submissions
June Road Press is committed to amplifying new voices and supporting emerging writers. We’re a very small operation and dedicated to quality, so we only take on a couple of titles a year—but we’re eager to find the next great fit, and we welcome unsolicited, unagented, fee-free submissions during our open reading periods.
winter 2024 Open Reading Period
We’re open for submissions from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day (November 28 to January 1), and we’ll be choosing one or two new book projects that align in a special way with the character and direction of the press for publication in the fall of 2025.
Though our scope might expand in future seasons, this reading period is once again limited to full-length poetry collections. We’re looking for original, well-structured, polished manuscripts of (about) 40 to 60 poems, with a preference for first or second books by women (inclusively defined).
We’re particularly interested in work with ecological/environmental themes or that engages in meaningful ways with nature or place. This cycle, we’re aiming to broaden the range of voices the press represents and highlight regions of the country not yet emphasized in our catalog (such as the South, the Southwest, or California), though we’re open to submissions by writers from all backgrounds and parts of the United States.*
To submit your work, please use the button below to access Submittable. You’ll be prompted to enter your name and email address, upload your full manuscript as a Word or PDF file, and provide any context about yourself and your writing that you feel is relevant. There’s no fee to submit (just the option to make a donation, which doesn’t factor into selections but does help us out a lot).
• Simultaneous submissions are fine; we want great writing to find a home with another publisher if it can’t be with us (but please let us know if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere or withdraw the submission).
• Please only submit one manuscript for consideration in this reading period.
• The manuscript as a whole should be previously unpublished (except for individual poems in literary magazines or online, as long as you retain the rights), primarily in English (not in translation), original, singly authored, and in no part AI-generated.
• We plan to respond to all submissions by the end of February (early 2025).
• Though this is unlikely, we reserve the option of closing the reading period before January 1 if submission volume reaches 400 so as not to exceed our capacity to read and respond to all entries within the timeframe of our editorial calendar, given the size and work/life obligations of this all-volunteer team.
This is not a contest with blind judging, and we’ll be taking into account a variety of factors: literary merit, foremost, but also a subjective sense of mutual fit as we seek to balance the next season’s selections, amplify a wider range of voices, and shape the broader course and composition of the press.
We encourage you to explore the rest of our website, particularly the individual pages for the books we’ve published so far, to get acquainted with the press before submitting and consider how your work might complement and expand on our catalog.
* Note that our current distribution limitations only allow us to work with authors who are U.S. residents.
Please keep in mind that we typically only publish two books a year, as an intentionally small press, which means we receive many more excellent manuscripts than we can accept. While we won’t be able to move forward with most submissions, we always appreciate your interest and the chance to look at your work. Each submission that meets the criteria above and is entered via Submittable will be personally considered by the publisher and editor, and finalists will be reviewed by our team of current authors. We also intend to share a list of this year’s finalists through our newsletter and social media accounts after the selection process is complete.
What else to know
June Road Press is a traditional literary publisher; authors do not subsidize their books. However, our resources are quite limited, so we do expect authors to take the lead on marketing and publicity. We work with each author to organize a marketing plan and provide as much ongoing support as possible, including print ARCs and trade review submissions.
To reduce labor and complexity, given our size and means, we pay a standard advance for accepted authors at the time of signing in lieu of royalties (covering up to a set sales threshold, with further compensation if that threshold is later exceeded). We also supply a generous number of author copies and cover several post-publication award entry fees for each book. Our fully in-house editorial, design, and production processes are intensive, closely collaborative, and tailored to each project with great care. We’ll even produce an audiobook edition if you’re up for recording one, and you can preview these for our existing titles on each book’s page on our website.
For an introduction to the press editor and authors—and a deeper understanding of who we are, how we operate, and the kind of community we’re building—we invite you to watch some of our recent virtual event recordings.
