Poetry Presses Answer Your Burning Questions, Part 1

rinky dink press: A lack of cohesion. Sameness. Status quo diction and convention. A manuscript that only contains 2-3 strong pieces. When you’re publishing 5-6 micro-poems within a micro-collection (a mere few hundred words in total), every piece has to resonate.

Damaged Goods Press: Typically, if the collection is very similar to something we’ve already published, theme/narrative-wise, or if it doesn’t have the lyrical/image-rich/experimental aesthetic we’re looking for, then we’ll pass. I think it should go without saying, that if you are not queer and/or trans then we’ll pass, but we actually get submissions from straight cis folks all the time, insisting that their work is so good that it shouldn’t matter what their orientation or gender identity is–and we’ll pass with the request they don’t submit again. Though honestly, most of the time, we get amazing work from so many people, and just don’t have the financial and human resources to publish more than 3-5 books a year. I wish we could take on more, and maybe one day we will able too, so when we say our decision is based on limited resources it’s not a means of letting people down easily, but the truth of what we have to work with. 

Jane’s Boy Press: Generally, we’re most likely to pass on a collection when the author either has obviously not taken the time to acquaint themselves with the type of work we publish (such as when they submit language poetry or extremely abstract poetry when our publishing record—as well as our guidelines—indicate we prefer more accessible work), when the submission is filled with errors (typos, misspellings, lack of proofreading), or when the author does not follow our basic submission requirements (incorrect file types, submissions that are far longer or shorter than what we specify, etc.). And if the publisher’s guidelines make it clear that you probably have the wrong place, don’t expect to be an exception. One three different occasions, I have received submissions with cover letters that began, “I know you only publish poetry, but I really think you’ll enjoy my (insert novel/memoir/cookbook—yes, that’s right, a cookbook).

Prolific Press Publishing: We often receive submissions from fiction writers that haven’t properly had their work edited. We don’t require that writers have their work professionally edited, but when it’s obvious that a writer has submitted a manuscript too early, before his/her work is polished, I tend to pass on it. We’re not interested in a first draft. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t accept a really great manuscript that needed some edits, but if a writer is lazy on the front end, it’s likely that he/she is going to be lazy in other areas too. Writers expect me to work hard and to be professional. I expect the same from the writers.

The most obvious answer, found universally across all presses in the world of publishing, is that a failure to read and follow the guidelines will result in a rejection. It almost goes without mentioning. Follow the guidelines.

Unsolicited Press: Oftentimes, what causes us to pass on a poetry manuscript is a blatant disregard for the genre. What does that mean? A collection submitted that has no glue…nothing sticking the poems together. Obviously that doesn’t mean we want “theme” collections-that would be terrible-but we want to see that the poet has conscientiously put together a collection. It shouldn’t feel like an MFA thesis. It shouldn’t feel as though the poet fumbled through a folder labeled “Poetry” and copy/pasted everything into a new document and slapped on a title. The collection should feel meaningful. We receive a lot of submissions that violate this coveted code. On another note, we also receive poetry submissions with 500+ poems in a collection. We would never publish something of that volume. That’s not how collections come together. 

Rose Metal Press: We occupy a distinct position in the publishing landscape in the sense that our mission focuses on the publication of literary work in hybrid genres, including prose poetry, flash fiction, novels in verse, image-and-text collections, novellas-in-flash, collaborative projects and other approaches that defy easy categorization by the traditional genre labels of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, drama and so forth. So the biggest thing that causes us to pass on a collection is a lack of formal or structural hybridity; like if someone sends us (which happens more often than you’d imagine) a straight-up lineated collection of individual poems, then of course we pass. But if something really is hybrid and fits our mission statement, then we’re eager to consider it.

Sarabande Books: Evidence that the author has never read a collection of contemporary poetry or short fiction. Repetitive tropes that are largely unintentional. Language that sounds like Facebook posts. A lack of grounding in the heart (emotions) or an obsession with the self (I centered). No narrative arc, no progression. No clear themes, little detail and imagery. No engagement with the world.

