Author Resources
Medieval Institute Publications at Western Michigan University is a specialized university press dedicated to publishing academic texts on the history, literature and culture of the premodern world. We look forward to working with you on the publication of your manuscript. To learn more about publishing with us, refer to the materials below.
Interested in publishing with MIP?
Our Publication Proposal Form provides us with the information necessary to make an initial appraisal of your project. As a matter of policy, we do not consider proposals under review by other publishers. To learn more about publishing with us or to submit a proposal to be considered for publication, please contact the acquisitions editor for the appropriate series.
MIP's house style is detailed in our Style Guide.
MIP house style
MIP authors and editors are asked to deliver the text of their manuscripts in accordance with our house style. In general, MIP follows the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style, with some minor modifications.
Some series have their own requirements in addition to the MIP house style. Please ask us whether this applies to your title.
For edited collections and journals, it is essential that all contributions are consistent with regard to reference conventions and spelling.
Layout
The layout of the text also follows MIP house style. For this reason, we ask that authors and editors deliver their manuscripts with as little formatting as possible. Text that should be in italics, bold, or small capitals should be put in italics, bold, or small capitals in the manuscript. Note that other formatting will be lost when your manuscript is converted into PDF proofs. Submit files in Word. For more requirements and details about submission, please see our Style Guide.
MIP's guidelines concerning images for our publications are detailed in our Image Guide. This guide includes information on technical requirements for image materials, permissions, cover images, where to find royalty-free images and more.
Authors and editors are responsible for supplying all visual material and for securing any necessary permissions for photos or other reproductions included in their manuscripts. There is no budget allowance for rights; these will usually be paid by the author or editor or waived by the institution from which rights are being asked. If an institution waives fees, and requests a copy of the publication in return, please indicate this on the Illustration Checklist, which will be sent to you by the acquisitions editor once your project has been accepted.
Indexing may begin as soon as the typescript of the volume is complete. While page numbers will not be set until proofs are available, authors and editors may begin compiling lists of entries and have the index well underway by the time page numbers are available. Some books benefit from having multiple indexes—for example, an Index of Manuscripts or an Index of Place Names in addition to a General Index.
Guidelines for indexing are available in our Indexing Guide. Like MIP's House Style, indexing should be done in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style in almost all respects.
About six months before the planned publication date of a book, we will reach out to the author or editor and ask you to fill out a form called the Author Marketing Questionnaire. The form, which is only a few pages long, will ask you to approve or update the book blurb and bio; supply a delivery address for complimentary copies; and suggest outlets for scholarly reviews of your book, conferences at which we can promote your book and any other marketing ideas or opportunities.
When your book is published, we will also send you a packet of helpful marketing materials, including an image file of your book cover, copies of the book's blurbs, a customized book flyer, a Library Recommendation Form and our Author Marketing Handbook. We will announce the publication of all titles on our social media channels and in our monthly newsletter, send review inquiries to multiple journals and review outlets, nominate books for publication prizes, feature you and/or your book on our blog, interview you for a podcast episode on the New Books Network (if you are interested) and pursue other marketing efforts as appropriate.
After the initial round of marketing after publication, we will continue to market your book by boosting your social media posts; spreading the word about conference presentations, invited talks, keynote speeches, etc.; sharing public-facing work you produce; and more. We are happy to share any news and announcements you might have and will connect them back to your book, providing links to the product page.
Connect with us
MIP is currently befriended online by many scholars, media, researchers and readers from around the globe and is linked to by other bloggers, online publications and media aggregators. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Bluesky and Instagram and subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
MIP works with several publication and distribution partners. You will be in contact with some or all of these partners during various parts of the production process of your book or for post-production questions.
De Gruyter
De Gruyter is our publishing partner for titles in our scholarly book series, and we coordinate with them on the production process. MIP acquires all new titles and monitors projects throughout the peer review and revision process. After that point, our colleagues at De Gruyter will take over the practical day-to-day work on your manuscript for design, copyediting and typesetting. De Gruyter also distributes all titles in our scholarly book series published after 2018. As an author or editor, you’ll be speaking with colleagues from both organizations as we work on your manuscript.
