Swan Scythe Press, edited by James DenBoer, announces the submission requirements for its 2012 Chapbook Contest. Any poet writing in English is eligible to submit. We are accepting manuscripts between January 15, 2012 and June 1st, 2012.
Contest winners will published in a 6 x 9" format, with full color cover. The contest winner will receive 25 copies of her/his book, and the opportunity to buy copies of the book at 50% of retail price. Previous winners have then sold copies of their books at prices that assure profits for themselves, at readings and other public appearances. Swan Scythe Press will also provide free copies to book reviewers.
The winner of the 2011 Swan Scythe Press Chapbook Contest was Michael Hettich, of Miami, FL, for his manuscript The Measured Breathing.
CONTEST RULES: We require submissions in the following format:
*Title page with author’s name, address, phone number, and email address
*Another title page without any identifying information; book title only
*Table of contents
*Acknowledgments page (optional)
*20 to 32 pages of poems
*All pages must be numbered
*Submit ms. bound only by a binder clip. *Manuscripts must be postmarked prior to, or on, June 1, 2012.
*DO NOT SEND A COVER LETTER OR BIO!
*DO NOT SEND MS. ON COLORED PAPER!
*DO NOT INCLUDE COVER ART OR ART WORK OF ANY KIND!
Please include with your manuscript:
*Reading fee check for $16 made out to James DenBoer or to Swan Scythe Press
*Stamped SASE for announcement of winner
*No SASE for mss., which will be recycled.
Send your manuscript to: James DenBoer, Editor, Swan Scythe Press 515 P Street, #804, Sacramento CA 95814. Email: jimzbookz@yahoo.com if you have further questions.
Failure to follow format rules as recommended, or postmark deadlines, will remove the manuscript from judging. We do not accept submissions online. Simultaneous submissions are permitted as long as you inform us if your manuscript wins another prize or is accepted for publication elsewhere.
Swan Scythe Press began publishing in 2000, and over the last decade has published 32 chapbooks. Its authors have won many national and local grants, awards and fellowships, and have distinguished themselves as artists and educators throughout the U.S. and in foreign countries. Now launching its second decade under the direction of James DenBoer, Swan Scythe Press is committed to discovering and publishing the best new poets in America today, and to featuring poets of diverse ethnicities/races, ages, sexual preferences, and genders -- though our emphasis is on the quality of the writing, not on any particular demographic.