Terrapin Books: Upcoming Open Reading Period

Terrapin Books will open for submissions of full-length poetry manuscripts on January 24 and will remain open thru February 29, 2020. We look forward to reading many fine submissions.

Our Guidelines are as follows:

Submit a manuscript of approximately 40-55 poems for a book of approximately 90-110 pages (count includes poems, front and back matter, blank pages, and section pages).

Include contact information on title page (we do not read anonymous submissions). Use one inch margins all around.

Do not use all caps for poem titles.

Include Table of Contents.

Include page numbers.

Include Acknowledgments Page that lists journals and poem titles. Format as a list indicating which poems appeared in which journal. Do not format in paragraph form. Please note that we allow a maximum of 6 poems from a previously published chapbook(s). Regardless of the number of chapbooks, it’s no more than a total of 6 chapbook poems. Poems previously published in a chapbook should be indicated as such on the Acknowledgments page. Include title of poem and title of chapbook.

In cover letter area include a brief bio and a 4-6 sentence description of your manuscript—in your own words. Do not send a blurb.

We recommend that 25-50% of the poems have been previously published. More is fine.

Simultaneous submission is acceptable but please withdraw your manuscript immediately if it's accepted elsewhere.

We strongly suggest that you peruse at least one book from Terrapin Books before submitting. We suggest that you do this with any press before you submit.

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Terrapin Books is committed to publishing outstanding books of poetry by outstanding poets. We intend to fully support our poets. We will edit your manuscript and work with you on revisions. We expect our poets to actively engage in promoting their books. We require our poets to maintain a dedicated website and to be a member of Facebook.

Our books are 6 x 9, paperback, color cover, printed spine.

We are committed to publishing accepted titles within approximately six months of acceptance. We do not maintain a long list of books-in-waiting.

We offer a standard contract, a generous number of author copies, a substantial discount on additional copies purchased by author, and a royalty payment.

Please note that we are unable to accept submissions from outside the US.

All submissions must be made thru our Submittable page.

Our guidelines and link to Submittable may also be found on our website.

We are happy to respond to questions, but please read our FAQs before asking as your answer may be found there.

Terrapin Books Now Open for Submissions

I am happy to announce that my poetry press, Terrapin Books, is open for submissions of full-length poetry manuscripts. Our current submission period is August 1 - August 31, 2018.

Be sure to read our Guidelines before submitting. Please note that we request both a bio and a brief descriptive statement with your submission. Be sure to include both.

Most questions are answered in our FAQs, so be sure to read that page also.

Our Guidelines ask for a manuscript of approximately 40-55 poems for a book of approximately 90-110 pages. Page count includes poems, front and back matter, and section pages; it also includes all blank pages. Please note that your book will be longer than your manuscript. Manuscript length and book length are not the same thing. If you have 40-55 poems, go ahead and submit. Let us worry about book length.

Here's some general information about the press:

We publish only poetry books, primarily single-author collections but also an occasional craft book or anthology.

Terrapin Books is committed to publishing outstanding books of poetry by outstanding poets. We intend to fully support our poets. We will edit your manuscript and work with you on revisions. In order to give the kind of individual attention we want to give each author and book, we accept a limited number of manuscripts during each reading period.

We respond to submissions within one month of the close of the submission period. We are also committed to publishing accepted titles within six months of acceptance. We do not maintain a long list of books-in-waiting.

We promote our poets' books. We also expect our poets to actively engage in promoting their books. We require our poets to maintain a dedicated website and to be a member of Facebook.

Our books are 6 x 9, paperback, perfect bound, color cover, with printed spine (poet's name, title, press).

We offer a standard contract, a generous number of author copies, a substantial discount on additional copies purchased by the author, and an annual royalty payment.

We are the proud publisher of collections by Neil Carpathios, Lynne Knight, Christine Stewart-Nunez, Jessica de Koninck, Carolyn Miller, Patricia Clark, Susanna Lang, Hayden Saunier, Michelle Menting, Karen Paul Holmes, Geraldine Connolly, Michael T. Young, Lisa Bellamy, and Paige Riehl.

We welcome submissions from poets at any stage in their career. Some of our poets have a long publication history with multiple books. A few of our poets have two books out. And we are very proud to be the publisher of several debut collections.

We look forward to reading your work.

Terrapin Books: Upcoming Reading Period

Terrapin Books will re-open for submissions of full-length poetry manuscripts on July 25 and will remain open thru August 31. Now is the time to get your manuscript ready. Be sure to read our Guidelines and our FAQs. Also, please be sure to follow the Guidelines! We ask for a bio, so you really should send one. We ask for a 4-6 sentence description of your manuscript, so you really should send one; in fact, we take it as a sign of laziness if you don't or, worse, we begin to suspect that you don't know what your manuscript is about. We know that request is a difficult one, but we hope it will help you to organize and focus your manuscript.

