Welcome!
This is the information side of our website. The format is meant to mirror the design of the MSR Online Bookstore.
Above you will find headers for the different categories. Some have drop downs that link to specific information about that subject.
For those looking for submission guidelines, everything we publish now has a separate page of streamlined guidelines. Writers are invited to explore the different categories for opportunities or sign up for notification of updates to the MSR Bulletin Board–which is one of the places where we list current needs and upcoming deadlines.
There is also a link to The MSR Online Bookstore where all Main Street Rag, Mint Hill Books, and Pure Heart Press titles are available along with those of associated publishers.
Operational Status Report (October 10, 2022)
Submissions:
Because most of our contributing editors have always operated remotely, all submissions for the magazine, for general manuscript consideration, and for contest entry will continue as usual. As always, poetry, fiction, non-fiction for the magazine are open year-round as are poetry book and chapbook submissions. Book manuscript submissions for Fiction/creative nonfiction, short stories, novels and novellas–as always–are only read seasonally and will open again on May 1, closing on June 15.
Book Production:
Book production is not currently experiencing delays, meaning 3-4 weeks production time for book titles and bulk orders from the time we send to press and the time we ship. Shipping time will vary.
Book Orders:
BOOKSTORE ORDERS: We do not take phone orders. All orders must be made in writing and email is the most efficient way. We offer three different levels of discount: single-copy order (25%), returnable (40%–minimum 3 copies), and NON-returnable (50%–mini9mum 10 copies). Store buyer should identify which terms they wish to use upon placing the order. If they have not ordered from us before, they may be asked for a PDF of their Certificate of Resale. All orders and queries go through editor@mainstreetrag.com
ADVANCE SALE ORDERS: These orders earn a discount; however, they do not ship until after the author has received his/her copies. Advance Sales all ship at the same time, but they may not arrive at the same time since the US Post Service sets its own priorities over which we have no control. We do our best to get these to their destination as efficiently and economically as possible.
If you placed an Advance Discount Order and did not receive it (while others have), be smart: DON’T contact the author. The author is not responsible for shipping your order and is unable to do anything other than pass your complaint on to MSR at which time the author will be informed that MSR–just like Amazon–does not respond to third party claims. Claims and queries must come from the buyer to Main Street Rag by email to editor@mainstreetrag.com. All claims must be made in writing (email). We do not handle them over the phone.
DAILY ORDERS: As for DAILY online orders, they generally ship the next business day, but there may be exceptions and we will do our best to notify the buyer when this is the case. Buyers of books already in print will receive a notification when a shipping label for the order has been made. This does not mean the book has already been shipped, just that we are in the process of packing. The notification will include a tracking number which buyers can click on to follow the progress. We don’t usually make labels more than 3 days prior to shipping, but the world does have weekends.
Miscellaneous:
Main Street Rag has started cutting back on the number of different titles we publish annually. To that end, we plan to minimize summer book releases (July 1 through September 1). Our annual production target moving forward will be under 60 titles and most of their release dates will fall between January 1 and July 1, September 1 through November 30. Again, there may be exceptions.
Summer Hours
June 1-September 1, Main Street Rag will be on Summer Hours. Here’s how it will affect operations:
1) No phone calls will be answered–not that we answer the phone anyway, but those who do need to call must leave a message and we will call back. If you do not leave a message, your phone number may be seen as SPAM by a very aggressive software we have on our phone and be blocked moving forward.
2) We will still check and answer email, but not as frequently. We appreciate your patience.
3) The Bookstore will be OPEN for Advance Sales, and books already in print which will ship normally, usually within 24 hours. If there is an issue that prevents timely shipping, the buyer will be informed.
Main Street Rag Publishing Company is an American independent press that values and respects individuals’ rights in regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious persuasion, and/or immigration status and while we believe in everyone’s First Amendment Right to freedom of speech, we also believe that we have the right to screen our site and our publications of language and material we find offensive. Specifically, we disavow racism, xenophobia, homophobia, sexism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, classism, ableism, and hate speech or actions that attempt to silence, threaten, and/or degrade others.