What Information Can I Find in a Book Proposal?

To access the proposal information, click on the ‘View’ button for the relevant proposal, displayed in the Proposal Dashboard. This will now display the completed proposal form, along with information required to process the proposal. The Proposal page will be structured as below:

Main header

Download button: downloads a copy of the completed proposal form as a Word document. This is useful should the user need to assess the proposal offline, or distribute it among other editors/an editorial committee
Book Editors: assigns specific editors to the proposal, so that they are responsible for the editorial processing until a decision of accept or reject can be made
Log: displays an activity and email log, displaying all emails and major events that have occurred as part of the proposal history
Contract: provides access to the most recently uploaded contract, if available
Edit: allows an editor to amend the proposal data prior to sending to review
Go back: returns the user to the Proposal Dashboard

Secondary header

Book title: the title of the book that is being proposed
Book subtitle: if provided
Submitting author/editor: the name of who submitted the proposal
Principal contact: the name of the person assigned for all correspondence from the publisher (normally one of the authors or editors). This personal is responsible for completing the tasks ask by the publisher and coordinating efforts with any co-authors/editors. An email icon is available to contact this user.
Status: displays the current status of the proposal as it progresses through the review process
Date submitted: displays the date that the proposal was received

Completed proposal form

Underneath the secondary header will be the completed version of the proposal form. This will display all of the information entered into the form by the author/editor during the proposal submission process. Each form is customisable by publisher, therefore the content and structure of the form will vary by press, however common information will be names & author information, book description and proposed structure, intended audience, reason for needing such a book, and book content/specifications.

A copy of the completed proposal form can be downloaded in Word format from the ‘Download Proposal’ button in the main header.

Book Editor

If any Book Editors have been assigned to the proposal, they will be listed underneath the completed proposal form.

Editors are assigned via the ‘Book Editors’ button in the main header.

Review assignments

Proposals can be reviewed in two ways:

External Review Assignments: Peer reviewers external to the press that are given access to the proposal details and asked to complete a peer review form
Editorial Review Assignments: Reviewers connected to the publisher (e.g. individuals on an editorial board/committee) that provide internal quality control and feedback. They will be given access to the proposal details, as well as all existing review feedback, and asked to complete a feedback form

The details of ongoing or completed review assignments will be displayed in tables with these headers.

Action

The bottom of the proposal page provides buttons for the editor to make editorial decisions. Clicking on these buttons will send the appropriate email to the author and trigger the next stage in the proposals workflow.