The Guidelines ask for:
"A manuscript of approximately 40-55 poems for a book of approximately 90-110 pages (page count includes poems, front and back matter, and section dividers)"

This is the one item that brings the most questions. We've rewritten it in an attempt to clarify, but still get a number of concerned questions about it. Please remember that "poems" and "pages" are not the same thing. There will be pages in your book that don't have poems on them. Let's say that you have 45 poems divided into 5 sections. If each poem is just one page, you still will have at least 10 additional pages for the section dividers (both sides count). You will also have approximately 12 pages of front matter (e.g., copyright page, title pages, table of contents, dedication page, epigraph page). Then there will also be back matter (Acknowledgments page or pages, bio). Keep in mind that each blank page counts in the page count. Of course, if some of your poems are more than one page, that increases the total page count. Now if this explanation has merely confused you further, just keep in mind that if you have 40-55 poems, you're probably fine. Let us worry about the page count.

Terrapin Books has so far published 8 poetry collections by fabulous poets—and one more is moving towards publication. We have also published two craft books and one poetry anthology with another soon to appear. But our primary focus is on full-length poetry books. We select carefully, taking only a limited number of manuscripts during each reading period (4 during the first one, 2 during the second, and 3 during the last one). We carefully edit each manuscript and work closely with each poet to put out a wonderful book. Because we are selective and don't have a big backlog, we move along quite quickly. You won't have to wait around for 2-3 years for your book to see the light of day. We pledge to get our books out within a year of acceptance, but in actual practice, we've been getting them out within 6 months.

We pride ourselves on the quality of the poetry and the beauty of the books. Poets are invited to offer input on their covers and book design, though the final say belongs to the publisher. One poet's cover art was done by his wife. One cover is a painting done by the poet's husband. Another cover is a painting done by the poet. One is a photo taken by a friend of the poet. The most recent cover is a photo of the poet's coat with its pockets stuffed with greenery from the poet's yard.

We are thrilled that Terrapin Books, not even two years old yet, has received positive attention from such places as Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, The Missouri Review, and the Washington Independent Review of Books. And we congratulate Lynne Knight whose book, The Persistence of Longing, was a finalist for the Northern California Book Award in Poetry as one of the best works by a northern California poet published in 2016.

Terrapin looks forward to reading your manuscript.

Last Chance to Submit Your Poetry Manuscript

Our open reading period will close end of day on Tuesday, January 31, so if you're planning to submit, the time is now. There will be no deadline extension. We have some really fine manuscripts already, but would love to see your work, too. We plan to accept 2-4 manuscripts.

We charge a minimal reading fee of $12 to help defray costs. We carefully edit each accepted manuscript, work closely with each poet, and do not forget about you once your book is in print. We do a bit of advertising and make efforts to get a readership for your book. We pride ourselves on our responsiveness to questions and concerns.

We are also committed to getting books into print within a reasonable amount of time. We do not keep a backlog but accept only a limited number of manuscripts during each open reading period. We then put out those books before we again open for submissions. So far we've been able to get accepted manuscripts out within 6 months or less.

We provide each poet with 15 review copies, offer additional copies at a substantial discount, and pay a royalty fee each year.

We have thus far published books by Neil Carpathios, Lynne Knight, Jessica de Koninck, Christine Stewart-Nunez, Patricia Clark, and Carolyn Miller. Our titles have been receiving wonderful attention and praise from such places as Verse Daily, Poetry Daily, The Missouri Review, and the Washington Independent Review of Books.

Please carefully review and follow our Guidelines. And read our FAQs.

We look forward to reading your work.

Terrapin Books Now Open for Submissions

Terrapin Books is now reading full-length poetry manuscripts during its second Call for Submissions. Our doors opened for submissions on Monday, August 1, and will remain open thru Wednesday, August 31.

Please read and follow our Guidelines. Then make your submission via Submittable.

We anticipate accepting 2-4 manuscripts. We take pride in putting out beautiful books by wonderful poets. We are selective and devote time and careful attention to each book. We work closely with our authors. We do not maintain a long list of upcoming titles as one of our goals is to publish accepted titles in a timely manner.

We look forward to reading your work.

Take a look at the covers of our current titles:

New News and Old News and Uncovering the Cover

The first piece of news is that my long overdue poetry book, The Uneaten Carrots of Atonement, is almost here. I've said that several times before, but this time it really is almost here. I received a sample review copy, made a few corrections, and am now awaiting the revised review copy. So we're looking at just a few weeks now. I'm delighted to uncover the cover here! Once again, artist Brian Rumbolo has provided a gorgeous original painting for the cover. He's now done the covers for all four of my poetry books. I have to admit that I love this cover! So stayed tuned for more news on this publication.

Next item: Terrapin Books is fully launched. The poems for The Doll Collection have all been selected. I'm still stunned by the great response to the call for submissions. You can see the list of poets at The Doll Collection page at the website. The book is underway. Formatting is just about done. Credits done. Bios done. Fantastic introduction by poet Nicole Cooley done. Cover in the works but not done.

Next item: The Call for Submissions for Terrapin's first open reading of full-length poetry manuscripts opened on January 25 and will run until February 25. If you have a manuscript, please visit the Guidelines and consider submitting. The submissions thus far are very promising. I am very grateful that poets are entrusting me with their work. I signed onto Submittable, so will be accepting submissions only there. That's much more convenient than taking them by email—for me and for the poets.

Old news: Poetry editor Charlie Bondhus featured one of my poems at The Good Men Project. "The Gift" appeared on December 21 just in time for Christmas, though it's hardly a cheerful poem. (The sole comment, however, is from someone who seems to have found the poem amusing. Maybe I don't get my own poem.)

That's it for now.