Submission Guidelines

Fiction & Nonfiction Submissions

We are pleased to receive query letters by USPS or via email from authors and literary agents for fiction and nonfiction manuscripts, including those for novels, novellas, short story collections, biography, essays, literary  criticism, literature in translation, memoir, and anthologies that would interest the general reader as well as those that would be assigned in secondary and university classrooms. We encourage submissions to our growing YA list  in nonfiction, fiction, and poetry.  We have a strong interest in contemporary issues in human rights, both domestic and international--the Middle East, women, LGBTQI, race, class, ethnicity, and religion. 

Most of all, we are looking for the fresh voice, a clear point of view, and the well-written work that will endure. We are pleased to publish debut books.

Queries should include a cover letter, author background and publication history, a detailed synopsis of the proposed work, and a sample chapter. Please indicate if the work is simultaneously submitted. If you would like your manuscript returned to you, please enclose a self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage; otherwise, we will recycle it.

Send queries and manuscripts to info@perseabooks.com or to the appropriate editor (Fiction or Nonfiction), Persea Books, 277 Broadway, Suite 708, New York, NY 10007.

Our aim is to respond to proposals within eight weeks and to requested manuscripts within ten weeks. While we appreciate the interest of all of the dedicated writers who propose and submit their work to us, our small staff can't always adhere to these time frames or provide as comprehensive a response to the works as we would like.

Poetry Submissions

We have a longstanding commitment to publishing extraordinary contemporary poetry and maintain an active poetry program. At this time, due to our committment to the poets we already publish, we are limited in our ability to add new collections. If you would like to query our poetry department, click here to send an email describing your current project and your publication history, and attaching a pdf or Word document with up to twelve sample pages of your poetry. If the timing is right and we are interested in seeing more work, we will contact you.

For those who qualify, entry in our annual contests, the Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize in Poetry and the Lexi Rudnitsky/Editor's Choice Award, is an alternative means of submitting your poetry to Persea.