The book publishing process

Stages in the publishing process

Browse our guides to the key steps in the publishing process. They include the essential instructions and information you need for each stage, as well as background context to help you understand the process.  As a rapidly evolving field, aspects of publishing may have changed significantly since your last publication, and our teams are on hand to help you have a smooth publishing journey.

1. Proposal
2. Review
3. Contract
4. Writing and content preparation
5. Submission
6. Production
7. Publication and beyond

Your publishing team

At every stage of the process we will work together to create the best product possible. Our specialist teams are here to support you and answer your questions along the way. The most successful products are the result of excellent collaboration and celebrate the bringing together of the author’s expert knowledge of their content and the publisher’s understanding of market needs.

Editorial

Acquisitions Editors

Academic quality is the highest priority for the editorial team, and our mission is to publish authoritative scholarship that meets the needs of the academic and research community. Our aim is to help you to create the best possible work by providing guidance and support on your proposal. The Acquisitions team develops your work through rigorous and unbiased peer-review, and advises you on how best to pitch your book to your audience, making sure it is discoverable, reaches a wide readership, and has the maximum possible impact. Following approval, they will prepare your contract and answer any questions relating to the agreement.

Project Editors

This team manage book projects from the agreement of the contract through to handover to production. They are the main OUP editorial contact with authors throughout the writing and submission stages, providing advice and answering questions on processes, designs, and specifications, and then preparing your manuscript for production.

Production

The production team ensure the technical quality of our published works in print and digital formats. We seek to make the publishing process as simple, quick, and transparent as possible for our authors. Your Production Editor will coordinate the copyediting, digital conversion, and typesetting of your work.

Marketing

The marketing team work to connect research and scholarship with the widest possible audience and to help your work make an impact. With years of experience listening to and working with the academic community, our team of marketers skilfully blend modern and time-proven marketing methods to secure lasting visibility.

The wider publishing team

Beyond our author-facing teams, there are hundreds of colleagues who will contribute to the smooth publication and success of your book. These include our product and platform development teams and distribution teams, as well as the sales, customer service, and royalties departments.

Publishing formats

We publish our books in a way that meets the changing needs of scholars and researchers. While some books, such as novels or children's books, are read straight through from start to finish, the ways in which scholars and students engage with academic books are very different. The content they read might be in a physical book, an eBook, or an online resource. Our aim is to ensure that readers can easily find and access your book, in whatever format they prefer.

Oxford Academic

Oxford Academic is the home of OUP’s research books, and online publication makes your work instantly available to thousands of scholars and students in your field. Your book will be quick to find and access, readers can share and reference it easily, and it will adhere to the highest accessibility standards.

eBooks

The majority of our publications are also available in eBook form, both for individuals and for libraries. OUP eBooks are available on a variety of platforms in both the retail and institutional markets, including Kindle (Amazon), Nook (Barnes & Noble), Apple iBooks, Kobo, and Google Play, as well as various e-reading apps on mobile devices and tablets. For libraries, we work with aggregators such as ProQuest and EBSCO to make it easy for libraries to provide access for their readers.

Audiobooks

OUP works with various licensing partners producing audiobooks. For more information about rights and licencing at OUP, please visit Rights and permissions.

Print

Over the past two decades we have seen a steady shift where our audiences and readers are now more likely to access OUP books online. We do continue to make books available in printed formats, to ensure that customers and readers can access research in their choice of format.  We are continuously exploring ways to make printed books available in more sustainable and economical ways, and to improve the speed to market. For instance, we are expanding our use of “print on demand” and committing to a target of 100% certified sustainable paper by 2025.

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