Black Lawrence Press: Every year, we publish between 24 and 26 books. These titles are culled from our annual contests and open reading periods. There’s a lot that I love about my job as an editor, but perhaps my favorite thing is calling authors to let them know that we’ve selected their manuscripts for publication. Conversely, one of my least favorite things is how frequently we have to turn down manuscripts. We receive over 5,000 manuscripts to review every year, so given the limited space in our production calendar, we have to say no a lot. There are a myriad of reasons that we turn down manuscripts, but there are a number of pitfalls that, with a bit of work, authors can easily avoid:

-Make sure that your cover letter is free from typos.

-Familiarize yourself with the press before submitting. We frequently receive YA submissions (we only publish books for adults) and cover letters that begin “Dear Sirs” (even though the majority of our staff and all of our senior editors are women).

-Have someone you trust proofread your manuscript before sending.

-Make sure that the first pages of your manuscript are incredibly strong.

Another New Calligraphy: The first thing I’m looking for in a manuscript is originality. Common themes often appear, but are they creatively explored? Conversely, does someone working in a more experimental style have something to say? I’m much more interested in a fresh perspective of the everyday than something consciously provocative.

dancing girl press: When I’m reading manuscripts, I am looking for those books which hang together really well as a project, more so than just collections of disparate poems. Sometimes we get manuscripts that are good writing, but the poems are sort of randomly thrown together. We have a really strong submission pool, and it’s hard to make final decisions, so I tend to say yes to the things that are more tightly focused. I am also looking for those things that surprise me—in form, in subject matter, in tone.

Redbird Chapbooks: There are two primary questions we ask all of our editors to consider when reviewing manuscripts, whether the collection is poetry, prose, multi-genre, or an illustrated work. First, is the collection engaging and well written? Second, does it have a cohesive theme or statement? If an editor can’t answer yes to both of these questions, then we ask that they pass on a collection.  

Any poet can put together a couple dozen poems, but if the poems don’t speak to or with one another in some way, the collection is going to fall flat. 

Kelsay Books: Although we are open to working with newer poets, the deciding factor frequently is the number of previously published poems in the collection, and how well-written the poetry is. We prefer to spend our time on the layout and cover details, so it is essential we work with poetry that has no typos, grammatical errors and is highly polished. We like poets who have websites and are actively engaged in the poetry community.

Litmus Press: We publish 2-5 books a year, so we end up passing on a lot of worthy manuscripts. We are an independent, feminist, nonprofit literary organization, and we publish new poetry, hybrid works, translations, experimental plays, and other non-mainstream works. Our decisions about what to publish are based on the quality of the work, of course, and also how the new work lives within the context of our other publications. We look for work with a strong sense of avant-garde lineage, contemporary awareness, and something surprising—work that moves our thinking about what is possible in writing ahead, out of comfort zones.

BlazeVOX: There are many factors considered and weighed when we accept a manuscript. To paraphrase our mission statement, ‘BlazeVOX [books] publishes innovative fictions and wide-ranging fields of contemporary poetry. Our books push at the frontiers of what is possible with our innovative poetry, fiction and select non-fiction and literary criticism. Our fundamental mission is to disseminate poetry, through print and digital media, both within academic spheres and to society at large. We select for publication only the highest quality of writing on all levels regardless of commercial viability.’ With that in mind we comb through the thousands of manuscript submissions we receive each year with the hopes that they will energize the audience that we have cultivated over the nineteen years we have been publishing.

Once we receive a manuscript we place it in a large pile to read and see how well it aligns with our catalog. We sift out genre fictions like YA, MG, murder mysteries and space operas that are better suited for other publishers. This is not to say we do not admire these types of writing, our mission is to publish specific works that fall within our field. Once we gather up manuscripts that fit our parameters, the real work begins. We publish between 25 and 30 books a year and that leaves hundreds of fine manuscripts we cannot publish. The causes vary widely as to why we pass on a collection. Sometimes a manuscript does not resonate with our editors or sometimes we see manuscripts that are good but not in its best final form to make a book. Many times the manuscripts are collections of recent poems without consideration to how the individual poems fit together as a whole. Mostly, we have to pass on a book simply because we do not have the time or the money to make more books than our budgets allow for. We have lost a lot of fine books, but thankfully other presses are out there to take them on.

Dusie Poetics: At this point, we primarily solicit submissions because we are a micro-press. We typically publish 2-4 books a year.