quality and peer reviewed content for use in university courses and for general use in the academic community. We will consider applications to publish from all the university disciplines. Our current textbooks are used in courses at various level in English Literature, Criminology, Linguistics, and Kinesiology including reprints and new editions; and we are expanding into additional disciplines as required. 

Submitting Your Proposal
Please follow the following book proposal guidelines and fill in the application form below—use the ‘upload’ link for all material you will be sending us. After receiving it, our acquisitions and managing editors will review it and let you know the initial decision. If accepted by the managing editor, your proposal will receive an initial review from the SFU Publications Review Board. Please keep in mind that our proposal review process may take from 3 – 4 weeks to complete.

Book Proposal Guidelines
Your proposal and other documents can be attached to the form below. We advise no more than four to five pages in length.

Your proposal should include the following:

• A proposed title and brief summary. Your title should be as short as possible and an accurate summation of the contents of the text, (Note, it may be revised for appeal if your textbook is accepted for publication). (1) First step is to compose a brief overall description of the book in 2-3 pages; this could include for instance, (2) the overall purpose of the text in teaching the discipline in which it is to be used. (3) It should indicate the primary student audience or audiences, (4) the course(s) in which it will be required. If you have the information, you could also list comparable or competing textbooks in the field.
• Use of Published Material. Describe any secondary sources you will using, and a rough figure of how much of this secondary material you will be using. If 25% of your manuscript has already been published, make sure to let us know where, the dates, and any changes you will make for inclusion in your new book. You cannot include more than 25% of already published material.
• Length, Illustrations, Delivery Date. Provide us with an approximate length of your manuscript. Let us know the approximate number of illustrations, graphs, images, artwork, tables, photographs or the like you think should be included in your textbook. If possible, please include representative samples. Let us know the current state of your manuscript: Is it in the planning stage, do you have a draft manuscript, or is it completed? If incomplete, propose a realistic date of completion.
• Author Information. As the textbook is intended for use in the classroom, it is important to show your qualifications to compose a teaching text and your experience with students and this material. You may instead include your CV or résumé.
• Please upload this material in the proposal form provided below.

The Approval Process

The SFU Publications Board will oversee the review process and, if warranted, grant final approval. After acceptance by the SFU Publications Board for the review process, representative chapters of your manuscript will be sent to two reviewers. You may select one of them, SFU Publications will select the other. After the reviewers have been selected and the reviews received, they will be assessed by the board and a decision made at the next available board meeting. The SFU Publications Board meets two to four times per year. The process usually takes a month or more depending on the efficiency of each step. Once a decision is made, you will be notified in a timely manner by the managing editor.

Submission Deadlines
April 31, August 30, December 15

After approval, and the completed manuscript is received, your textbook should take up to 4 months to publication.

After Approval
If approved, we will first draw up a publication agreement. The agreement specifies the responsibilities of both sides, calculates royalties, delivery dates and all other necessary elements of the contractual relationship with SFU Publications. We then ask for the final draft of your manuscript to be sent as an email attachment to the managing editor within the agreed upon deadline.

Your manuscript will be professionally edited and copyedited and your book and covers designed by our production team. All required copyright and use of secondary material will be assessed and where feasible will be processed and funding calculated and paid. We will then go to print for the earliest possible launch semester. For examples of our finished textbooks, please review the textbooks on this site.

If you have any questions, please email sfupublications@sfu.ca