Poetry: Each year, Graywolf publishes around nine collections of poetry, one or two collections of poetry in translation, and one or two collections of essays on poetry. Our list focuses on contemporary poets, contemporary translators, and contemporary perspectives on craft. We very rarely publish poetry anthologies.
Prose: Each year, Graywolf publishes around nine works of fiction, including novels, short stories, and literature in translation. We also publish around nine works of creative nonfiction, including lyric essays, memoir, literary criticism, and so on. Within all genres, we look for innovative manuscripts that in some way take on the social and cultural challenges of contemporary life; our list focuses on contemporary authors and translators. We do not publish children’s or young adult literature, plays, self-help books, or how-to guides. We also do not publish any genre fiction, such as romance, science fiction, thrillers, detective fiction, horror stories, westerns, historical fiction, etc. We very rarely publish anthologies.
Reading Period: We accept submissions in the months of January, May, and September. Submissions received outside of these months will not be considered. If a stamped mailer is enclosed, your submission will be returned; if not, it will be recycled. PLEASE NOTE: Our next open submission period will be in January 2011.
Electronic Submission Procedure: We accept electronic submissions through our online submission manager. Online submissions allow us to spend more time reading and less time logging, filing, and handling paper submissions. Electronic submissions are also author-friendly, since they don’t require the printing and mailing costs typically incurred when submitting via regular mail.
When submitting, please upload your finished, book-length manuscript as a Word document (either .doc or .docx), and include a cover letter as the first page of your file. Please make sure it contains contact information, relevant biographical information, a brief description of the manuscript, and relevant previous publication history. All prose manuscripts should be double-spaced, and all poetry manuscripts should be single-spaced. All manuscripts, regardless of genre, should be submitted in a 12 point font.
Please do not submit query letters, sample chapters, or proposals to the submission manager. We are interested in seeing your completed manuscript, not a query. Also note that we do not publish stand-alone poems or stories.
Submit to Graywolf using our online submission manager. During submission months, additional instructions on how to sign up for an account and submit are available on the login page.
Response Procedure: We will respond to submissions via email. You will receive a notification email confirming receipt of your submission, and when a decision is made, you will be notified by email as well. You may check the status of your manuscript at any time by logging in.
Response Time: We have a small editorial staff, and we respond to submissions within three to six months. Because of the volume of submissions, we simply cannot take phone calls or respond to emails inquiring about the status of manuscripts. If you haven’t heard from us in six months, please send a letter.
Final Thoughts: Graywolf Press is happy to accept unsolicited manuscripts from authors of all backgrounds (previously published or not). In return, we ask that you take the time to familiarize yourself with our list in order to determine whether or not Graywolf is a good fit for your manuscript. Many of the unsolicited manuscripts we receive are inappropriate for our press. You can ensure that your manuscript will be fully read and considered by taking a little time before submission to make sure it is appropriate for us.
For questions about submissions, please email us at this address. Please do not submit queries, sample chapters, or proposals to this email address.
More information here.
This blog is no longer updated. Please instead visit Writers For Diversity for new opportunities for women/ LGBT writers and writers of color. Thank you.
