We at Math Solutions are always on the lookout for new authors who care deeply about K–12 mathematics education, who want to write about their teaching and learning experiences, and who want to share their ideas with teachers across the country.
If you’ve never written professionally before, don’t worry. Our mission is to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics; we know that both published and unpublished educators have important messages for the rest of us.
How to Prepare a Publication Proposal
There is no one correct way to write a proposal. But there are ways to write a stronger, more coherent proposal—one that will give you, the writer, a sense of how you’d pursue the project and one that will give us, the publisher, a better sense of what the final manuscript may look like.
Please use the following guidelines in preparing your proposal. Feel free to add any additional items you feel are necessary.
Title: We encourage you to submit several possible titles.
Rationale: Most important, we need to know, in a brief overview, what the resource will be about. This section should address the following key questions:
- Why is this resource important?
- What are your reasons for writing this?
- Who needs this resource? (What is the primary audience or market? Include any specific organizations, etc.)
- Why do people need this resource? (How does this resource meet existing needs?)
- What is the research or experience base for the information?
Competing or related works: What other resources have been written on the subject and how will yours differ? List resources that are similar in nature or have influenced your submission. Proposals that state, “There is no competition,” will be considered incomplete. We strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Math Solutions library; does your resource fit?
Table of contents and sample chapter: What is the tentative table of contents? Provide a title for each chapter and a brief description of what the chapter will include. If the structure of the resource is open-ended, the table of contents and sample chapter can be shaped more as a “vision” or series of visions or directions.
Format: In this section you need to address any key formatting issues, including estimated length of the resource; what you envision regarding artwork and use of graphs or tables (will you be including students’ work samples?); size of the resource; any special features such as perforated pages, photocopiable pages, use of color; and so on.
Author’s Background: Please include a resume or curriculum vitae and any other information that helps clarify your background and qualifications to undertake this project. If there will be more than one author, include this information for each coauthor.
Schedule: When do you expect to finish the manuscript? (Include a proposed schedule.)
How to Submit Your Proposal
Please email to the attention of the Executive Editor at the address below.
Jamie Cross
Executive Editor
Email: jcross@nullmathsolutions.com
We thank you for your interest in Math Solutions and look forward to your submission!
