Marketing FAQ

When will my book be published?

Our website lists the publication month — this is the month following the ship date from the warehouse. Books usually ship around four weeks prior to the publication date. Books may be published a month to six weeks later outside of the Americas.

What if I find an error or information missing from my book description on a website such as Amazon or Google?

Please email the marketing team if you spot an error and we will try to get it fixed as soon as possible.

Be aware that some sites are fed by other data providers, so a change might take a couple of days or longer.

What does “open access” mean?

Some of our books are Open Access, meaning that the scholarship is accessible online to the public for free. Usually, access is funded by an outside organization or grant, and this is usually arranged prior to publication. These books are still available for purchase in physical formats. For more information, see our Open Access .

Who is your distributor?

We are distributed by Chicago Distribution Center in the U.S. and Latin America, University of British Columbia Press in Canada, and Mare Nostrum Group—University Presses in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the rest of the world. Please see our Distributor page for contact information .

How do I order my contractual copies?

These are ordered by your editor and will ship when the book is first released from the warehouse. Questions about those orders should be directed to your editor.

What discount do I get on my book?

Please contact [email protected] directly for information about your author discount and for specific ordering information. Your contract should specify the discount, and you may also call our distributors to order. You also get discounts on any other book we publish or distribute. Our international distributors have their own author discount policies.

How can I promote my book to friends and colleagues?

A link to a discount book flyer is available on your book page on our website (directly below the book cover). It offers discount codes for friends and colleagues to order online or by phone. You may send the flyer to your librarian or your department, or take it to scholarly book talks or events, etc., but please don’t give it to bookstores as they have their own special discounts.

What if I want to buy many copies of my book in bulk?

If you plan to order more than 50 copies of your book, it is very helpful to let us know as early as possible, ideally 3 months prior to publication.

How do I order copies for an event?

Please give us as much possible notice for event orders; ideally 4+ weeks in the U.S. If an event is abroad, allow at least 6-8 weeks. You are usually not responsible for ordering books for event venues such as bookstores, but some smaller venues may prefer you to bring copies of your book. Check with the venue well in advance. For more information on events, see the  Author Events page .

When will my book be available for preorder? 

Preorder from us at any point after the book data has been released and you see your book on our website.

Shouldn't I just link to my book on Amazon?

No. We can't stress this enough. Privileging one retailer over another inhibits our ability to sell your book to other accounts. If you, for example, send an Amazon link to your local independent bookstore they aren't going to look kindly when you ask them to stock your book! Being vendor-neutral maximizes sales and exposure for your book.

To whom should I link then?

If you are adding only one link, it is best to link to your book's page on our website. We suggest you include such a link in your email signature.

If you are creating a web page for the book, or listing it on your campus or organization’s web site, we suggest a minimum of five links:  RUP, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and two sites which serve US independent bookstores: bookshop.org and IndieBound.org.

If you anticipate a lot of interest abroad, please link to your book’s page at our partner Combined Academic Publisher's bookstore, www.combinedacademic.co.uk. If you are in Canada, you’ll want to include Indigo, your local favorite shop, and your book at http://www.ubcpress.ca/rutgers-university-press.

Consider linking directly to your favorite local independent bookstore, but be sure to let them know, so they’ll stock the book! Cultivate a positive relationship with them. For starters, shop there!

How can I inform my local store or college store about my book?

The best way is by asking for a manager or buyer, but people are often busy, so it might be best to send them an email with a link to our website page, or to email or drop off a copy of that page from the catalog.

Please don't give them your author discount flyer, and don't give them the Amazon link — both ways are sure to "turn off" an independent bookstore!

My book just ran out of stock on Amazon or another website.
Congratulations! This is good news. Your book is selling! They will be reordering soon; this is an automatic process and there is no need to contact us.

At larger bookstores the reordering process is automatic, and we have little to do with their projected sales or stock levels. We do inform them regularly on upcoming publicity, new reviews, or events, but if you are aware of something that may boost sales, please let us know as far in advance as possible. Amazon is more concerned with stocking items other than books; this is another reason we ask you to consider not privileging them.

How do I obtain sales updates?

We do not provide sales information until at least six months after publication. Please contact your acquiring editor for that information.

When will I get my sales statement or royalty check?

Sales statements and royalty checks are mailed annually for the preceding calendar year at the end of March. These are sent by the business office.

How can my book be publicized?

Every season we announce our new books through our catalog, both in print and online. Once the catalog is printed and mailed to our sales reps, bookstores, and review media, we begin pitching the season’s books. Starting months before your book’s publication date, we will contact a range of book review editors and scholarly journals in your book’s field, aided by the suggestions in your marketing questionnaire (these are very important!). Our campaigns include print and digital outreach to journalists focused on your topics of interest, journals in your field, and, where appropriate, general-interest media. The book review landscape is shrinking and very competitive, so please let us know if you have media contacts that can help your book reach the audience it deserves. 

