Submissions / Guidelines

Open To Submissions For Our Third Reading Period Summer 2024 (May 1-June 30)

  • Cover Letter: Include a brief, professional bio and tell us a bit about yourself and your vision for your book of poetry.
  • Manuscript Length: 48-80 pages (can be longer/shorter, but this is our ballpark preference) in 11-12pt, legible font. We do not publish chapbooks; minimum length is around 40 pages.
  • Formatting: title page (with name and address), table of contents, acknowledgement list for individual poems, and page numbers.
  • Visuals/media/graphics? YES—provided poet owns the rights/common domain/falls under fair use. Nothing AI-generated. We also will not be able to print interior color images.
  • Submitter must be a U.S. resident at this time.
  • Manuscript as a whole must be original and previously unpublished, including e-books.
  • Manuscript must be mainly English language; majority or full translation manuscripts not accepted at this time, but you can query editors if you have questions about your manuscript’s relationship to translation.
  • No part of the manuscript can have been generated by any form of "AI" or any large language model.
  • Pay-what-you-can reading fee via Duosuma tip jar. Recommended $10-$20, but please feel free to submit without reading fee. All manuscripts will be read with the same attention by both editors. We value accessible submissions, so there's no required fee, but we are a new press; any contribution helps us publish and promote the poetry books we choose.
  • Simultaneous submissions welcome; please notify editors immediately upon acceptance elsewhere.
  • Only one manuscript per poet per reading period, please -- no multiple submissions.
  • If a manuscript contains racism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, or otherwise objectionable content, the editors reserved the right to discontinue reading, and this probably isn't the press for you.
  • Contract available for viewing on River River Books' website: riverriverbooks.org
Disclaimer: If a manuscript contains racism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, or otherwise objectionable content, the editors reserved the right to discontinue reading.
Submit

What we are looking for:

Amorak: Poetry that I don’t see coming. Poetry that rewards close attention and revisiting. Poetry that’s pushing against the limits of what language can do as a medium for conveying the human experience. I am open to almost anything in terms of style, form, or content; I don’t need to see myself reflected in the poems. I want to be challenged and surprised.Han: Poetry that knows itself–its locales, its region, its speaker. Poetry that is particular, rooted. Poetry that transgresses or extends or deepens our conception of concepts–gender, race, ability, sexuality, labor, borders, continents, language. Poetry that is spoken and lived, but has found its home on the page. Poetry that does not see itself above others, but that lives with and among others. C.D. Wright: “Art is not apart, but a part of.”