MSR PUBLISHING OPTIONS
BACK ALLEY / BOOKSTORE / CONTESTS / EDITOR'S COMMENTS / ESSAYS / EVENTS / FICTION / INTERVIEWS / GALLERY / POETRY / REVIEWS / SUBMISSIONS ***NEW MAILING ADDRESS***
Main Street Rag, PO BOX 690100, Charlotte, NC 28227-7001
704-573-2516, contact us
PURPOSE
As with most publishers, we are often approached by authors offering unsolicited manuscripts--especially now that many people know we have our own bindery operation. Our standard answer has been that we choose our manuscripts almost exclusively from our contests.The purpose of this page is to make it easier for authors to know whether we are a good fit for each other without wasting our time or theirs.
TYPES OF PUBLICATIONS
Most of our titles are either poetry or creative short fiction. These are not lucrative markets in the publishing world, but they are what we know best. Below is a section that details our policies and formats for Poetry publication and another section for Short Fiction.We are not limited to these historically poor selling types of literature and have published textbooks, essay collections and subcontracted to produce novels, anthologies and magazines for other publishers. Most of these projects have been financed by grants, by other publishers, or under our self-publishing label, Pure Heart Press. We can produce anything, but there are some things that we do not have the distribution or marketing staff to justify financing.
Pure Heart Press is our self-publishing imprint. As such, we will publish anything the author or editor is willing to finance.
Our Main Street Rag label is more restrictive. Chief among manuscripts we are not interested in publishing are children's books.We are best known for publishing poetry, but starting in 2007 we will publish our first novels. We do not consider unsolicited novels at this time; however, we are setting up a new program for unsolicited manuscripts of ALL kinds as outlined below:
***NEW POLICY***Since some writers prefer to NOT enter contests--the process we prefer to use for selection of manuscripts--but the process of evaluating manuscripts still involves time, we are providing an alternative to our contests.
Effective May 1, 2007, Main Street Rag will review and evaluate manuscripts for publication under the Main Street Rag label for a fee.
Fee schedule as follows:
Poetry Chapbooks (up to 36 pages of poetry, on an 8.5 X 11 sheet, 40 lines to a sheet): $20
Poetry Books (on an 8.5 X 11 sheet, 40 lines to a sheet): $35 for up to 70 pages, $1/page for every page thereafter.
Short Fiction Collections: $50 for up to 150 double-spaced 8.5 X 11 pages.
Novels: $50 for first 3 chapters or 10,000 words--whichever comes first.Authors must provide proper return postage if they want their manuscripts back. It is our intention to give feedback on each manuscript, but evaluation may be limited to a simple yes/no on whether we would be interested in publishing. Depending on time of year, this process could take up to 2 months for a response.
SHORT FICTION
Main Street Rag publishes an annual anthology and from that we will select authors to submit complete collections for publication consideration. Authors who have not been published in our magazine or in one of our anthologies are less likely to be considered for book publication and are considered unsolicited manuscripts. All unsolicited manuscripts are subject to a reading fee as outlined in the section directly above.Those are the only 2 ways that we will consider short fiction for book publication at this time.
POETRY
We produce some of the most high quality poetry books and chapbooks that are being produced anywhere in the U.S. for sale at some of the most reasonable prices anywhere. Sample and see for yourself from the MSR Bookstore.There are four ways to get a book of poetry published by Main Street Rag Publishing Company:
(1) Self-publish (using our Pure Heart Press imprint). Information is available on our bindery page.
(2) Enter one of our contests. (In addition to the winners, we published 5 poets who entered our 2002 Chapbook Contest, 7 from our 2003 Chapbook Contest and 15 from the 2004 Chapbook Contest. We also published 3 books as a result of entering the 2004 Poetry Book Award Contest and have 3 books scheduled for publication in 2005 as a result of entering the 2004 Short Fiction Contest.)
(3) Be invited to submit a manuscript for publication. (This option is restricted almost exclusively to those who have a long-term relationship with our literary magazine.)
(4) Be recommended for publication by someone who we have entrusted to look for manuscripts that are ready for publication. These folks are usually professional editors and/or instructors.
There are links for items 1 & 2 on the above list.
Obviously, item #3 is invitation only.
Item #4 is relatively new.Getting a recommendation is not an easy task. First and foremost, most of the people who we allow to recommend manuscripts to us would rather remain anonymous. They are writers, instructors, editors with their own work to do and because they are not directly on payroll, they would rather not be inundated with mail. What they have agreed to do for Main Street Rag is to keep an eye out among their students and/or clients for manuscripts that are ready for publication and fit our needs and criteria. It is possible that you could get recommended without even knowing it.
Instructors/editors like Maureen Ryan Griffin and Barbara Lawing don't mind if people know that they are affiliated with us and if you take a class with them or contact them regarding their editing services, you can discuss a recommendation with them directly. These people are professionals. They do this for a living. All they have to sell are their skills and their time, so be prepared to pay them for the time they spend reading and evaluating your manuscript. They have links and contact information on the Back Alley Page under Services as well.
Being recommended will get a manuscript in the door--possibly read--but all final decisions on the publication of all manuscripts that bear the Main Street Rag imprint will be made by M. Scott Douglass, Main Street Rag publisher.
These are the ways Main Street Rag Publishing Company selects manuscripts. We wish we could accommodate everyone, but we are a very small publishing company with limited resources. Because we are also a bindery and printhouse and contract for other publishers, much of our staff's time is dedicated to the process of book production. We don't have a lot of manpower to spare for manuscript selection, so we must limit how many manuscripts we consider, how and when they are selected. Respecting our guidelines will ensure an author the best opportunity for publication that we have to offer. We thank you for your cooperation.
Home BACK ALLEY / BOOKSTORE / CONTESTS / EDITOR'S COMMENTS / ESSAYS / EVENTS / FICTION / INTERVIEWS / GALLERY / POETRY / REVIEWS / SHELF SPACE / SUBMISSIONS Main Street Rag, PO BOX 690100, Charlotte, NC 28227-7001
704-573-2516, contact us