There may also be websites, blogs, and other nontraditional venues (for example: Substack newsletters) that are relevant to your book. The publicity department treats blogs and websites like any other media source. If you have recommendations that you didn’t include in your questionnaire, email them to [email protected]. 

Your book will also be available to librarians, booksellers, and reviewers through the Edelweiss+ platform, a digital catalog program which connects publishers to the book industry. 

What can I do to help promote my book? 

• Spread the word! Tell your friends, family, and colleagues about the book. If they are active on social media, ask them to post about it. 
• Make sure your university news office knows about the book. Universities love to promote the work of their alma maters, and they might be interested in reviewing the book for their alumni magazine, scheduling an event, or arranging an interview. 
• Put information about the book in your email signature (you can link to its page on our website). 
• If you are part of any listservs or groups within your scholarly community, share information about the book with them. 
• Encourage people to review the book on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. Such reviews can help boost the book’s profile on online retailers. 
• Think about pitching op-eds on current events tied to your book and pitch them to publications that might be interested. 
• Send us a photo with your book when you receive your advances so we can post it on social media (or, if you post about it yourself, be sure to tag us so we can repost it!). 

When should I schedule events and signings? 

It is best to schedule events after the publication date listed on our website, but you should plan any events, particularly with bookstores, a few months before. Bookstore event planners usually book up 3-6 months in advance for in-person events (sometimes more). We strongly suggest that you book events at least 30 days after the publication date. 

For more information on Author Events, please click here . 

 If you have events planned and would like for us to help you publicize it, you must fill out a form for each event.

Will my book be sent to scholarly conferences and other exhibits? 

Yes! Yes! We attend or participate in at least 30 scholarly conferences or exhibits a year . We also participate in major international trade shows, such as the London Book Fair and the Frankfurt Book Fair, through our international distribution partnership with Mare Nostrum Group—University Presses.

I am a member of a scholarly organization and frequently attend their conference. Will my book be there? 

If we plan on attending the conference and have a booth, we will do everything we can to make sure your book is there, especially in the first few years after publication. If your book is not published by the time of the conference, we may have a poster of your book cover or a sample of your book for visitors to peruse. If an acquisitions editor from Rutgers University Press is at the conference, please stop by the booth to introduce yourself. 

If you attend a conference that we do not usually attend, please mark this on your author marketing questionnaire or let our exhibits manager ([email protected]) know in advance. 

What are book awards? 

Book awards are exactly what they sound like! They are awards from different organizations for the best book(s) in a given year or period of years, usually in a specific category or about a specific topic. Occasionally, they come with a monetary award, but most of the time the award is a recognition for exceptional achievement in writing or scholarship. 

 How do I find a book award to nominate my book for?
If you are a scholar and part of a scholarly organization, look on the organization’s website for book awards. Most of the big scholarly organizations have book awards in many different specific categories, many of which could be applicable to your book. Otherwise, do some Googling for book awards for the category or topic of your book. 

Will you help me nominate my book for awards? 

Absolutely! Awards are a very important part of an author’s post-publication process and can really help sales and publicity. 

Like all publishers, we do set reasonable and appropriate policies for awards. Our awards coordinator will be in touch after your book is published with more information. 

If you would like to make us aware of a book award to nominate your book for, please click on the appropriate link for your publisher and fill out the form. We will reach out to you if we have any questions. 

Rutgers University Press: https://form.jotform.com/243444321959057 

Bucknell University Press: https://form.jotform.com/243444676659168 

University of Delaware Press: https://form.jotform.com/243444423736154 

How can I help promote my book?

An author and a publisher can effectively work together to create additional opportunities and sales. Here are a few suggestions from our most successful authors.

• Follow us on Twitter/X, Instagram, and BlueSky: @rutgersupress
• If you have a website, link to your book’s page on our website. If you link to retailers, link to at least five – not simply to Amazon!.
• Engage with the intended audience as often as possible through blogs, the internet, social networking sites, and traditional op-ed pieces. Mention the book title often in the blog so that readers can find it easily. The more often your book and name are on the web, the higher your name and book will appear in various searches.
• Use your social media networks to keep your followers updated on your book and how it may relate to new research and news of the day. Be sure to share these efforts with us too. The best way to do this is by contacting the publicity department or tagging us in the post.
• For more social media and marketing tips, please click here.

How do you use personal and professional mailing lists?

Please alert the marketing department either through your marketing questionnaire or an email of any electronic and print mailing lists available to you or relationships you have with individuals who can either review your book or influence a bulk sale to an organization. Any mailing lists (email or postal) can be sent to Brice Hammack. We will send a new book announcement e-blast and subject area e-flyer advertising your book. We never share our mailing list with any other organizations, businesses, or parts of Rutgers University.