Proposals

mediastudies.press publishes monographs and edited collections in the overlapping fields of media, communication, and film studies. Launched in 2019, the press is nonprofit and scholar-led. We publish living works, with iterative updates stitched into our process. And we encourage multi-modal submissions that reflect the mediated environments our authors study. 

Publishing with mediastudies.press is free on principle. Our aim is to demonstrate, on a small scale, an open-access publishing model supported by libraries rather than author fees. Open access for readers, we believe, should not be traded for new barriers to authorship.

mediastudies.press welcomes submissions from scholars across media, communication, and film studies. We currently publish in four series:

• Media Manifold series — monographs and other book-length works of contemporary media scholarship

• Public Domain series — reprints of neglected classics, in new critical editions anchored by framing introductions

• Open Reader series — themed collections of openly licensed, public domain, and linked materials curated and introduced by leading experts

• History of Media Studies series — monographs and other original scholarly works centered on history of media, communication, and film studies

We are small and artisanal by mission, and aim to publish just five books a year. Given the volume of proposals that we receive—and with our production schedule in mind—we maintain an annual proposal window, June 1 to July 30, for manuscripts slated for publication in the following calendar year. You are welcome to send informal queries outside the window, but our general practice is to only consider proposals within the annual window. Each year, we review proposals with an initial reply by August 15, with the aim to conduct peer review of proposals of expressed interest by the end of September.

We kindly ask that proposals be submitted as a single PDF (see the form below). Proposals should included the following elements, in addition to at least one draft chapter:

1. Proposed title and subtitle

2. A 500- to 1000-word narrative description of the book

3. Short bios of author(s) and/or editor(s)

4. Proposed series (see above)

5. Tentative table of contents, preferably annotated

6. Estimated word-length

7. Multi-modal components, if any

8. Status of the book (i.e., expectation of completion date, the portion now complete)

9. At least one draft chapter

All mediastudies.press manuscripts undergo vigorous peer review: double-anonymous by default, as well as more open modes at authors’ discretion.

Manuscripts are first reviewed by the directors, to assess scholarly quality and suitability for the press.

Authors that pass this first round of review are consulted about their peer review preferences. The default option is a double-anonymous review by at least two subject experts. Authors may select from other, more open options:

• signed review, in which the (two or more) reviewers sign their comments and may continue to consult with authors through the revision process

• community review, in which a draft version is published, with public, signed comments encouraged and solicited

The review type (double-anonymous, signed, or community) is indicated in the published book's front matter, and—in the case of the signed option—reviewers are typically named.

For all review types, authors are responsible for considering suggestions and comments in the revision process. Revised manuscripts may be returned to reviewers or may be assessed solely by the directors.

We acknowledge with gratitude our borrowing of the proposal-window procedure from punctum books, our scholar-led comrades.