Culicidae Press, LLC 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 distribute our publications across the globe and pride ourselves on exceptionally well-designed books, whether they are hardbound, paperbacks, or e-books.
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.
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.
If you prefer sending us files through the interwebs, please go to the contact page and fill out the form. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
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, 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 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 to dust jacket hard cover versions as well as eBooks (EPUB and Kindle formats) that work on your Kindle eReader and on your iPad’s Kindle.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 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.
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 on the right…
