What Does Histria Books Publish?
Histria was an important center of culture, commerce, and civilization in the ancient world, located on the Black Sea coast, near the mouth of the Danube. Histria Books continues the legacy of its namesake, publishing general interest books, fiction and literature, and children’s books, as well as scholarly books in broad range of categories. Originally established in 1996 as an academic publishing house, Histria Books is now an independent publishing house with offices in Las Vegas, Oxford, and Palm Beach. Our imprints include:
- Vita Histria – an imprint dedicated to academic books on a wide-range of subjects; Vita Histria has a special focus on American and European history. Current area of special interest for Vita Histria include medieval history, Renaissance history, military history, East European and Russian history, nineteenth-century America, including the U.S. Civil War.
- Gaudium – an imprint dedicated to non-fiction books on lifestyle, culture, sports, and politics, as well as biography and autobiography. Gaudium seek books that challenge, inspire, and offer unique points of view;
- Center for Romanian Studies – an imprint dedicated to the finest scholarship in the English language on the history and culture of Romania;
- Addison & Highsmith – an imprint dedicated to outstanding works of adult fiction, including historical fiction, science fiction, detective novels, and most other categories of fiction. Current areas of special interest for Addison & Highsmith include pre-twentieth century historical fiction.
- Prende Publishing – an imprint dedicated to books about contemporary lifestyle, the entertainment industry, including adult entertainment, erotica, as well as creative works of poetry. Named for the Albanian goddess of love and beauty, Prende seeks to break down barriers, challenge established norms, and overcome prejudice and discrimination in all its forms.
- Histria Kids – an imprint dedicated to books for children and young adults that seek both to educate and to entertain. For children’s picture books, we give priority to book proposals that already have an illustrator, although occasionally we consider works for which we will engage our own illustrator.
We have extensive experience working with international authors and we encourage authors from around the world to submit their book proposals for consideration by our Editorial Board.
How Do I Submit a Proposal?
After reviewing our imprints and the areas in which we publish, please submit an email query to info@stagging.histriabooks.com. Your query should include a brief biography, a description of the proposed book, the book’s intended audience, and 2-3 sample chapters. If the book is to be illustrated, please include some sample illustrations as well. Our Acquisitions Manager will then assign the proposal for an initial review by one of our editors. This screening process usually takes 4-8 weeks, depending on the volume of submissions. Once completed, our Acquisitions Manager will indicate if we will invite you to submit a formal proposal and completed manuscript for review by our Editorial Board which will make the final decision concerning publication. Because of the high volume of submissions, it is not always possible for us to respond in a timely manner so we encourage authors to reach out to us if they have not heard from us in the time inidcated.
Please note that while Histria Books accepts simultaneous submissions for queries or initial proposals, if you are invited to submit a formal proposal and a completed manuscript for review by our Editorial Board, we will then ask that it first be withdrawn from consideration at other publishing houses because of the time and expense involved in the formal review process.
What Should Be in a Formal Proposal?
A proposal should give the board members, editors, and marketing staff at Histria Books — most of whom will not necessarily be specialists in your area — a
1. A Brief Description
In two or three paragraphs, describe the work. This narrative description should identify the audience for which the book is envisioned, explain the proposed book’s purpose, how it will achieve that purpose, and what you consider to be the outstanding, distinctive, or unique features of the work. Also include the relevant themes, arguments, contribution to scholarship, and place in the literature. In essence, this should be a promo piece to sell your book.
2. An Outline or Table of Contents
Include a detailed outline of the book with paragraph-length descriptions of each chapter. This is especially helpful for academic books.
3. Photographs and Illustrations
Estimate the total word count of the completed book (including the main text, footnotes, bibliography, and any appendices).
Approximately how many photographs and/or line drawings (charts, graphs, diagrams, etc.) do you plan to include? If illustrations are planned, please send scans of sample art in JPEG format — do not send original photographs, artwork, negatives, or any materials that are irreplaceable.
4. Market Considerations
This is an important element in any proposal. For what type of reader is your book intended? Specialists in your field, or in some particular area of a larger field? Is it intended for general readers without specialized knowledge? In the case of fiction or children’s books, who is the intended audience. Please tell us about any ideas that you may have to market and to promote your book.
5. Comparable and Competing Volumes
For academic books, describe existing books in this field and spell out how your book will be similar to, as well as different
For works intended for a general audience, discuss your project’s unique perspective and outline how it can be differentiated from other titles covering this topic. Consider sharing a “sales handle” or “elevator pitch” — 2-3 sentences that quickly states what’s special about your book compared to others.
For fiction titles or children’s books, tell us what sets your story apart and makes it unique and innovative.
6. Status of the Work
What portion or percentage of the material is now complete? When do you expect to have a complete manuscript?
Do you plan to include material requiring permission (text, music, lyrics, illustrations)? To what extent? Have you started the permissions request process?
7. Reviews
For academic books only, please provide the names and contact details for two or three people whom you feel would be competent to review your material and whose opinion you would find valuable. We will try to use some of these along with our own selection. Naturally, we do not reveal the names of reviewers without their permission.
The Review Process
After receipt of your initial proposal, we will review your materials and consider whether it is a good fit for one of our imprints. We make every effort to ensure that editorial decisions are made in a timely manner, but it may take up to two months for a response to this initial submission.
If we are interested in your project, we will notify you of our interest and request any additional information or materials necessary for us to submit it to our Editorial Board to evaluate your proposal for possible publication. While our Editorial Board works diligently to evaluate proposals in a timely manner and to render its decision about including the proposal in the publishing schedule of one of our imprints, it may take up to four months for them to make a final decision. If you have not heard back from us at the end of that period, please feel free to reach out for a status update.
Useful Information for Authors
Please read the Submission Guidelines above thoroughly. It is to your advantage to be as complete and organized as possible in preparing your proposal for consideration. It also is to you advantage to demonstrate familiarity with our publishing program or to have read other books in our catalog. Due to the high volume of submissions that we receive, there are sometimes delays in the review process. It is not always possible for us to contact you to inform you of the delay, so feel free to reach out to us to check on the status of your proposal if the time frame initially established has passed.
Histria Books is currently publishing approximately 40 titles per year. Please be aware that, if your book is selected for publication, it will likely be 1-2 years before it will actually appear in print. Authors new to the publishing process are sometimes unaware of the lead time necessary to properly prepare a marketing plan and to ready a book for publication. We strive to work closely with our authors throughout the publication process and to develop the best strategy possible for the success of your book.
Note to self-published authors: Due to increasing difficulties in removing previously self-published works from distribution channels, we will only consider previously self-published works for publication if they have been completely removed from all sales channels, including print, digital, and audio, PRIOR to submitting the work for consideration. Thank you for your understanding.
If your proposal is selected for publication after review by our Editorial Board, we will then present you with a sample contract for review. The terms we offer may vary slightly depending on the requirements of the specific book, but in general our contracts are standard industry contracts.
While we strive to respond to all queries and submissions in a timely manner, we sometimes fall behind due to the large volume of submissions we receive. If you have not heard from is in the allotted time, we encourage you to contact us via email to bring it to our attention.
Histria Books is proud to be distributed internationally by the Casemate Group, one of the premier book distributors in the world. Prende Publishing is distributed in the United Kingdom and Europe exclusively by Gazelle Book Services. We appreciate authors who will be active and involved in marketing their book.