Publish With Us

Since our founding in 2007, AU Press has been committed to cultivating open, original research and breaking down barriers to knowledge. We welcome exceptional works of scholarship regardless of subject area and have published strong lists in the areas of distance education, labour studies, social and economic justice, and the environment. We maintain a particular interest in often neglected forms of social and cultural history and in works that experiment with narrative form and/or challenge received wisdom. For a list of our series, visit our series page.

If you are interested in submitting a manuscript to AU Press for consideration, please review our Author Publication Guide and download and complete a prospectus. If you would like to discuss a work in progress, please contact our editorial team at editor.aupress@athabascau.ca.

Open Access

AU Press is dedicated to open access, providing free and online access to research and scholarship. Each of our titles can be read online, downloaded as a free PDF, or purchased as a print book or ebook.

To learn more about our open access mandate and distribution strategy, please visit our About Open Access page.

Accessible Books

Our long-standing commitment to the principles of open access and the removal of barriers to ideas and knowledge includes making our books available to those with varied perceptual (print) abilities. We are one of a growing number of organizations worldwide certified in the production of accessible publications. The Press achieved its initial certification through Benetech and re-affirmed it in 2025 through the eBound Digital Certification program, which recognizes Canadian publishers who produce ebook files that meet or exceed the latest global accessibility and quality standards.

Editorial Excellence

AU Press upholds a high standard of editorial excellence. Our publications undergo rigorous peer review and thorough editing. AU Press editors work closely with authors on their manuscripts before and after peer review to ensure that ideas are presented not only with clarity, but with refinement, that documentation is accurate, and that authorial voice is retained.

Award-Winning Design

AU Press is committed to high production quality and accessible design, and to creating unique packages for each of our projects. Our books are regularly selected for the Association of University Presses’ annual Book, Jacket, and Journal Show, which features the best in book design from the past year. AU Press books are also often shortlisted or win the design awards at the Alberta Book Publishing Awards. See the full list of our awards on our Awards and Recognition page.

Creative and Comprehensive Marketing

Each book published by AU Press receives its own marketing campaign. New books are announced at regular intervals throughout the year. Promotion starts well before publication and continues long after a book is released. Where appropriate, we organize book launches, send out review and exam copies to academics and media outlets, advertise in local, national, and international media, and submit books for awards and competitions. The immediate online access provided by our open access mandate makes digital marketing a particularly effective tool and we combine this with traditional publicity to help ensure our titles reach their intended audiences. Our trade titles are represented by Ampersand Inc.

We regularly attend conferences to make connections and exhibit our books. Most notably, we exhibit annually at the Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities and our books are on display at academic conferences across Canada and around the globe. When we cannot attend a conference or event in person, we work in partnership with our distributors to ensure that our books are visible at relevant events.