Submission Guidelines

Fiction & Nonfiction Submissions:

We are pleased to receive query letters from authors and literary agents for fiction and nonfiction manuscripts, including those for novels, novellas, short story collections, biography, essays, literary anthologies, literary criticism, literature in translation, memoir, contemporary issues, travel writing, and works for a young adult readership. 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. 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. If you would like your manuscript returned to you, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope with sufficient postage; otherwise, we will recycle it.

Poetry Submissions:

We have a longstanding commitment to publishing extraordinary contemporary poetry and maintain an active poetry program. Although our program is small, we are always on the lookout for a poet we simply have to publish. In 2009, we are pleased to receive poetry manuscripts for editorial consideration postmarked between February 1st–March 31st and between July 1st–August 31st. Submissions should be sent to Gabriel Fried, Poetry Editor, Persea Books, PO Box 1388, Columbia, MO, 65201. Please do not submit poetry manuscripts to Persea's New York City office.

For those who qualify, entry in our annual contest for the Lexi Rudnitsky Poetry Prize is an alternative means of submitting your poetry to Persea.