What Happens After You Submit a Textbook Proposal

You have sent the proposal. The silence that follows is the part most authors find hardest, largely because they do not know what is happening on the other side. This guide describes the stages a textbook proposal typically goes through at an academic publisher, what is being decided at each one, and what you can do in the meantime that actually helps. Timelines vary by publisher and by how quickly each side responds, so ask your editor what to expect rather than relying on general figures.

Stage 1: Acknowledgement

You should receive confirmation that the proposal arrived and who is handling it. If you do not hear anything within a couple of weeks, a short, polite enquiry is entirely appropriate. (Proposals sent through the Linus Learning online form are acknowledged by email automatically and read by a publishing editor.)

Stage 2: The editorial read

An acquisitions editor reads the proposal and sample chapter and asks a small number of questions:

• Does this book fit the list — the subjects and levels the publisher publishes in?
• Is there a clearly defined course and market?
• Does the book do something the current books do not?
• Can this author write it, at this level, by a plausible date?

Three outcomes are possible. A decline at this stage usually means fit or market, not quality; a good editor will say which. Questions or a request for more material — a second chapter, a fuller outline, clarification of the audience — means the editor is interested and building a case. Or the proposal goes straight to review.

Some publishers also take an early look at the commercial side at this stage: expected enrolment, likely price, production cost (interactive elements, colour, permissions). Do not be surprised by questions about numbers.

Stage 3: Review

Most academic publishers send the proposal and sample chapter to reviewers — usually instructors who teach the course at other institutions. They are asked whether the book is needed, whether they would consider adopting it, what they would change, and how the sample chapter compares with the books they use. Reviews are generally anonymised before they reach you.

Reviewer comments are the most useful feedback you will get before the book exists. Some will be contradictory; some will reflect one reviewer's preferences rather than the market's. What the editor is looking for is a pattern: agreement that the course needs the book, and concerns that can be addressed.

Stage 4: Your response and the revised plan

You will be asked to respond to the reviews — sometimes informally, sometimes in a written document. This is not a defence; it is a chance to show that you can take feedback and improve the plan. Adjust the outline where the reviewers are right, explain briefly where you disagree and why, and revise the sample chapter if the comments warrant it. Editors weigh this response heavily: it predicts how the manuscript will go.

Stage 5: The decision and the offer

With reviews and your response in hand, the editor makes a case to the publisher's decision-makers. If it is approved, you receive an offer — usually a summary of the main terms, followed by the full author agreement. Read our guide on royalties and author agreements before that document arrives, ask about anything unclear, and expect the terms to be discussed rather than dictated.

If the answer is no, ask why. A decline after review often comes with specific reasons, and many of them — the market is too small for this publisher, the book overlaps with a title they already publish — say nothing about whether another publisher would say yes.

What to do while you wait

Waiting is not the same as doing nothing. The most useful things you can do:

• Keep writing — but write the next most representative chapter, not the whole book. If the reviews change the outline, you will be glad you did not draft chapter nine.
• Build the permissions log. Every figure, photograph, quotation or data set you did not create goes in a table with its source. This is the item most likely to delay production later.
• Collect the trouble spots. Note where students struggle and what helps; if the book will have an interactive edition, these notes become the brief for its self-checks and simulations.
• Talk to colleagues who teach the course elsewhere. Their reaction is a preview of the reviews, and their names may be useful to the marketing team later.
• Check your institution's policies on outside publishing and on assigning your own textbook, so there are no surprises at contract stage.

If you have proposed to several publishers

That is normal, and you should have said so in the proposal. If one publisher makes an offer while others are still reviewing, tell the others; most will either accelerate or withdraw gracefully. Do not sign one agreement while another publisher believes it has an exclusive.

After the contract

The proposal stage ends with a signed agreement and a delivery date. From there the project becomes a writing project with editorial support — see the complete guide to publishing a textbook for what follows, and the manuscript guide for how to prepare the files. If you have not yet sent a proposal and would like to know how a specific project would fare, describe it to an editor in a sentence or two; that conversation is where most of our books begin.