Submission Guidelines
Press 53 . PO Box 30314, Winston-Salem, NC 27130-0314 Email Us
Literate Yourself! TM
Before submitting to Press 53, please take a few minutes to read our guidelines. Each editor has his or her own preferences. Below, you will learn who we are, what we publish, and how to submit.
Press 53 is a small independent publisher owned by Kevin Morgan Watson. We publish books of literary fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. If you are not sure what we mean by literary, do an Internet seach on any of our authors and you will find plenty of examples. Or better still, purchase our books and sample widely.
Please Note: We do not publish books for children or young adults, nor do we venture into picture/coffee table books, graphic novels, religious/political testimonials, and how-to guides.
We are looking for writers who are actively involved in the writing community, writers who are submitting their work to journals, magazines and contests, and who are getting published and earning recognition for their work. We are a small press, so it is important that we partner with writers who put themselves and their work out there on a regular basis.
While many of our authors are local / regional to the Carolinas, we publish just as many writers from outside our region. We also publish a balance of men and women. Neither of these statistics were established by design. Please note: Press 53 is not reviewing manuscripts from outside the US at this time. We do, however, accept contest entries worldwide for the Press 53 Open Awards for publication in the Press 53 Open Awards Anthology.
WHAT WE PUBLISH:
Poetry Collections: We love working with poets who have been widely published and are active in the poetry community. We publish only full-length poetry collections of roughly 70 pages or more. We prefer that at least 30% of the poems in the collection be previously published in literary journals, magazines, ezines, etc. Individual poems may be submitted for our Press 53 Open Awards writing contest (reading fee involved), or if we have an open submission period for an anthology, which you will find listed to the right. We publish 4-6 poetry collections each year; plus each October we publish the first prize, second prize, and honorable mention poems from the Press 53 Open Awards in our Press 53 Open Awards Anthology.
Short Story Collections: We have made it our mission to help usher in a renaissance of the short story. Collections should include 10-15 short stories with 60-70% those stories previously published in journals, magazines, or anthologies. Individual stories may be submitted for our Press 53 Open Awards writing contest (reading fee involved), or when we have an open submission period for an anthology, which you will find listed to the right. We publish 6-8 short story collections each year. Also, each October we publish the first prize, second prize, and honorable mention winners in Flash Fiction, Short-Short Story, and Short Story from the Press 53 Open Awards in our Press 53 Open Awards Anthology.
Novels/Novellas: We publish 1-2 novels per year. We prefer literary works with strong characters, natural and conversational dialogue, sensory-rich settings, and a compelling story. Each October, we publish the first prize winner in the Novella category in the Press 53 Open Awards (reading fee involved) in our Press 53 Open Awards Anthology.
Creative Nonfiction/Memoir/Biography: We don't have a set schedule for publishing nonfiction works. Your best option is to query with a brief description of your book. If we find it interesting, and if we can work it into our schedule, then we will gladly consider it. Each October, we publish the first prize, second prize, and honorable mention winners in the Creative Nonfiction category of the Press 53 Open Awards (reading fee involved) in our Press 53 Open Awards Anthology.
HOW TO SUBMIT: (Simultaneous submissions are accepted, so long as we are notified immediatley upon acceptance from another publisher)
POETRY COLLECTIONS: (Open)
Our Poetry editor is Tom Lombardo, who prefers that you send 10 poems from your collection directly to him via US Mail. Please do not send your only copy. Manuscripts will NOT be returned, they will be recycled. Enclose an SASE for his response. Tom will try his best to respond within 90 days. If you don’t hear from him by then, feel free to send a note to tom@press53.com asking about the status of your submission. To learn more about Tom Lombardo, visit our Editors' page.
Please mail your sample poems to:
Tom Lombardo
Poetry Editor, Press 53
Suite 500
1401 Peachtree St. N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30309
SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS: (Open) Submission guidelines have changed. Please read.
Our Short Story Collections editor is Kevin Morgan Watson. Kevin actively seeks out short story collections from authors he has read in literary journals, magazines, ezines, and anthologies, and through suggestions from editors at various publications. You may submit your short story collection directly to Kevin using Submishmash, a free submission service. Please send a letter of introduction, which includes info on yourself and your story collection, the number of stories in the collection, where the stories have been published, a few ideas for marketing your book, and three stories from the collection. Kevin will do his best to respond within 90 days. If, after 90 days, you have not received a response, please send a note to Kevin at kevin@press53.com. You can find Kevin on Facebook here. To learn more about Kevin Morgan Watson, visit our Editors' page.
NOVEL / CREATIVE NONFICTION / MEMOIR: (Open)
Robin Miura is our editor for literary fiction, creative nonfiction, and memoir. Please note that we are not looking for genre fiction (romance, science fiction, thriller, etc.) or children's books. Send your submission to Robin at Robin@Press53.com; e-mail submissions only, please. Include in the body of your e-mail a query letter and a marketing plan for your book and attach a 30-page sample of the book you are submitting. Each submission is individually reviewed, so it may be several weeks before you receive a reply.
To learn more about Robin Miura, visit our Editors' page.
Special Project
Submissions
Submissions for Surreal South '11will open on January 1, 2011. Guidelines will be posted at that time.
SURREAL SOUTH '11
