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. 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 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. Although our program is small, we are always on the lookout for a poet we simply must publish. Currently, our open submission period for poetry is the month of July: any submissions sent must have a July postmark. Manuscripts should be at least 48 pages and should be sent to Poetry Editor, Persea Books, PO Box 1388, Columbia, MO 65205. Please do not send submissions to Persea's New York City office. If you would like your manuscript returned to you, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope with sufficient postage; otherwise, we will recycle it. We aim to respond to submissions within three months.

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.