The AAM Press Editorial Advisory Board meets periodically to review proposals. Board discussions are entirely confidential. Any materials you submit will be seen or discussed only by members of the Editorial Advisory Board, the copublisher’s representative, and AAM representatives.
The Editorial Advisory Board seek proposals for books with a broad appeal to all types of museums and with possible additional interest to the fields of education, information, and conservation and preservation. Given the financial investment involved in publishing, the Editorial Board and our co-publisher will endeavor to pursue the publication of titles that will advance the strategic focus areas of AAM and are also financially viable.
The Editorial Advisory Board meets periodically as proposals are received. You will receive confirmation upon receipt of your proposal for publication.
When the Editorial Advisory Board reviews a proposal for publication, it evaluates:
- Is the proposal complete? Does it contain all of the elements detailed in the proposal guidelines? Proposals submitted without need, purpose, scope, unique features, author qualifications, or other required elements will be returned to the author for revision.
- Is the content outline consistent with the scope defined by the author? In other words, for the overall topic area and audience, are all significant content areas covered? Are the depth and breadth adequate? Does the content assume that the audience will have background knowledge or is background provided? Is that appropriate for the audience?
- Has the author correctly and adequately identified a market for the book? Did the author identify any competing titles? If so, how does this proposed book differ? This third area is the one in which many initial proposals are lacking.
The Editorial Advisory Board also focus on the writing style and organization of the sample chapter. Frequently asked questions include:
- Is the writing grammatically correct? Is jargon minimized or at least defined? Is the style of the sample chapter appropriate for the defined audience? Professional books are not academic publications. The style should be readable by all levels and types of museum professionals and stakeholders and should hold the reader’s attention. Also, while it is important to document reference materials, footnotes should be used sparingly.
- Is the level of detail in the sample chapter appropriate for the scope and audience? Are the topics and subtopics developed in a logical order, with smooth transitions between them? Does the author use headings or subheadings to designate sections? If not, what other convention is used to organize the material?
- Is the material both current and accurate? Does the author clearly identify sources for broad generalizations or statements beyond widely accepted fact? If the book reports personal research, does the author present the results in a standardized fashion?