42 Miles Press

Manuscript submissions

42 Miles Press accepts submissions through periodic open reading periods, typically announced on its website and social media. Prospective authors should send a complete manuscript of poetry (48–80 pages) or a novel/short story collection, along with a brief cover letter and bio. The press values work that demonstrates a strong sense of voice, structural awareness, and emotional resonance. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify immediately if the manuscript is placed elsewhere. Response times can be lengthy due to the small staff; patience is appreciated. Do not query about the status of a submission before the stated reading period ends. Unsolicited proposals for anthologies or critical works are generally not considered.

The 42 Miles Press Poetry Award was created in an effort to bring urgent and original voices to the poetry reading public. The prize is offered annually to any poet writing in English, including poets who have never published a full-length book as well as poets who have published several. New and selected collections of poems are also welcome. Manuscripts submitted for the 42 Miles Press Poetry Award should exhibit an awareness of the contemporary “voice” in American poetry, an awareness of our moment in time as poets. We are excited to receive poetry that is experimental as well as work of a more formalist bent, as long as it reflects a complexity and sophistication of thought and language. Urgency, yes; melodrama, not so much. Our tastes are truly eclectic.