Open Reading Period: 2015 Chapbook Series

*WE ARE NOW CLOSED. Thanks to all who submitted during August. 

Open Reading Period 

Yes, it's happening. 

Please do not send a manuscript before August 1. We are not looking at longer MS right now and are full though 2016 for longer books.

The guidelines are pretty much the same as the previous two years, but please note that the manuscript's max length has been shortened to 25 pages.

Little Uglies by Dawn Sueoka (August 2014)

Basics: 

Bloof will open the month of August for manuscript submissions of poetry chapbooks. All manuscripts must adhere to the guidelines below, and be submitted electronically between August 1 and August 31, 2014.  

This is not a contest. There are no fees, no judges, no bullshit. This is an open reading period. 

We will choose at least ONE but as many as SIX chapbooks to publish in 2015. (Both previous times we have chosen six.)  

All writers who submit manuscripts that adhere to the guidelines will be considered. Writers who fail to follow the guidelines will neither be considered nor notified.

Chapbooks will be produced in a limited handmade run of 100–150 copies, then released electronically thereafter. Chapbooks will be sold through our website, at select bookstores, and at various events. The author receives 20 complimentary copies and is paid a royalty on each sale.

All Bloof collective members are invited to read and discuss submissions, per their availability. 

Natalie Eilbert's Conversation with the Stone Wife (July 2014)

How to prepare your manuscript: 

1. Read a couple of our books and chapbooks, or at least look up the poets and read some of their work available online. (Free ebook versions of our previous chapbooks can be found here: http://news.bloofbooks.com/search/label/ebooks.)  

While we are theoretically open to reading any style of poetry, we certainly have preferences and even biases. Familiarity with the books we have already published should help you decide whether your work is a good fit. That's different than saying we are only looking for work that looks just like what we have already done. (As if.) 

2. Bloof is a collective press. What does that mean? Read this post about "The Way We Work." Basically it means if you publish with us, you become part of the collective and will be expected to actively participate in the press, including activities beyond the scope of your own book. Do not submit to Bloof is you don't think that sounds like a whole lot of fun. That post also explains how you will be paid, if you publish with Bloof. (For chapbooks, authors receive 20 copies + 12% royalty on the rest of the print run. They may also order additional copies at a discount.) 

3. Manuscripts should be typed, in English, consist of up to 25 pages of poetry, and be formatted in a reasonable, easy-to-read manner. The work should be unpublished in chapbook or book form, as a whole, though individual poems may have appeared in magazines, etc. Please include a list of acknowledgments, if any.  

4. Collaborations are acceptable, with the participation of all collaborators. We are not looking for translated work at this time 

5. Include a cover sheet with name, manuscript title, mailing address, and email address. It is unnecessary to include this information anywhere else, like page headers or footers.  

6. Number the pages in the manuscript.  

7. Cover letters are OK (since we are not reading without names attached), but we'd actually prefer to consider Chapbook Proposals. How do you imagine this chapbook will look? Do you have any design or artistic skills you'd like to incorporate? Would you enjoy helping with the assembly? Are you interested in particular materials?

The final design will be a collaboration between Bloof and the author—and obviously we are constrained by budget considerations—but for the proposal, if you have a vision, describe it to us. Maybe we can make it work.

It is optional for you to bring your own design or illustrative skills into play here. If that's something you'd like to do, explain. If you have other ideas beyond these few examples, about how to distribute or promote the book, or whatever, explain those. You can submit just a manuscript…or a manuscript plus these sorts of ideas in a concept/proposal. 

8. Manuscripts must be saved as a PDF and submitted electronically to this email address: info [at] bloofbooks [dot] com. Save the file with your last name and title (or partial title if it is long) as the document name, separated by an underscore: Knox_Mystery.pdf 

9. Simultaneous submissions are your right. We ask only that you promptly let us know if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.  

10. Any submissions that do not follow these guidelines will be automatically deleted. It's fine to ask a question (same email address) if something is unclear, but if we can tell you haven't read the guidelines completely, we probably won't answer. We're very busy…and about to get a whole lot busier. 

Previously in the series: 

Packing, Hailey Higdon (sold out, ebook coming soon)

This Is What It Is Like to Be Loved by Me, Jared White (sold out, free ebook available)

Nonstop Pop, Becca Klaver (sold out, free ebook available)

Poems Are the Only Real Bodies, Jennifer Tamayo (sold out, free ebook available)

scenes from the lives of my parents, Pattie McCarthy (almost gone)

Windowboxing: A Dance with Saints in Three Acts, Kirsten Kaschock (almost gone)

Odalisque, Ben Fama (sold out, free ebook available)

The Failure Age, Amanda Montei (almost gone)

Conversation with the Stone Wife, Natalie Eilbert (only 4 left!)

Little Uglies, Dawn Sueoka (new!)

Bedtime Stories for the End of the World!, Daniel Borzutzky 

Sympathetic Nervous System, Jackie Clark