Graywolf Press Submission Guidelines

Graywolf Press is a literary press that publishes about twenty-seven books annually, mostly collections of poetry, memoir, essays, novels, and short stories. Our editors are looking for high quality literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that combines a distinct voice with a distinct vision.

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 We do not publish children’s or young adult literature, plays, self-help books, or how-to guides. We also do not publish any genre fiction, such as romance, science fiction, thrillers, detective fiction, horror stories, westerns, historical fiction, etc.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 (postmark date). 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 September 2010.

Electronic Submission Procedure: We accept electronic submissions through our online submission manager. We strongly encourage using this option to submit. 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 manuscripts should be submitted in a 12 point font, and all prose manuscripts should be double-spaced.

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.

Regular Mail Submission Procedure: We also accept submissions via regular mail, though eventually we may move entirely to online submissions. Our policies here haven’t changed: send one hard copy of your finished, book-length manuscript, along with a cover letter containing contact information, relevant biographical information, a brief description of the manuscript, and relevant previous publication history. Manuscripts should be printed on one side of the paper only, and prose manuscripts should be double-spaced. We do not consider unsolicited query letters, and would prefer to receive your manuscript instead.

Response Procedure: Electronic submissions will be responded to through 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.

For submissions sent via regular mail, include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) for our reply. If you would like your manuscript returned, please note this on your cover letter and include a stamped mailer. We will make every effort to get your manuscript back safely, but things do happen: do not send us your only copy. If you do not provide a way to return the manuscript, it will be recycled.

Send paper submissions to Graywolf Press, 250 Third Avenue North, Suite 600, Minneapolis, MN 55401.

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.

Bakeless Prizes: Graywolf Press publishes the winners of the Bakeless Literary Prizes, an annual first book contest for writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The Bakeless Prizes are administered by the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference of Middlebury College. If you choose to submit to the Bakeless Prizes, please do not submit your work directly to Graywolf until Bakeless decisions are final (and vice versa). More information is available at the Bread Loaf website.

Cave Canem Poetry Prize: Graywolf Press is one of the publishers of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, a first book award dedicated to the discovery of exceptional manuscripts by African American poets. Graywolf publishes every third winner of the Prize, and will be publishing the winner of the 2009 Prize, which was judged by Yusef Komunyakaa. If you choose to submit your work to the Cave Canem Prize, please do not submit your work directly to Graywolf until Cave Canem decisions are final (and vice versa). More information is available at the Cave Canem website.

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.