University of California Press is one of the largest, most distinguished, and most adventurous scholarly publishers in the world, respected for its creativity and renowned for attracting authors whose work transcends traditional academic boundaries to speak to people everywhere. For more than a century, UC Press has considered manuscripts from the world’s foremost scholars, writers, artists, and public intellectuals. UC Press publishes annually about 200 new books and 40 multi-issue journals in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. About one-third of current authors are affiliated with the University of California

Established in 1893, UC Press serves all ten campuses of the University of California, and is a department of the University of California Office of the President.  All manuscripts undergo extensive peer-review, which includes outside readings by field experts. The imprint of UC Press is controlled by a faculty editorial committee composed of twenty members of the Academic Senate, which is representative of the ten campuses of the University, and this committee exercises the final acceptance of all books and periodicals published by UC Press.

Submission Guidelines, General Interest and Scholarly

Your submission should include a letter of introduction, curriculum vitae, table of contents, and sample chapter. For illustrated books, include photocopies of sample art. Do not send original photographs, artwork, negatives, or any materials that are irreplaceable. Keep a copy of your manuscript.

Please address your submission to only one editor (see list of editors and their areas of acquisition, below) who will review it or pass it to another editor in a more relevant field. Mail all materials to:

[Editor’s Name]
UC Press
2120 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
USA

UC Press does accept simultaneous submissions, but request that you keep the editor informed of the status of manuscripts submitted to other publishers.

UC Press does not accept unsolicited proposals via email or telephone.

Because UC Press receives hundreds of book proposals each year, there is a waiting period of up to four months for UC Press to respond to your manuscript.  During the waiting period, UC Press editors do not accept phone queries regarding the status of the manuscript.  If you would like to have your manuscript returned to you after the waiting period, please state this in writing, and include a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Please note that UC Press does not publish material outside the scope of the general categories listed below; in particular, we do not publish new fiction or literary theory.

To better understand the types of books published by University of California Press, please review our catalog of current publications.

Editors and Areas of Acquisition

(Learn more about our acquisitions editors)

Rachel Berchten Poetry

Laura Cerruti Online References

Chuck Crumly: Science, Natural History

Blake Edgar: Archaeology, Science, Wine

Stephanie Fay: Art, Classical Studies

Mary Francis: Cinema & Performing Arts, Music

Niels Hooper: History (except Asia), American Studies

Deborah Kirshman: Museum Copublications

Sheila Levine: Food Studies

Reed Malcolm: Anthropology, Asian Studies, Religion, Politics, Current Events

Naomi Schneider: Sociology, Politics, Anthropology, Latin American Studies

Jenny Wapner: Natural History, Organismal Biology

Lynne Withey: Public Health

Submission Guidelines, Contemporary Poetry (New California Poetry Series)

The New California Poetry series presents works by emerging and established poets that reflect UC Press's commitment to innovative and aesthetically wide-ranging literary traditions.

The New California Poetry series is a curated series. All submissions are by invitation only. Unsolicited manuscripts will not be considered for publication. The open reading period for unsolicited manuscripts was discontinued in 2007.

We ask that you do not approach any of the series editors about your manuscript directly, either by phone, email, mail or in person—even if you have an existing relationship with them. If you have questions, comments, or submissions, please contact Rachel Berchten at University of California Press.

For more information about poetry at UC Press.

Submission Guidelines, Monograph Series

The Series monographs are the oldest publishing programs at University of California Press, dating back to its founding in 1893. The monographs are highly specialized book-length works. Publishing in the series is open to all qualified scholars, with or without UC affiliation; however, page charges are generally required from non-UC authors.

All manuscripts should be submitted to the chair of the series editorial boards. Members of the series editorial board jointly decide on publication after evaluating peer reviews. The editorial boards consist of tenured UC faculty. If your manuscript is approved for publication, you will need to provide digital files suitable for printing.

UC Publications in Entomology
If you would like to submit a paper contact Philip S. Ward (psward@ucdavis.edu).

UC Publications in Geological Sciences
If you would like to submit a paper contact Anthony D. Barnosky (barnosky@socrates.berkeley.edu).

UC Publications in Linguistics
If you would like to submit a paper contact (ucpl@ucpress.edu).

UC Publications in Zoology
If you would like to submit a paper contact James L. Patton (patton@uclink4.berkeley.edu).

University of California Global, Area, and International Archive (GAIA)

GAIA is an initiative of International and Area Studies, University of California, Berkeley, in partnership with the University of California Press, the California Digital Library, and international research programs across the University of California system. GAIA volumes represent the best traditions of regional studies, reconfigured through fresh global, transnational, and thematic perspectives. Monographs and edited volumes are peer-reviewed according to standards set by an interdisciplinary editorial board, approved by the University of California Press, and published in both print and open-access digital editions for a global network of scholars and to encourage international intellectual exchange.

Although GAIA is a UC initiative, it is open to English-language scholars from around the world. Interested authors should submit proposals directly to the Publications Director. Information and directions for submission are available at the GAIA Web site.

Flashpoints

The FlashPoints series solicits books that consider literature beyond strictly national and disciplinary frameworks, distinguished both by their historical grounding and their theoretical and conceptual strength. We seek studies that engage theory without losing touch with history, and work historically without falling into uncritical positivism. FlashPoints will aim for a broad audience within the humanities and the social sciences concerned with moments of cultural emergence and transformation. In a Benjaminian mode, FlashPoints is interested in how literature contributes to forming new constellations of culture and history, and in how such formations function critically and politically in the present.

Each FlashPoints book will be available in an innovative dual format: as a free digital edition, which will allow the work to reach a broader international audience, and as a reasonably-priced paperback.

All manuscripts should be submitted to the series editorial board by contacting: flashpoints@ucpress.edu. Members of the series editorial board jointly decide on publication after evaluating peer reviews.