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. We operate a bit differently than other presses. 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 and operated with the help of a few dedicated volunteers. We publish books of literary fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. If you are not sure what we mean by literary, please take a look at our Catalog and read the writing samplers of some of our books. 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Please Note: We do not publish books for children or young adults, nor do we venture into picture books, graphic novels, religious/political testimonials, and how-to guides.
We are looking for writers who are actively involved in the writing community. We want to work with 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 are putting themselves and their work out there. We want to work with writers who know how to market themselves and their work, and writers who will take an active role in marketing their books.
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 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 75% 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 love short stories and have made it our mission to do all we can to usher in a renaissance for this art form. Collections should include 10-15 short stories with at least half the 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 4-6 short story collections each year, including each October we publish the first prize, second prize, and honorable mention winners in Flash Fiction, Short-Short Story, and Short Story 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:
POETRY COLLECTIONS:
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:
Our Short Story 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 from editors at publications who bring authors to his attention. Therefore, authors are encouraged to send an email of introduction telling him who you are, what you are doing, where you live, and where you’ve been published. Attach up to three short story samples or links to stories online. Authors should not consider this a formal submission that requires acceptance or rejection. Acceptance or rejection is given to complete manuscripts. Only send complete manuscripts when invited to do so.
Letters of introduction and story samples and links should be sent to kevin@press53.com. You can also find Kevin on Facebook here. To learn more about Kevin Morgan Watson, visit our Editors' page.
NOVELS / MEMOIRS:
Our Novel and Memoir editor is Robin Miura. Robin's submission guidelines will be posted here shortly. Please check back soon. To learn more about Robin Miura, visit our Editors' page.
Special Project
Submissions
Submissions are now CLOSED for Surreal South '09. Please check back for submission guidelines for Surreal South '11, to be published Fall 2011.
Screenwriting students at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts School of Filmmaking are reading short stories to adapt for film. Writers with a published collection of short stories who would like to be considered for these student adaptation and film projects may contact Laura Hart McKinny at mckinl@ncarts.edu.
Published collections may be mailed to:
Laura Hart McKinny
UNC-NCSA
School of Filmmaking
1533 South Main St.,
Winston-Salem, NC 27127
SURREAL SOUTH
SHORT STORY TO FILM
READING PERIODS
Poetry: Open
(see guidelines at left). Now considering for Spring 2010.
Short Stories: Closed till Summer 2010
(see guidelines at left). We will announce our selections for 2010 shortly.
Novels: Closed Temporarily
(See guidelines at left)
Creative Nonfiction: Closed temporarily
