About Us - Culicidae Press

Culicidae Press^® and its imprints is a peer-review publishing house that was founded by Mikesch Muecke in Ames, Iowa, in 2005 to serve creative writers and their readers worldwide with an alternative to traditional publishers. We edit, design, publish, and distribute our books across the globe and pride ourselves on exceptionally well-designed products, whether they are hardbound, paperbacks, e-books or audio versions.

We publish original works in almost any field (with the exception of astrology, spirituality, UFO and Zombie studies), although over the last few years we have focused on biographies, scholarly books, poetry, and publications concerning the designed environment, as well as the fine arts.

What We Offer

You’re looking for a publisher who will guide you from initial idea to finished product? You want to have personalized attention rather than be handed from one corporate division to another? You want to see your high-quality book in print sooner rather than later? We have answers. Culicidae Press—and its imprints Culicidae Architectural Press, Hog Press, Zanzara Press, Handcar Press, and Musca Press—is small enough to have the same person walk with you through edits, interior book layout, and cover design to final publication and distribution.

- There is no cost to you to get your book published with us. We are not a vanity press.
- There are no divisions in our company. You will have one contact person who is also your editor, designer, and publisher.
- It will take a minimum of two months (on average four months) from the finished manuscript to the final publication. Your book(s) will be available as paperbacks, hard covers (both case wrap and with dust jacket), and ebooks, for all available platforms, including iPad and Kindle, as well as audio books
- You will earn royalties starting with the very first book you sell, whether someone orders it in the United States or worldwide, whether it’s a paperback or an ebook. We pay royalties quarterly, either via check, Venmo, or PayPal.

Once you have signed the contract, our service includes:

— a professional book cover (a cover that communicates your design is vital to selling your book)
— a professional book interior layout, including appropriate choice of fonts and layout (no limit of images) in either full-color (with full bleed) or in black & white, up to 1200 pages per volume.
— choice of binding from perfect (most common) via case-wrap and ring-bound (for technical non-fiction books) to dust jacket hard cover versions as well as eBooks (EPUB, Kindle, and Apple Books formats) that work on your Kindle eReader and on your iPad’s Kindle or Apple Books app or other iDevices.
— promotion and marketing, including ISBN acquisition, through Bowker.
— guaranteed availability of your book internationally through online retailers and bookstores.
— five complimentary copies of your paperback book sent to your home address.

We usually contract both the cover and interior layout with polytekton, a German-American designer with extensive experience in creating beautiful books. He has the knowhow to create effective graphic designs to reach your target audience. Go to his website for samples of books he designed and we have published or scroll down to the bottom of the page to see sample covers.

Peer Review

After receipt of a new manuscript we send the text to at least two outside reviewers who will comment, in writing, using the following criteria:

Overall Impression/Summary of Text
Suggestions for Improvement
Suitability for Publication

The editor then combines the comments from the two outside reviewers, adds his or her own observations, and returns the review in written form to the author. Usually this process takes at least four to six weeks. Please note that, in most cases, we initially reject manuscripts but we also give constructive criticism through the peer-review process that helps authors improve their manuscript for a second submission, if they choose to do so.

We prefer if you send us your manuscript digitally. Please go to the contact page and fill out the form. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Publishing Services

If you’re interested in publishing with us, please look over our Author Guidelines. Since 2014 any manuscripts we receive for publication through Culicidae Press are peer-reviewed by at least two outside readers that are specialists in the topic of the author’s field. Manuscripts sent to one our imprints Hog Press, Handcar Press, Musca Press, and Zanzara Press are reviewed by our editors.

We typically ask outside reviewers to comment on the overall impression of the manuscript, any problems and/or suggestions for improvement the reviewer thinks should be noted, and finally a recommendation whether to publish or not to publish as is or with modifications.

Upon receipt of the reviewers’ notes one of our editors will combine the comments and write a summary that includes all the reviewers’ anonymized comments as well as a final decision by the editor whether to proceed with the manuscript or not. In most cases submissions by authors are returned with suggestions for further development. In the fewest cases is a manuscript ready for publishing as is.

