Our Submissions Policy

Earlier this year we temporarily closed the Press to submissions in order to give ourselves some breathing space given the volume of submissions we were receiving. Most poetry publishers, large and small, tend to have similar policies but we imposed ours with reluctance because we felt that a publisher whose front door is closed to unsolicited submissions is in danger of simply letting its friends in through the unlocked door at the rear of the premises. Some of our best pamphlets over the past decade have come unexpectedly to us in the post from people we didn’t previously know though equally many have been commissioned.  That is likely to remain our policy for the future.

That's the good news. Now for the bad. Given our very small output (four or five pamphlets a year at most) NO! is likely to remain our most used word when faced with new submissions. It is great fun running a small poetry press but the the bit we never like is having to say no, and we have to do so frequently.

If that hasn’t put you off, read our submissions policy which is on this site but reproduced below. Failure to follow these guidelines will automatically mean a rejection.

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CAN I BE PUBLISHED BY RACK PRESS?

• Rack Press publishes only four or five short poetry pamphlets a year which means that the scope for publishing unsolicited work is very limited and the overwhelming majority of unsolicited submissions are, regrettably, turned down.  
• This is no reflection on the quality of work submitted and no one submitting work should be discouraged.  Often we would love to publish your work but we simply don’t have the capacity.
• Rack Press resources are such that we cannot comment in detail on submissions. We regret that you will receive only a standard reply.
• The decision on what to publish is complex and isn’t necessarily a question of ranking submissions in order of assumed merit like a civil service examination list; a publisher will want to think about the nature of each submission, how it relates to others being planned for that year, and how it fits in with other ideas and commissioning plans we might have in order to maintain a rich and varied list.
• That’s another reason why a rejection doesn’t imply a negative judgement on the quality and distinction of your own work.
• If you would like to submit work please obtain a copy of one of the pamphlets and study it carefully so that what you are submitting suits the format and style of Rack Press. 
• Poets retain full copyright of their work and will naturally want to include the contents of pamphlets in future collections but if you are planning to publish a book-length collection containing the work, within 12 months of the publication date of your proposed pamphlet, we cannot make an offer to publish.
• Submit only enough poems for a pamphlet not a full-length book collection. 
• Rack Press pamphlets are normally 12 pages long which means 10 pages (A5) of poems 
• Individually tailored email submissions (but not blanket mailings which are automatically binned) are perfectly acceptable
• Postal submissions should enclose return postage or an email address at which you can be contacted
• Any submission that ignores these guidelines will be rejected.

The Poetry Book Fair 30 September

Chris Kinsey reading from her new pamphlet Muddy Fox
 in January

Welcome back after our much needed long break here at the Rack Press blog. We are looking forward to the Poetry Book Fair in London on Saturday 30 September where two of our poets from Wales will be reading during the day: Chris Kinsey and Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch. If you are in London on 30th September come and talk to us on our stall where there will be lots of bargains.

We will be announcing shortly our arrangements for the future for submissions to the Press.

Samantha Wynne Rhydderch, who will be reading from
Lime & Winter
seen here with fellow Rack Poets (L-R)
Deirdre Shanahan, Samantha, Hazel Frew, and
Martina Evans at an event at the London Irish Centre
celebrating our Irish, Scottish and Welsh poets