Have questions about what it might be like to be an author for Lived Places Publishing? You're in the right place!
We are always delighted to hear from potential authors, so feel free to get in touch with your query by using our contact page, or to let us know about issues related to our books or this website email our support team at support@livedplacespublishing.com. Alternatively, keep scrolling for some answers to our most commonly asked questions.
Lived Places Publishing publishes short, accessible course reading books. We do not publish textbooks or scholarly monographs. Books are between 30,000-60,000 words, and should examine social identity(ies) in the context of place(s), through the lens of lived experience. They can be autobiographical but do not have to be, and should:
Unless you want to gather your own contributors, LPP are not looking for contributors to an edited volume. Rather, we are seeking authors for short books, which will sit in collections within the social sciences. The collections in question are more like a book series than one edited volume. Books can be quite short, though - we ask for a minimum of around 30,000 words - so we would love to receive a book proposal from you!
Yes, absolutely! Because LPP books focus on lived experience rather than being scholarly monographs or textbooks, we do not require advanced degrees as a condition for LPP authors. See this article for more information: Diversity in Authorial Experience.
Yes - we are happy to provide development editing support for authors who want or need it.You may also wish to consider bringing a co-author on board to help you, if you have a story to tell but writing isn't your strong suit (see below).
Yes. LPP are happy to publish books by multiple authors, or books with a lead author and multiple contributors. However, because our books are designed to be short and accessible - they should be readable in about a week by the average university student - we recommend that co-authors number no more than 2-3, and contributors number no more than around 5-6. This is not a hard-and-fast rule, but generally keeping the contributor numbers low allows a book to go into the depth necessary to really explore a story while still keeping the book short.
There isn’t one - please submit whenever you are ready to do so! Unless you want to gather your own contributors, LPP are not looking for contributors to an edited volume. Rather, we are seeking authors for short books, which will sit in collections within the social sciences. The collections in question are more like a book series than one edited volume.
If you are already signed up, please check your author agreement for your manuscript submission deadline.
Well... sort of. while LPP do not publish scholarly monographs, many authors do choose to adapt their theses. So we are not the right home to publish your PhD or Masters' thesis as it is, no - but we would be happy to speak with you about how you can adapt the material for a short course reading.
Currently, LPP is only able to accept proposals and manuscripts in English, so we do ask that authors are able to confidently write in fluent English without the aid of automated translation software.
While we hope to be able to send our published books out to foreign-language publishers, and retain the translation rights in order to enable this, we are currently unable to translate manuscripts into English, or from English into another language. This is something we would love to be able to do, but right now, we can only accept and publish manuscripts in fluent English (all English varieties are accepted).
No. LPP does not charge authors to publish. There is no book processing fee. LPP believes in fairly compensating creators for their work, and are actively working to remove barriers to publishing for historically underrepresented voices - this means no upfront fees for authors.
Authors and collection editors are both remunerated for their work on LPP books on a royalty basis. Please see this article for more information: Equity and Open Access in Publishing.
LPP believes in fairly compensating creators for their work, and are actively working to remove barriers to publishing for historically underrepresented voices - and part of this is about paying creators fairly for their work. Authors and collection editors are both remunerated for their work on LPP books on a royalty basis. Please see this article for more information: Equity and Open Access in Publishing.
LPP authors are supported through the entire writing and submission process by our editorial team, including your collection editor. When you sign up, you will receive a detailed Author Handbook to help guide you from proposal to manuscript submission - please make sure you keep this to hand and refer to it as you go along!
However, we know that sometimes the finer detail makes a big difference, and you may have questions about exactly what will be required of you once your proposal has been accepted. Here are some of our most commonly asked questions about the writing process itself.
Our collection editors provide the first and critical round of peer review. Our collection editors are experienced researchers, lecturers, and activists in their respective fields and bring a wealth of experience to their role. In addition to the collection editor directly responsible for a given review, we enlist collection editor review across the fields each submitted book addresses as many LPP titles are interdisciplinary.
We take academic rigor and the suitability of our books for course reading material very seriously. To this end, at the discretion of our collection editors, and in conjunction with our authors, we do engage external open peer review when our team of collection editors considers a book or topics within a book to be outside the collection editor's area of expertise.
LPP books follow the Harvard referencing system, so your book should use in-text citations and have a references section at the end. You only need to list references you have directly cited - a full scholarly bibliography is not required. There will be some guidance on this in your Author Handbook.
Not very long! LPP books should be short, accessible, easy to read, and generally focused more on lived experience than in-depth text analysis. While quotations, statistics, and facts that are not widely understood/known should be referenced properly using the Harvard system, we recommend using a light hand when it comes to citations and references. Please see your Author Handbook for more information.
Yes please! But don't worry - we will provide you with step-by-step instructions for producing a clear, simple, short index for your book in your Author Handbook. And if you get really stuck, the editorial team are here to help!
As an author, it is your responsibility to request and secure copyright permissions for all third-party material used in your manuscript. This would include images, text excerpts, quotations, etc. You may also be required to request permission to reprint your own work previously published by another publisher.
Permission is protection from Copyright Infringement Claims.
Whenever you use a small quotation, summarize information, introduce an idea or fact based on the copyrighted works of other authors.
No, the internet just makes content easily accessible, but that does not mean it is free to use.
There is no specific number of words that you can use without permission or a proper citation. The copyright owner can still claim copyright infringement.
The permissions process is basically the same for all third-party content, but it will vary depending on the copyright holder’s process for requesting the permissions.
False, simply citing or acknowledging the copyright holder is not a substitute for securing permission and does not protect you from copyright infringement.
No, there is no law that requires the copyright holder to respond to any permission requests. A non-response should be considered a denial.
For professional assistance in securing permissions for your project, contact Charles Morris at SKMLicensing@gmail.com.