I was asked this by a colleague who wanted to turn their doctoral thesis into a monograph. That in itself is not a straightforward task, and there are guides elsewhere on the web discussing that process. In short, a thesis is not a book (yet).
Anyhow, once a book is in sight, or at least in the planning, the next question arises as to where to publish it? SF criticism is not as marginalised as it once was, and there are now quite a few academic publishers with specialist series looking at the genre.
I collated the following list, which I emphasise is far from exhaustive, as potential starting points for my colleague. I’m sharing it here after a commenter on the ever excellent London SF research community Facebook page suggested it might be of use to others. If I encounter anything which looks relevant, I may return to edit this and add things later.
Do note that it really ISN’T exhaustive. There are many other options too, depending on the type of book you may have in mind. Biographies of major authors have traction beyond academic publishers for example. Books on popular TV or cinematic SF might do likewise. Even academic critical texts on SF may find a home outside these specialist series. A book on religious futurism for example may well find a home in a series on theology rather than on SF, for example.
Other publishers, such as Oxford UP, Cambridge UP, Bloomsbury and so on will often publish SF criticism without necessarily including it in a specific dedicated series. Bloomsbury for example list over 200 SF-themed texts on their website. So this resource really is just a starting point for someone looking for a place to publish their text.
As always, do your own due diligence, and remember that it’s better to find an editorial team who you like working with and who are supportive of your book than to go with the allegedly prestigious or prolific imprint which may process your book as in a sausage factory, or fail to promote it among a lengthy roster.
(For that very reason, I went with Gylphi for my book on SF and Catholicism, even though they may not be the most prestigious or established of academic publishers, because their small attentive team really prioritised and helped me produce the best possible iteration of my idea, and I felt really supported throughout the whole process.)
And on that note, don’t forget you’ll have to do a lot of promotion of your book yourself these days, including identifying potential review outlets. I believe the LSFRC might be looking at producing a resource on that too, which I for one would welcome.
Without further ado, in no particular order…
Series Name | Publisher | Editors | Sample publication/ additional information |
Liverpool Science Fiction Texts and Studies | Liverpool University Press | David Seed, Sherryl Vint | A longstanding series – 69 publications to date, many by leading SF scholars – innovative but can take a conservative approach at times. |
Wesleyan Science Fiction / Literary Criticism | Wesleyan University Press | Arthur B. Evans | Publish anthologies and early classics editions as well as critical monographs. Closely connected to SF Studies journal. |
Modern Masters of Science Fiction | University of Illinois Press | Gary K. Wolfe | Monographs series focusing on individual SF authors. The press also publishes other SF-related texts, including a trilogy of Ray Bradbury biographies |
Gylphi SF Storyworlds | Gylphi Press | Paul March-Russell | An innovative and eclectic series of SF monographs and critical essay collections, spanning literature and other media. |
World Science Fiction Studies | Peter Lang | Sonja Fritzsche and Gerry Canavan | Relatively new series of monographs focusing on postcolonial and decolonised topics. Be warned, the publisher may seek a payment contribution from the author. |
Studies in Global Genre Fiction | Routledge | Taryne Jade Taylor and Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay | New series which examines global iterations of genre fictions, open to receiving proposals relating to global SF |
Studies in Global Science Fiction | Palgrave Macmillan | Anindita Banerjee, Rachel Haywood Ferreira, and Mark Bould | Rapidly establishing series which focuses on localised iterations of global SF, publishing single author monographs and edited collections. |
Ralahine Utopian Studies | Peter Lang | Raffaella Baccolini, Antonis Balasopoulos, Joachim Fischer, Michael J. Griffin, Naomi Jacobs, Michael G. Kelly, Tom Moylan and Phillip E. Wegner | Twenty volumes to date, examining utopian studies in general and not solely in a SF context, though many are reprints of classic utopian studies texts. |
Addendum:
Remiss of me to omit McFarland’s longstanding series on ‘Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy’, which has been going for over 15 years now and is one of the most prolific series out there, with over 70 books (most of which are SF.) They cast their net wide, and it inevitably contains a lot of things like mythology and Tolkien which are somewhat distant from SF. Notably open to monographs, edited collections, biographies and even critically edited reprint volumes of neglected works. Edited by Donald Palumbo.
New Dimensions in Science Fiction, eds. Pawel Frelik and Patrick B. Sharp, University of Wales Press, which has published six texts to date, including examinations of Indian SF, early SF feminism and, intriguingly, Plants in SF.
New Suns: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Speculative, eds. Susana M. Morris and Kinitra D. Brooks, Ohio State University Press, which to date has specialised in Afrofuturism criticism but has a remit to look at other forms of (marginalised) identity in SF and cognate fields.
Tentatively adding Routledge’s new series “Studies in Speculative Fiction” which to date has published two quite different texts with more forthcoming, and advertises a remit of “literatures from all around the word that fall within the speculative fiction umbrella, including but not limited to, science fiction, fantasy, horror, apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic, utopian/dystopian literatures, and supernatural fiction.” The editors for this series have not been identifiable.
For more options, see Jo Walton’s extensive comment below.
Brilliant Jim, thank you!
These are probably not quite for the list as you’ve framed it, but are adjacent and might be of interest?
E.g. indie publishers, publishers at the crossroads of academic and trade publishing, university presses with distinctive approaches, or as you mention presses that occasionally publish SFF-related titles, OR CONCEIVABLY MIGHT, although they don’t have dedicated series:
Academia Lunare series from Luna Press:
https://www.lunapresspublishing.com/academialunare
Verso
https://www.versobooks.com/pg/about-verso
MIT
https://mitpress.mit.edu/books
Punctum
https://punctumbooks.com/
Zer0
https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/zer0-books/our-books/all-books/
Springer Nature
https://www.springer.com/series/15335
Goldsmiths
https://www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-press/submissions/
Repeater
https://repeaterbooks.com/
Uniform
https://www.colinsackett.co.uk/uniformbooks.php
University of Minnesota
https://manifold.umn.edu/
Icon
https://iconbooks.com/icon-category/literature-language/
Arizona State University: CSI
https://csi.asu.edu/category/publications/
(I’m not sure what the relationship is between ASU: CSI and ASU Press).
87Press
https://www.the87press.com/
Influx
https://www.influxpress.com/books
Handheld
https://www.handheldpress.co.uk/
Comma
https://commapress.co.uk/books/
Don’t think these folk have been mentioned yet
https://mcfarlandbooks.com/imprint/critical-explorations-in-science-fiction-and-fantasy/
Very remiss of me to forget the most prolific of academic series pertaining to SF out there. I should have known better, as I’ve read more than a few of these, and was using their Dune Companion only last Autumn for a project. Thanks for the reminder, Jo, and thanks for the list of other options. I’m sure people will find that really useful.
It looks like Palgrave Science Fiction and Fantasy: A New Canon, Edited by Keren Omry and Sean Guynes. Looks like a form almost identical to their Pivot series plus sample chapter.
Lots of detail here:
https://sites.google.com/research.haifa.ac.il/palgravesffanewcanon/
Rowan and Littlefield and Scarecrow Press have also published books, especially in film/TV.
That IS their Pivots series. I have a book pending in it, but as they haven’t published a volume yet, for now their not on the list. As I said in the LSFRC Facebook page, that’s not for want of approval. As soon as a book is out, I’ll add them.
Thanks for reminding me about Rowan and Littlefield in particular. They’ve published some really good volumes in the past. Scarecrow I don’t know I have to admit.