Seriously, though, Hell was when we first started writing and had to seek places to be published, scouring a giant 500-page directory and sifting through 2,000+ publishers to find any that might be a good fit, mailing them money to get a book or a zine of their work that we could read and review, then mail them samples of our writing with an appeal for their consideration, and then, hopefully, get any kind of reply, often a rejection, or maybe, just maybe, our work might get accepted. And then we would mail them more money just to get our own copy once published. The whole process might span years and yield only one poem published in some zine with zero distribution.

Obviously, in the internet age, we are spoiled. However, certain niceties were exchanged through the mail that should continue to be practiced today. Like, yes, of course, we’re interested in being wowed by your work, but how did you find us? Are you familiar with who we are? What we’ve produced? Have you read any of our books?

One of our expectant writers who sought a home with us once exclaimed, “I would kill to be published by a press with your name!” While we’re not actively collecting writers who would kill, we love this level of enthusiasm. (We did publish that writer, btw, twice.)

We are seeking 1) book-length works for our press and 2) articles, essays, interviews, and reviews for our zine. While we are genre-less, we are drawn to nonfiction works that resonate with the human condition and are deftly expressed in any form that inspires you.

BOOK-LENGTH Submission Guidelines

For book-length works, please only submit to us if you have a completed manuscript. (We do NOT want to be pitched on a concept that hasn’t been finished.) If you have a completed work, congratulations! We acknowledge this giant feat that you have achieved and you should celebrate that.

We accept all submissions by email via: [email protected]

1. In the subject line: “Submission, your first and last name, title of your manuscript”

2. Include your cover letter in the body of the email (which should have a short bio and any social media links, plus your work’s synopsis)

3. Attach 10 pages from your manuscript (this could be the first 10, or your favorite 10) as a Word document or a PDF

We read every submission that we receive, and we consider each submission carefully. We will be in touch as soon as possible if we’d like to read more of your work. As much as we would like to, due to the number of submissions we receive, we are not able to personally respond to every submission.

We do not expect to have exclusivity, so feel free to simultaneously submit elsewhere. If you receive a full manuscript request or offer of publication, please do email us with a follow-up letting us know your work has been picked up.

If you don’t hear back from us, please don’t take that personally. We are a small operation and always overwhelmed. When we greenlight a project, we give it everything. But we don’t have the capacity to extend that courtesy with every aspect of this work.

ZINE Submission Guidelines

For singular works, we are seeking articles and essays (all subjects), interviews (literary or otherwise), and reviews (books, music, movies, other) for our Zine. This is a new feature we are extending through our website, and it is in the early stages of development.

We accept all submissions by email via: [email protected]

1. In the subject line: “Zine Submission, your first and last name, title of piece”

2. Include info about the work in the body of the email

3. Include a short bio with any social media links in the body of the email

4. Attach your completed piece as a Word document or link to Google Docs

If you are a fearless, intimate, and opinionated writer with a flair for the written word, we want you. If your work is simply an angry rant without substance, we’re not interested. We like irreverent, yes, but it must be thought-provoking.

We attract readers who are smart and switched on. We want writers who grab readers from the first word and leave them changed after the last.

WRITE LIKE HELL