Submissions
Q&A
What
kind of poetry are you looking for?
Well, let's start with what we are not interested in:
light verse, poetry for children, inspirational poetry, and so on. We
are only interested in work from serious writers, whether they've previously
published a book or not, who are active readers of contemporary poetry.
That
said, we can't offer you much advice as to what's going to get your manuscript
accepted by Red Morning Press. We are not dedicated to any one side of
any ongoing poetic argument, so we remain just as open to a manuscript
that might be described as more avant-garde as to one that is more conventional.
Further, each of our editors brings with him a different set of literary
preferences, so rattling off a list of poets you might look to as examples
would probably only confuse everyone.
Simply
put, we want poems that interest us, that excite us, and that seem to
add something unique to the conversation. The books we've chosen so far
have done just that, so if we're going to point you anywhere, it'll be
there. Does that mean we necessarily want more of the same? Of course
not. Let's see something new.
Can
I submit to you even though I've already submitted to other presses?
Sure you can. We only ask that you notify us immediately by E-mail
if your manuscript is accepted by another publisher.
Why
doesn't RMP run contests?
We don't think there's anything inherently wrong with sponsoring a contest.
It's up to the individual press whether or not they want to use that method
to finance their operation. And it's up to authors to decide whether or
not they'd like to participate in them. We simply choose not to hold contests
because we think they're an inefficient way to bring innovative poetry
to the community. Over the years, money from thousands of entry fees has
been funneled into a handful of prize-winning writers and presses. Unfortunately,
that handful just doesn't reflect the true number of quality manuscripts
that should be published.
Will
buying an RMP book increase my chances of being accepted?
Immeasurably.
Really?
No,
not really. A number of presses out there run contests requiring "entry
fees," others take submissions only if accompanied by "reading
fees," and the truth is that most of the time your check only buys
you an impersonal rejection slip and/or a copy of the book that beat yours,
neither being terribly appealing. While we hope that you will purchase
our books to support our authors and to keep this little independent press
going, whether your name appears on our customer list won't play any part
in our reading of your manuscript.
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