Overview

Chemeketa Press is the academic publishing arm of Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon. Our innovative publishing model helps faculty develop accessible textbooks at affordable prices.

Here's what one faculty member said about working with Chemeketa Press:
"As someone who has had the privilege of working with the Press, I strongly encourage you to consider this opportunity. They are a welcoming and capable group, and this Press is one of the most unique parts of our college."
— Daniel Couch, author of Your Guide to College Writing and Instructor of English

What We Publish

The Press has developed lean, innovative methods to help teaching faculty produce the textbooks they’ve always wanted and never gotten from commercial publishers or OER developers. Faculty work closely with Press staff to draft, revise, illustrate, and review the books they envision. The Press then produces both print and digital textbooks, making our books accessible for learners in any format. Starting in 2015 as part of a college-wide textbook affordability initiative, the Press has helped faculty publish more than thirty affordable textbooks. Since then, Chemeketa Press books have saved Chemeketa students more than $6 million over the price of new commercial textbooks. The existence of these books helps our campus bookstore negotiate with commercial publishers to lower their prices, too, creating a second wave of student savings.

We're also looking for submissions now for new themed collections and public domain reprint editions. We've even made a wish list of themes and public domain books we think faculty could explore effectively! See the wish list here.

Submission Periods and Process

Submissions open twice yearly: September 1–October 15 and May 1–June 15. All publishing opportunities below accept submissions in each period. When the submission period closes, the Press staff and Editorial Board evaluate all submissions and select those that best meet our evaluation criteria. Faculty authors selected will be offered contract terms and after signing, a publishing schedule will be set.