Editorial Program
Choosing the appropriate publisher for your book is an important part of the publication process. Publishers specialize, and a publishing house with a strong list in the academic or geographical area about which you are writing will do the best job of editing, producing, and marketing your book.
The University of Hawai‘i Press editorial program focuses on books in the humanities, social sciences, and life and earth sciences in areas that include history, religion, anthropology, literature, art and architecture, the environment, and language arts. The Press has an especially distinguished list in Asian studies and is recognized as a leader in the fields of Buddhist studies and Southeast Asian studies. We are the preeminent publisher of scholarly works on Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, and we are known for our regional guidebooks and maps. In addition to these core strengths we are seeking to expand our acquisitions in the areas of environmental studies, indigenous studies, popular culture, and language learning texts.
If you have a manuscript or proposal, we invite you to contact the appropriate editor from the following list. Whatever the outcome, we thank you for your interest in the publishing program of the University of Hawai‘i Press.
Joel Cosseboom, Interim Director and Publisher
- Serious works of general interest about Hawai`i and the Pacific region.
Masako Ikeda, Executive Editor
- Asian and Pacific history; world history
- Southeast Asian studies; Asian American studies
Series: Asia Pacific Flows; Food in Asia and the Pacific; Hawai‘i Studies on Korea; Intersections; Music and Performing Arts of Asia and the Pacific; Perspectives on the Global Past; Topics in the Contemporary Pacific
Stephanie Chun, Acquisitions Editor • chuns@hawaii.edu
- East Asian anthropology, fiction in translation, film, language, literary studies, popular culture, religion, visual culture
- Buddhist studies
Series: ABC Chinese Dictionary Series; Asia Pop!; Contemporary Buddhism; Dimensions of Asian Spirituality; Korean Classics Library; Kuroda Classics in East Asian Buddhism and Studies in East Asian Buddhism; Modern Korean Fiction; Nanzan Library of Asian Religion and Culture; New Daoist Studies; Pure Land Buddhist Studies; Spatial Habitus: Making and Meaning in Asia’s Architecture
Emma Ching, Associate Acquisitions Editor
- Hawaiian studies; Indigenous studies; Pacific Islands studies
Series: Hawai‘inuiākea; Indigenous Pacifics; New Oceania Literature; Pacific Islands Monograph Series
Debra Tang, Associate Editor
Assists the executive editor and manages the acquisitions department.
Author Guidelines
Submitting a Query/Proposal/Manuscript
The acquisitions editors welcome a proposal from you at any stage in the development of your manuscript. As a first step, send a short, informative letter or e-mail that includes (1) a clear and concise description of your work and its outstanding features; (2) your sense of the audience you are trying to address; (3) a word count and the number of illustrations, tables, and so forth that you envision including; (4) a brief paragraph about yourself; (5) the current status of the manuscript and the date you expect to complete it; (6) a copy of the table of contents and, if available, a representative sample chapter. Do not send a complete manuscript unsolicited. Send your documents by e-mail to the appropriate acquisitions editor (see above).
Our acquisitions editors carefully review each book proposal that is received at UH Press. Because we receive a large volume of proposals each year, often with substantial accompaniments, we ask for your patience in waiting to hear from us.
If your proposal is accepted for further review, you will be asked to submit a complete manuscript. After initial evaluation in-house, manuscripts the Press decides to pursue are sent for peer review to two external readers—experts in appropriate fields of study—who submit detailed assessments. Manuscripts that receive favorable reports are presented to a faculty editorial board for acceptance or rejection.
Please read more about the peer review process here.
If Your Manuscript is Accepted
Once the work is accepted, a contract is drawn up between the author and the press. More often than not, the author is asked to revise the manuscript in response to the suggestions of the peer reviewers. The final form of your manuscript is important. Manuscripts accepted for publication must be prepared electronically. Please consult our Final Manuscript Preparation and Submission Guidelines, Rights and Permissions Guidelines, and Art Preparation Guidelines. (For more information on copyright and permissions obligations, the Association of American University Presses has prepared this permissions FAQ. You are also welcome to use our sample permission requests for cover art, interior illustrations, and textual material) We ask that authors follow the stylistic guidelines appropriate to their discipline in The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition.
After the press receives the manuscript, it is copy-edited for substance and style, designed, typeset, printed, and bound. The author is given the opportunity to review the copyedited manuscript and later receives page proofs, which allow the author to check for typographical errors and to prepare the index. Because of the high cost of making changes in proof, only corrections of typographical errors are accepted in proof. While the book is being produced, its publication plan (print run, price, and publication date) is developed, promotional copy is written, and a sales campaign is planned.
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