After you receive a detailed and positive response from us (typically within six to eight weeks), we send you our standard contract that spells out the legal responsibilities between you and Culicidae Press. After the contract has been signed, it takes about three to six months for the book to be completed. Usually our in-house designer will develop the cover design and interior layout, although we have worked in the past with author/artists and author/designers who were able to develop their own layout. However, the final decision about the book cover and interior rests with the chief editor.

We complete most of the graphic design—from a wide variety of book layouts and sizes to unique cover designs—through our in-house designer polytekton. We also provide ISBNs, and basic marketing. If you have questions, please contact us, or look over our FAQ page.

Below are examples of some book covers polytekton has designed for various clients. As you can see, each project is unique. We don’t use templates to determine the type of cover, layout or font. We pride ourselves on tailoring each solution to a specific client. Interested in working with us? Let us know.

Why That Name?

We get asked this a lot: Culicidae is the Latin word for mosquito, which is, in German, the surname of the founder and chief editor of Culicidae Press, i.e. Mikesch Muecke. How do you pronounce Culicidae? Click the image below…

Where Are You Located?

Culicidae Press^® is both a brick-and-mortar and online book publishing business producing a wide range of media. Delivery is available in the greater Madison area any time our editor is in Madison. Essentially we are open 24/7 through our online portal (which is what you’re reading right now).

The Culicidae Press^® headquarters used to be located in Ames, Iowa, near the Wheatsfield Coop. In 2024 we decided to move our operation mostly online to be able to work from anywhere in the world, and we have temporary offices in Ames, Lemgo (Germany), Venice (Italy), Lisbon (Portugal), Berlin (Germany), Paris (France), Chicago (USA), and Madison, Wisconsin, depending on whether our editor and publisher Mikesch Muecke is living/working in those places or not. Our snailmail address is

Culicidae Press
PO Box 5069
Madison, WI 53705-5069

Berlin Office in Nina’s flat, photograph by polytekton

What Can You Expect of this Business?

We offer professional service, attention to detail, and first-class design.

Questions answered promptly and cheerfully.

Leave us a note via our Contact page, join us on LinkedIn, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads, X, or subscribe to our Instagram feed.

How Do I Get the Books I Ordered From You?

In the United States, books that ship from our headquarters in Madison are sent via USPS Media Mail (tracking information included at no extra charge). Books sent from our printers in North Carolina, Illinois, and elsewhere can be sent via FedEx Ground or, at a cost, at a faster-than-ground option. We use a professional label and postage-generating service that checks your address and attempts to make it conform to Post Office standards. This will shorten mailing time by as much as two days in some circumstances.

International packages are sent by Global Priority Mail whenever possible. Occasionally overseas Priority Mail packages take far longer to arrive than the standard delivery time. This usually reflects the customs service in the destination countries and is outside our control. You may request that packages be sent using one of the available courier services, such as DHL, UPS, or FedEx. We will quote you an appropriate price when you inquire about that option using our Contact form.

How Do I Get Paid As An Author?

We consider authors as equal partners and therefore pay our authors 50% of any net profits from sales of their books. We pay royalties quarterly and, given the delay in getting paid by our printers and distributors (they pay us up to six months after the sale of a book), here is a typical pay schedule:

Royalties from sales in the first quarter of any year (January 1 through March 31) will be sent out to authors by May 15. Sales during the second quarter (April 1 through June 30) will be sent out by August 15, and so on.

We prefer sending royalties through digital payment providers such as PayPal, Venmo, Zelle or others but we also send checks, if needed. If you opt for check payments, royalties for any given quarter that are less than $20.00 will be held by the publisher until they have accrued to more than $20.00. Then we send a check for the amount owed to the author.

What Else Should I Know About This Business?

We strongly believe in giving back to the community. That is why about 50% of the design work done by our graphic designer polytekton is pro-bono, benefitting non-profit and educational institutions, such as the Southeast Chapter Society of Architectural Historians, the Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality Forum, The Alachua Consort baroque music ensemble, The International Women Composers Library, Hog Press, and others…We also send 100% of profits from sales of certain books to charitable institutions, based on authors’ wishes. For example, profits from sales of Harry Merritt’s book go to Alachua County Habitat for Humanity Women Build.