Encapsulations’s short monographs offer close readings of carefully delineated bodies of comics work with an emphasis on expanding the critical range and depth of comics studies. By looking at understudied and overlooked texts, artists, and publishers, Encapsulations facilitates a move away from the same “big” and oft-examined texts. Instead the series uses more diverse case studies to explore new and existing critical theories in tune with an interdisciplinary, intersectional, and global approach to comics scholarship.

With an eye to breaking established patterns and forging new opportunities for scholarship, Encapsulations books advance the theoretical grounding of comics scholarship and broaden our critical knowledge of global comics. By showcasing new interdisciplinary perspectives and addressing emerging conceptual, formal, and methodological problems, the series promotes new approaches, contributes to the diversity of comics scholarship, and delves into uncharted sections of the comics archive.

Proposal Steps and Process

1. The Initial Pitch

In order to ensure that potential volumes meet the scope of the series, the editors of Encapsulations prefer to receive short “pitches” in email form that describe the project, the texts to be discuss (and how they fit together as a discrete unit), and the argument to be made in line with forwarding the series’s subtitle: Critical Comics Studies. These do not need to be formal, but should express the ideas accurately enough that the series editors get a strong sense of what you intend.

Before writing your pitch, please consult the “What We Want” page.

The editors’ contact information can be found here.

2. The Proposal

Once the editors receive your pitch, we will discuss among ourselves and if we think it is a good fit for Encapsulations, we will offer some comments and suggestions toward a proposal. We will at the same time provide the series’s official proposal form that requests:

  • A brief description of the project, including its main argument
  • An explanation of the project’s intervention in the field
  • An outline of the intended audience and market
  • A tentative table of contents
  • A summary paragraph for each chapter, outlining its primary purpose and contribution to the project as a whole
  • A clear description of the comics texts to be discussed and why they should be understood as a “small, clearly delineated and framed bodies of comics work“
  • An estimate of the final word count and the project’s timeline

After receiving your full proposal, the editors will again take time to confer and comment on the proposal, with an eye toward noting concerns that peer reviewers are likely to have and addressing any remaining issues with the fit of the volume for the series.

3. Peer Review at the Press

Once the series editors have vetted the proposal and are satisfied with the author’s response to any comments, the proposal will then be forward to the acquisitions editor, Abby Stryker, at the University of Nebraska Press, who will forward the proposal to peer reviewers.

If peer reviewers suggest publication, a contract will be offered.