Simultaneous submissions are allowed. Please notify us if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

Individual poems may be previously published.

You may submit more than one manuscript for consideration. Please submit additional manuscript(s) in a separate email.

In the body of email, please include a short bio, chapbook title, page length, author’s name, address, email, and acknowledgements of previous published poems, if any.

Attach your manuscript as a Word document or PDF and email to: editor@sutrapress.com

Your name should not appear anywhere in or on the manuscript file.

Email subject line should include your last name, chapbook title, and the year, 2019.

Eligibility

While we heartily encourage emerging writers to submit, writers who have previously published books or chapbooks are also eligible to submit. We also encourage underrepresented writers and compassionate bleeding hearts to submit. 

What can I submit?

You may submit work not previously published in chapbook form. Please send us a complete manuscript that is a gestalt, a whole expression, a holophote.

Ethical Principles

Sutra Press endorses and abides by the Ethical Guidelines of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP):

CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to:

1. Conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors;
2. To provide clear and specific contest guidelines — defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and
3. To make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public.

This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contest contributes to a vibrant literary heritage.

Do you accept simultaneous submissions?

We accept simultaneous submissions. We also work diligently to respond to writers about the status of their submissions as soon as possible. 

If my manuscript is chosen, what kind of rights will be involved?

While your work is automatically copyrighted once you set it on paper, we are seeking the right to publish your work for the first time (First North American Serial Rights).

Once writers have given us the right to publish their work for the first time, then writers may seek to publish their aforementioned work anywhere that does not require First Serial Rights.

This means that after Sutra Press publishes your work, the rights revert back to you, meaning that you can then sell Reprint Rights, Anthology Rights, etc.

How many books do you publish each year?

Given the size of our operation, the number of books published each year will vary.

Do you edit accepted submissions?

Yes. We will strive to be the Maxwell Perkins to your Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Wolfe.

We will work with each author to edit and revise every single piece, brushing through the lines with a fine-toothed comb. Writers will receive a proof of each piece that is set for publication. We will talk through changes until both of us are satisfied.  

What’s the process post-acceptance?

We will work on editing, publishing, and marketing free of cost. If your contract is signed and your manuscript accepted, then your book is going to be published. Please tell your friends, family, and the world!

While you wait for your manuscript to be accepted, think about what else you want to add to your book: an introduction, dedication, blurbs/advanced praise (by professors, editors, authors), sections/chapters, biography, author photo, other works available. There’s plenty of time to collect your material.

Do you read every single submission?

Every single one.