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cover of this book is free and yours to keep


This Book Is Free and Yours to Keep
Connie Banta, Kristin DeVault-Juelfs, Destinee Harper, Katy Ryan, Ellen Skirvin

indigenous ecocinema cover


Indigenous Ecocinema
Salma Monani

cutover capitalism cover


Cutover Capitalism
Jason L. Newton

saharan winds cover


Saharan Winds
Joanna Allan

the madison women cover


The Madison Women
Amanda E. Hayes

enclosure architecture cover


Enclosure Architecture
Douglas W. Milliken

Text arrangement in the style of a political advertisement reading 'I Hate It Here, Please Vote For Me:Essays on Rural Political Decay'.


I Hate It Here, Please Vote For Me
Matthew Ferrence

softie cover


Softie
Megan Howell

photograph of Cobb's Hill, or Pinnacle Hill, by Charles C. Zoller: a child dressed in red and white appears in foreground, along with an architectural column, surrounded by shrubs; in the distance a white house sits on a hill with a path leading up to it; text reads How to Make Your Mother Cry: Fictions, Sejal Shah


How to Make Your Mother Cry
Sejal Shah

illustration of a leaping coho salmon against a stylized background of a salmon-colored sky and dark blue ocean, with the text Slime Line in a bold handwriting font in a blue-green color with a white stroke around the letters


Slime Line
Jake Maynard

Text at top reads Utter, Earth: Advice on Living in a More-than-Human World, Isaac Yuen. Beneath the text are four illustrations: a moth silhouette, in white, against a red background, a catfish silhouette, in white, against a mint green background, a silhouette of wheat, in white, against a blue background, and a rhino silhouette, in white against a mushroom background

Utter, Earth
Isaac Yuen

two illustrated harpies with blue wings set against an orange background with a city skyline in the distant background; text reads Roxy and Coco: A Novel, Terese Svoboda


Roxy and Coco
Terese Svoboda

A bright red background superimposed over an image of a bridge; text readers Hell's Not Far Off: Bruce Crawford and the Appalachian Left by Josh Howard


Hell's Not Far Off
Josh Howard

photograph of a yellow tractor with four women's shadows silhouetted against it; text reads Gendered Infrastructures: Space, Scale, and Identity, edited by Yaffa Truelove and Anu Sabhlok


Gendered Infrastructures
Edited by Yaffa Truelove
and Anu Sabhlok

painting of a black girl laying on a light wood-grain floor with her arms overhead; text reads Mama Said: Stories by Kristen Gentry


Mama Said
Kristen Gentry

white background with black lettering overtop the side profile of a young black man in pixelated black and white; text reads Shattered: Fragments of a Black Life by Matthieu Chapman

Shattered
Matthieu Chapman

Sienna background with a painting of trees leaning over a creek with text underneath: Clear Creek: Toward a Natural Philosophy by Erik Reece

Clear Creek
Erik Reece

white text surrounded by black on a teal background with a moon; the white outline of a house with a door and window inside an orange half circle with white dot stars


God of River Mud
Vic Sizemore

image of rough violin body in process


Finding the Singing Spruce
Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth

orange background with mall small gray stick figures carrying signs

Critical Geographies of Youth
Edited by Gloria Howerton
and Leanne Purdum

white background with blue text and image of a red and white target with blue arrows, one arrow pinning a diploma to the target center


An Accidental Triumph
Sol Gittleman

black text on a light neon orange background with a gradient photo of a Black teenage boy in a school photo

The In-Betweens
Davon Loeb

white text surrounded by black on a teal background with a moon; the white outline of a house with a door and window inside an orange half circle with white dot stars


In Other Lifetimes All I’ve Lost Comes Back to Me
Courtney Sender

black cover with three constellations in gold with text in white and blue

The Wounds That Bind Us
Kelley Shinn

About West Virginia University Press

West Virginia University Press is the only university press, and the largest publisher of any kind, in the state of West Virginia. A part of West Virginia University, we publish books and scholarly journals by authors around the world, with a particular emphasis on Appalachian studies, history, higher education, the social sciences, and interdisciplinary books about energy, environment, and resources. We also publish works of fiction and creative nonfiction, and collaborate on innovative digital publications, notably West Virginia History: An Open Access Reader.

Titles published by West Virginia University Press have received reviews and attention in the New York Times, the New York Review of Books, the AtlanticO: The Oprah Magazine, Smithsonian, Publishers Weekly, Vox, and the Huffington Post, among many other regional and global outlets. You can find our books at major retailers, both on- and offline.

At West Virginia University Press we strive to extend and enhance the reputation of WVU as a major research institution by publishing the very best work in our areas of specialization. 

Publish with WVU Press

Authors who would like West Virginia University Press to consider their work for publication should contact WVUPress@mail.wvu.edu.

General guidelines for proposals are below. Email inquiries only. Please do not phone the office to discuss proposals or submissions, and please do not mail hard copies of your proposal or manuscript. We will not return mailed submissions. 

Guidelines for literary short fiction, fiction, and creative nonfiction submissions are hereEmail inquiries only. Please do not phone the office to discuss proposals or submissions, and please do not mail hard copies of your proposal or manuscript.

Preparing a Book Proposal

Proposals should include, at a minimum, the following information:

  1. An overview of the book including:
    • A summary of the book’s main argument, themes, and goals
    • A comparison of your book to others
    • A description of the target audience for your book
  2. An annotated table of contents
  3. Sample chapters, preferably including the introduction and at least one substantive chapter
  4. Current curriculum vitae or biographical information
  5. Manuscript specifics, including estimated length, delivery date, and any special requirements (e.g., artwork, tables, photographs, film stills)
  6. Contact information for you, including mailing address, phone, and e-mail address

We make every effort to respond to inquiries promptly, but please expect an average response time of four weeks. Email inquiries only. Please do not phone the office to discuss proposals or submissions, and please do not mail hard copies of your proposal or manuscript.