Submit a textbook

Thank you for choosing to submit your textbook to ANU Press. These works are published under the imprint ANU Press Textbooks. Below you will find all the necessary information for publishing your work with ANU Press, from submitting a textbook proposal to marketing and promoting your published work.

Our Author Guide provides an overview of publishing your textbook through ANU Press Textbooks. In this document, you will find information on submitting your book proposal, preparing your manuscript for your copyeditor, the Textbook Grant Scheme, final publication and marketing.

Please make sure you download and read the Author Guide (PDF, 2.8 MB) in full before submitting your proposal to ANU Press.

ANU Press currently has a high volume of manuscripts in process and is unable to accept any more manuscripts at present. We will provide an update later in the year.

A properly prepared manuscript is a great advantage when submitting a proposal to ANU Press. If a manuscript is properly prepared, ANU Press and the reviewers can focus on the content of your work rather than the small inconsistencies, errors or missing elements that might otherwise distract in an unprepared manuscript.

For information on how to prepare your manuscript for submission, please download the following factsheet:

Preparing your manuscript for submission (PDF, 70 KB)

All works must be edited by a professional, accredited copyeditor. ANU Press has a list of freelance copyeditors that are approved to work on its titles; please get in touch with ANU Press directly to organise a copyeditor for your work.

Ensuring your manuscript is properly prepared before sending it to the copyeditor can help reduce the time spent by the copyeditor on your document; this, in turn, can help keep the costs down.

For information on how to prepare your manuscript for the copyeditor, please download the following factsheet:

Preparing your manuscript for the copyeditor (PDF, 85 KB)

There are two varieties of textbooks published by ANU Press. The first is a traditional format textbook that can be published as a hard copy book and as an ebook; the second is an interactive textbook that incorporates video and/or audio files, quizzes and enhanced elements.

For non-interactive textbooks

Once copyediting is complete, your copyeditor will send ANU Press the final draft of your book along with any illustrative material. ANU Press will only accept final manuscripts for publication from the book’s copyeditor; the manuscript should not be provided by the author, editor or third-party. This is to ensure that no changes are made to a final, copyedited manuscript without the copyeditor’s or ANU Press’ knowledge.

At this point you also will need to:

Provide ANU Press with a copy of all permissions obtained to reproduce any third-party copyright material in your work (ANU Press will not begin work on your book until all copyright material has been cleared).
Make ANU Press aware of any potential deadlines (i.e. if your book needs to be published by a certain date).
If an index is required, secure an indexer and make ANU Press aware of this.

For interactive textbooks

Once copyediting of is complete it will now be time to begin building your interactive ebook. This is a complex process that requires a dedicated developer to create a high-quality product.

Please get in touch with ANU Press directly to discuss the requirements of creating your interactive ebook. Please note that creating an ebook will require commissioning a freelance developer; funds to subsidise this work can be requested through the ANU Press Textbook Grant Subsidy for eligible authors.

For non-interactive textbooks

Your edited manuscript is now submitted to ANU Press and has been entered into the production schedule. This final process usually takes around three to five months to complete, depending on the nature and length of the manuscript, the time of year, and the speed of author/contributor responses to proofs and queries.

The steps of the production process are as follows:

Stage 1 – ANU Press reviews final manuscript to ensure all elements have been provided and are of the correct quality for conversion.
Stage 2 – Manuscript is typeset and designed using publishing software and a PDF proof is created.
Stage 3 – Book cover is designed and sent to author for approval (final approval rests with ANU Press).
Stage 4 – Book is listed in forthcoming titles on ANU Press website.
Stage 5 – ANU Press conducts an in-house proof of the manuscript and compiles any queries arising from this to be sent to the author.
Stage 6 – Author receives electronic proof. Any changes to be related to design, format and factual errors only.
Stage 7 – Final proof approved by author for publication.
Stage 8 – ANU Press prepares files for publication.
Stage 9 – Book is published online and paperback copies can now be ordered through our distributor.

For interactive textbooks

The majority of the production work for an interactive textbook is completed by a freelance developer. As the author, you will work closely with your developer to create a high-quality ebook that meets ANU Press standards for publication.

ANU Press will provide guidance during this stage of the process. Once your developer has completed their work, they will provide ANU Press with the final ebook.

The final production steps are as follows:

Stage 1 – ANU Press reviews and validates the final ebook to ensure that it meets our standards for publication.
Stage 2 – Book cover is designed and sent to author for approval (final approval rests with ANU Press).
Stage 3 – Book is listed in forthcoming titles on ANU Press website.
Stage 4 – ANU Press prepares files for publication.
Stage 5 – Book is published online.

ANU Press authors retain copyright of their own work. ANU Press retains copyright of the published edition of the work under terms set out in the author agreement.

Prior to 2018, all ANU Press books were published under an all rights reserved licence. Since January 2018, the majority of ANU Press books have been published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence.

Please check the copyright information page for each title for information on a specific book’s copyright licence.

Third-party copyright materials

If you are planning on using any material in your work where the copyright is not owned by you or your contributors, written permission to use this material will need to be obtained. The author is responsible for covering any costs associated with obtaining copyright permissions. Where there is doubt about the copyright status of a work, either seek permission to use it or remove it from your work.

Under Australian copyright law, you may need to obtain permission to reproduce text extracts, including poems, and other material, such as illustrations, photographs, graphs and tables, created by a third party. You must obtain permission to reproduce a ‘substantial part’ of any written work protected by copyright. All third-party material must be appropriately acknowledged and sourced in your manuscript.

If you wish to republish your own work that has appeared in another publication, you might need to obtain permission from your original publisher to use this work again (please refer to your contract with the original publisher to determine whether you need to obtain this permission).

ANU Press can supply you with a template list to help you keep track of your copyright permissions, as well as templates of letters you can use to seek copyright permission. A copy of each permission letter should be attached to the list, and the relevant extracts should be clearly indicated. For more information on copyright, please ask ANU Press to send you the ‘Copyright & Permissions’ factsheet.

ANU Press cannot begin work on a manuscript until all copyright permissions have been cleared.

ANU Press works closely with authors in the promotion of their book. ANU Press utilises digital and traditional marketing techniques to ensure books reach their desired audiences. Marketing campaigns include working with authors in preparing for book launches, seeking book reviews, distributing media releases, working with local and national media, electronic mail promotion, interviews with authors and social media campaigns.

When preparing to promote your book, authors are encouraged to collaborate with ANU Press as much as possible. ANU Press employs a part-time Marketing and Communications Coordinator who will assist with certain aspects of promoting your book. In the lead up to the launch of your book, authors are asked to complete an Author Marketing Questionnaire. The Questionnaire will assist the Marketing and Communications Coordinator to prepare an appropriate marketing campaign for you book. During this process, we ask authors to share information of target audiences, media outlets and journals that would be interested in reviewing your book.

ANU Press has a strong presence on social media and encourages authors to give interviews, share book imagery and provide content that can be used on social media platforms. Authors are also encouraged to engage with media outlets in the promotion of their book, whether this be through publishing extracts, interviews, reviews or other forms of promotion.

For academics that are imbedded in Schools or Colleges at ANU or other universities, ANU Press will collaborate with external groups to assist with the promotion of books. ANU Press can also assist with promoting book launches. The Marketing and Communications Coordinator will attend the launch and will be available to assist with running the event if desired.

For information on book promotion, please download the following factsheets: