SUBMISSIONS

There are three ways to submit your manuscript to Kore Press.

 

1. First Book Competition: Poetry

For a poetry manuscript in English by a woman who has not yet published a full-length book. See full guidelines.

2. Chapbook Competition: Short Fiction

For a single short story. See full guidelines.

3. Open Submissions Period

The editors at Kore Press will accept submissions for full-length books during our open submission period each January. The open submissions period is not a contest; manuscripts are not reviewed anonymously. Please understand we are under no obligation to publish any manuscripts we receive during our open submissions period. We expect to publish three to four titles a year, including our poetry and short fiction contest winner.

Deadline

Manuscripts must be postmarked between January 1st and January 31st, 2008.

What we are looking for

We seek book-length manuscripts in poetry, memoir, short fiction and creative nonfiction, written by women,* that reflect the highest standards of literary quality. We are open to work that is genre-bending and/or experimental. In 2008 we will not be considering novel manuscripts. We do remain interested in short story collections.

Reading Fee

Kore Press is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. To offset the cost of staff time required to review and respond to manuscripts, we charge a reading fee of $30 for a poetry manuscript and $40 for a prose manuscript, payable to Kore Press. No editor receives extra compensation for reading manuscripts. You are welcome to submit as many manuscripts as you like, as long as you send a separate reading fee for each.

Editorial Review

Each submission will be read by our editors. Publisher, Lisa Bowden, or our Executive Director, Shannon Cain will respond personally with a letter offering a short critique. Simultaneous submissions are welcome. If you sent an entry to the poetry competition, it is fine to submit the same manuscript during the open submissions period; the review system and the reviewers are different for each process.

How to Submit

For poetry, send a manuscript of a minimum of 48 pages and a maximum of 80 pages. For a collection of short stories, send an excerpt: 2 or 3 stories, but no more than 50 pages. For a memoir or a work of creative nonfiction, send a one- or two-page synopsis plus the first 50 pages. If we're interested in reading more of your prose, we will ask you to send the rest.

What to include on your manuscript's title page:
• name
• address
• telephone number
• email address
• title of manuscript

• genre

Manuscripts must be:
• accompanied by a SASE for a response; the ms itself cannot be returned

• accompanied by the appropriate reading fee (Canadian residents add $3 for bank processing fee if submitting in Canadian dollars)

• typed on standard white paper

• doublespaced (prose only)
• paginated

• original poetry or prose written by the applicant (unless the work is a translation)

• unpublished at the time of submission (if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere during our deliberation process, please notify us immediately)

• accompanied by a page listing previously published stories or poems, if any.

 

Send submissions to:

Kore Press

Attn: Submissions
P.O. Box 42315
Tucson, AZ 85733-2315

 

Click here to read an interview with co-directors Lisa Bowden and

Shannon Cain, originally published in Poetry Contest Insider

 

* Why We Publish Women

For more information email kore@korepress.org
or call 520.629.9752

 

First Book Award

in Poetry

2007 Winner
Benjamin's Spectacles

Spring Ulmer
Judge: Sonia Sanchez

 

2006 Winner
Loveliest Grotesque

Sandra Lim
Judge: Marilyn Chin

2005 Winner
The Errant Thread
Elline Lipkin
Judge: Eavan Boland


2004 Winner

Various Modes of Departure
Deborah Fries
Judge: Carolyn Forche


2003 Winner

Rigging the Wind
Jennifer Barber
Judge: Jane Miller