One of our six Pushcart nominations, Ocean Vuong’s “Self-Portrait with Exit Wounds,” has won a Pushcart Prize and will be featured in the next Pushcart anthology. The poem first appeared in ASSARACUS ISSUE 08. Congratulations, Ocean!
Submissions
BEFORE YOU SUBMIT – READ THIS
We’re pretty new as a publishing house, but so far, so good. We’re growing, and we like authors who want to grow with us. Authors who aren’t scared of promoting their work. Authors who have a sense of humor. Authors who want to be actively involved in the production and marketing of their book. Authors who want to be rock stars.
If you want to know what we’re like to work with, track down our authors. Ask them what it’s like to work with SRP. Ask them about Bryan. Ask them if they feel respected. If you want to know the kind of work that captures our attention, buy one of our books. Or two or three.
POETRY
Poetry will always be the centerpiece and foundation of Sibling Rivalry Press. We will publish multiple chapbooks and/or full-length collections of poetry each year. What we like: POETRY THAT MAKES US FEEL LIKE WE’VE BEEN STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. It’s as simple as that. Do we care if it’s been previously published on your personal website? No. Do we care if it would make your grandmother blush? No. Do we care if it’s political, erotic, feminist, LGBT-oriented, makes us squirm, makes us uncomfortable, or makes us weep? No, so long as it makes us FEEL. Do we believe poetry can save lives? Yes.
Congratulations to Valerie Wetlaufer and Wendy Chin-Tanner who were selected for publication through our 2012 open-submission period. To watch Bryan Borland make the announcement, click HERE.
—– 2013 SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: POETRY —–
Our open-submission period runs from March 1 through June 1, 2013. We’re looking for at least two chapbooks or full-length collections to add to our roster for publication in early 2015. We intentionally offer no guidelines on page limits – let your book guide you. Simultaneous submissions are fine – just let us know if you get published elsewhere so we can send you a celebratory bouquet.
To submit manuscripts, please follow these guidelines:
1. In lieu of a reading charge or entry fee, purchase one of our titles from our official online store, the AWP Book Fair, or the Rainbow Book Fair during our submission period. Your purchase will both familiarize you with the type of work that we publish and will support our family of authors, which very well may include you in the not-so-distant future.
2. Don’t send us a traditional cover letter. Instead, include the following in the body of an email:
- Which SRP title did you purchase and why?
- You’ve been elected President. What poet, living or dead, reads at your inauguration, and what poem will they read?
- We’ll give at least one of your poems a test drive at a reading to see how the audience responds. What poem should we read aloud from your manuscript?
- Your manuscript has been made into a film. What song plays during the closing credits?
- Include EITHER a traditional bio OR a haiku that describes you.
3. Attach your manuscript as a PDF file to your email, address it to submissions@siblingrivalrypress.com, and click SEND. GOOD LUCK! And thanks for trusting us with your work. We will announce our new authors in late August.
ADRIENNE, ASSARACUS, and JONATHAN
Submission guidelines for our poetry journal of queer women, Adrienne, click HERE. Submission guidelines for our journal of poetry by self-identified gay men, Assaracus, can be found HERE. For submission guidelines of our journal of fiction by self-identified gay men, Jonathan, click HERE.
PROSE
(INVITE OR REFERRAL SUBMISSION ONLY)
*NOTE* At this time, Sibling Rivalry Press will only consider prose by direct invitation or SRP-author referrals. As we grow, hire editors, etc., we will announce prose-open submission periods. Stay tuned.
