Culicidae Architectural Press is a peer-review publishing house that was founded by Mikesch Muecke in Ames, Iowa, in 2012 to serve creative writers and their readers worldwide with an alternative to traditional publishers. We distribute our publications worldwide and pride ourselves on exceptionally well-designed books, whether they are hardbound, paperbacks, or e-books.

We publish original works by authors who write about the designed environment at all scales, from graphic and industrial design via building structures to urban design and landscapes. Please follow our detailed Submission Guidelines (links to a downloadable PDF).

Peer Review

After receipt of a new manuscript we take out any identifying information and send the text to at least two outside reviewers who will comment, in writing, using the following categories:

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 Architectural Press and its sister Culicidae Press, LLC is Better-Business-Bureau accredited and small enough to have the same person walk with you through edits, interior book layout, and cover design to final publication.

There are no divisions in our company. You will have one contact person who is also your editor and publisher.

It will take a minimum of three months (on average six months) from the finished manuscript to the final publication. Your book(s) will be available as paperbacks, hard covers, and/or ebooks, for all available platforms, including iPad and Kindle.

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 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.

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 we have published.

Why that name?

culicidaeWe 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…

The Inside Story of Culicidae Architectural Press and Culicidae Press, LLC

Both Culicidae Architectural Press and Culicidae Press, LLC are brick-and-mortar and online book publishing businesses producing a wide range of media. Delivery or pickup is available in the greater Ames area with prior arrangement. You may visit us in Ames during normal business hours, but essentially we are open 24/7 through our online portal (which is what you’re reading right now).

Where are you located?

Culicidae Architectural Press is located in Ames, Iowa at 918 5th Street. We are the second building on the south side of the cul-de-sac that leads west from Northwestern Avenue, just a stone’s throw from Wheatsfield. Culicidae Architectural Press also has temporary offices in Lemgo (Germany), Rome (Italy), and Gainesville, Florida, depending on whether our editor and publisher Mikesch Muecke is living/working in those places or not.

What can you expect of this business?

We are a Better Business Bureau accredited firm and 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 Facebook or Twitter, or subscribe to our Instagram feed.

More about shipping?

In the US, books that ship from our headquarters in Iowa are sent via USPS (delivery confirmation available). Books sent from our printers in North Carolina 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.

More Questions? Go to our FAQ page…