TEAMS: Teaching Association for Medieval Studies
MIP works in partnership with TEAMS (Teaching Association for Medieval Studies) on several series of affordable classroom texts. Authors and editors will work closely with the respective series editor at the acquisition phase, as well as MIP acquisitions editor Tyler Cloherty, and then with MIP on the production and design process. ISD distributes these texts.
ISD
ISD is the distributor of our TEAMS texts and journals, as well as all of our titles published before 2019.
Below is a helpful guide about who you might expect to speak to at various points if your title is being published in one of our scholarly book series. You can also contact these people with questions as your book moves through production and publication.
Contacts at MIP
For book proposals and when you are ready to deliver your manuscript, please contact the appropriate acquisitions editor:
Tyler Cloherty:
- Christianities Before Modernity
- Early Drama, Art and Music
- Festschriften, Occasional Papers and Lectures
- Late Tudor and Stuart Drama: Gender, Performance and Material Culture
- Ludic Cultures, 1100-1700
- Monastic Life
- Monsters, Prodigies and Demons: Medieval and Early Modern Constructions of Alterity
- New Queer Medievalisms
- Premodern Transgressive Literatures
- Research in Medieval and Early Modern Culture
- Studies in Iconography: Themes and Variations
- Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Culture
Erin Sweany:
Emily Winkler:
- Christianities Before Modernity
- Festschriften, Occasional Papers and Lectures
- The Northern Medieval World: On the Margins of Europe
- Publications of the Richard Rawlinson Center
- Research in Medieval and Early Modern Culture
- Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Culture
For questions about marketing, please email the MIP office.
For questions about royalties and other financial concerns, please contact MIP's Finance Officer, Marjorie Harrington.
For questions about author discounts, for permissions to reprint any text, to request a desk/exam/review copy or with other questions or concerns regarding such issues as peer review, the title of your book, design, etc., please contact MIP's Editor-in-Chief, Theresa Whitaker.
Contacts at De Gruyter
For questions about your book contract, please contact Elisabeth Kempf.
For questions about design, copyediting and typesetting, please contact Christine Henschel.
Below is a helpful guide about whom you might expect to speak to at various points if your title is being published in one of our TEAMS classroom series. You can also contact these people with questions as your book moves through production and publication.
Contacts at MIP
To discuss book proposals or the delivery of your manuscript, please contact both the acquisitions editor for all TEAMS series, Tyler Cloherty, and the appropriate series editor listed in the "Contacts at TEAMS" section below.
For questions about the design, copyediting and typesetting of Middle English Texts books, please contact the METS Managing Editor, Pamela Yee, at the University of Rochester. For all other TEAMS books, please contact MIP’s Editor-in-Chief, Theresa Whitaker.
For questions about marketing, please email the MIP office.
For questions about author discounts, for permissions to reprint any text, to request a desk/exam/review copy or with other questions or concerns regarding such issues as peer review, the title of your book, design, etc., please contact MIP's Editor-in-Chief, Theresa Whitaker.
Contacts at TEAMS
For book proposals and when you are ready to deliver your manuscript, please contact both the acquisitions editor for all TEAMS series, Tyler Cloherty, and the appropriate series editor:
Commentary Series: E. Ann Matter, emerita, University of Pennsylvania
Documents of Practice Series: Joel T. Rosenthal, emeritus, State University of New York, Stony Brook
French of Medieval England Bilingual Editions Series: David Raybin, emeritus, Eastern Illinois University
Medieval German Texts Series in Bilingual Editions Series:Sara S. Poor, Princeton University
Medieval Music in Context Series: Andrew Hicks, Cornell University
Medieval Textual Cultures of Central and Southeast Europe Series: Julia Verkholantsev, University of Pennsylvania
Middle English Texts Series: Russell Peck, emeritus, University of Rochester
Secular Commentary Series: Robert E. Edwards, Pennsylvania State University
Varia Series: Nancy Bradley Warren, Texas A&M University
Our authors are entitled to buy discounted copies of their own book plus our other publications. If you would like to buy books using your author discount, please contact MIP's Editor-in-Chief, Theresa Whitaker.
