What We Publish
Choosing the appropriate publisher for your manuscript is an important part of the publication process. Publishers specialize, and a publishing house with a strong list in the academic or geographic 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 natural sciences in areas that include history, religion, anthropology, literature, art and architecture, the environment, and languages. We also publish or distribute more than 25 scholarly journals that reflect the university’s regional and international focus in the aforementioned subjects.
UH 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 Hawai‘i 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 book manuscript or proposal, we invite you to review our Author Guidelines below for more information. Please also see our Books in Series for current calls for proposals.
If you have an article that you wish to publish, please visit our Journals page to find the appropriate journal for your article’s subject matter, special issue calls for papers, and author guidelines specific to each journal.
If you would like to learn more about university press publishing, here is a resource by the Association of University Presses.
Whatever the outcome, we thank you for your interest in the publishing program of the University of Hawai‘i Press.
Author Guidelines
Submitting a Book 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:
- a clear and concise description of your work and its outstanding features;
- your sense of the audience you are trying to address;
- a word count and the number of illustrations, tables, and so forth that you envision including;
- a brief paragraph about yourself;
- the current status of the manuscript and the date you expect to complete it;
- 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 email to the appropriate acquisitions editor (see below). For general inquiries, you may email the press using our Contact Form or visit our Frequently Asked Questions page for more details. If you are a prospective author please send your query and proposal to the editor of your subject area.
Who Will Review Your Manuscript
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.
Stephanie Chun, Acquisitions Editor
- 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; Global Asias: Method, Architecture, Praxis; 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
Masako Ikeda, Executive Editor
- Asian and Southeast Asian Studies (History; Geography; Environment; Infrastructure)
- Ethnomusicology (East Asia and Southeast Asia)
- Archaeology (Asia, Southeast Asia, and Pacific Islands)
Series: Food in Asia and the Pacific; Hawai‘i Studies on Korea; Intersections; Music and Performing Arts of Asia and the Pacific; New Southeast Asia: Politics, Meaning, and Memory; Perspectives on the Global Past
Emma Ching, Acquisitions Editor
- Hawaiian studies, including ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi; Indigenous studies; Pacific Islands studies
- Works of general interest about Hawai‘i and the Pacific region
Series: Asia Pacific Flows; Hawai‘inuiākea; Indigenous Pacifics; New Oceania Literature; Pacific Islands Monograph Series; Topics in the Contemporary Pacific
PROPOSALS ACCEPTED FOR FURTHER REVIEW
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.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT PEER REVIEW
Peer review is an essential part of the university press mission of advancing and disseminating scholarship. It is the process through which university press editors commission formal evaluations from respected experts on the contribution to scholarship, teaching, and public debate of a work being considered for publication. These formal evaluations provide constructive feedback that enables an author to strengthen a work in progress, adding value and meaning to the work that is ultimately published.
We do not reveal the names of our peer reviewers to anyone other than members of our faculty editorial board and series editors (when applicable). We require, in turn, that peer reviewers respect the confidentiality of the evaluation process by not discussing manuscripts they are consulted about with others. Though strong peer reviews are necessary for moving forward with a project, they form only one part of a broad range of factors, including considerations of fit and budget, that together lead to a publishing decision.
MANUSCRIPTS ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION
Once the work is accepted, a contract is drawn up between the author and the press. 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 University Presses (AUP) 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.