Open Again to Submissions...But

Rack Press 2005-2018

We are now open again to submissions BUT PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS VERY CAREFULLY as failure to follow them will result in your submission being rejected automatically.

For most of our fourteen year life we have been open to submissions and some of our best ‘discoveries’ have come unsolicited from poets we didn’t know. But from time to time the sheer pressure of submissions has meant we have had to close to give ourselves a breathing space. This is not a submission window but an open-ended period and we can’t guarantee that we will not close our doors again for periods in the future.

HOW TO SUBMIT WORK TO RACK PRESS 

• It is important that anyone thinking of submitting a pamphlet collection follows the guidelines below. 
• Any submission which ignores the following guidelines will be deleted automatically.
• 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. You can buy pamphlets from our website (www.rackpress.blogspot.com). We urge you to do so.
• Rack pamphlets consist of 12 (A5) pages which means 10 pages of poems. Any submission that exceeds this length will be rejected automatically.
• Submit by email only to rackpress@nicholasmurray.co.uk with the text as a PDF attachment and a short covering note if you like. Blanket submissions will be deleted automatically.
• Rack Press has always tried to publish a range of different styles and voices so there is no such thing as ‘a Rack poem’ but we do want to see intelligent, well-crafted, articulate poems that have the vital spark that will give pleasure to our readers.
• Rack has no funding or grants or paid staff so we very much regret that we cannot provide any feedback on submissions or enter into discussion about your work prior to acceptance. You will receive just a simple yes or no within five weeks of submitting. 
• Because we publish only three or four pamphlets a year the harsh reality is that, given the volume of submissions we receive, the overwhelming majority of submissions will be rejected. Don’t be discouraged by this. We are well aware that necessity forces us often to turn down excellent work.
• 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. Another reason why you shouldn’t take rejection to heart.
• Thank you for your interest in Rack Press.

The Poetry Bookshop 100 years ago advising
poets on how to submit