Submissions

Submissions

Thank you for your interest in Nine Arches Press. 


GUIDELINES FOR FULL COLLECTION SUBMISSIONS


Before you consider sending us your poetry collection manuscripts, we strongly advise you take note of the following three steps, and read the guidelines that follow below.



1. Familiarise yourself - we recommend you order a copy of our flagship magazine, Under the Radar or our recent poetry collections to give you a flavour of some of the poetry we have published recently. The magazine and poetry collections are good barometers of our tastes as publishers, and the kind of work we're likely to consider (we're not asking that you fit into a pigeon-hole as a poet, but rather that you feel confident that we're on a not-too-distant wavelength).


As an independent publisher, we do also rely on loyal readers who buy our books and help us to keep going - every bit of support counts and helps us to keep publishing new and exciting poetry. Please do consider buying our books or ordering a copy of the magazine from our online shop before you submit and make sure you're familiar with the kind of poetry we publish. Please also read the guidelines below to make sure your work is at the stage where it is ready to be sent out to a publisher.



2. Submit to the Magazine - If you like what you see, please take the next step send us a short selection of poems for our magazine to consider. Under the Radar magazine is the hothouse of our press, where interesting and emerging poets surface, and both ourselves and our readers  make new discoveries. We accept submissions to Under the Radar from anywhere in the world. Submission to the magazine first isn't compulsory, but we do advise this step where possible. Please read the full submission guidelines for the magazine here.

 


3. Submit your work - if you've followed the other two steps, and have a collection of poems ready, please do consider submitting a sample of poems during one of our regular open submission windows. Whilst publication in the magazine does not guarantee we'll publish your collection, it certainly doesn't exclude it either. Make sure you read the guidelines that follow below before submitting, and please do contact us via email if you have any questions or queries about submissions.


Looking to submit poetry or short fiction to our magazine?


Please click here for all the information on how to send us your magazine submissions.


The link to submit to the magazine is at the bottom of the page. 

Subscribe to Under the Radar here

• Order online for single copies and subscriptions

• Includes UK and international delivery

Submission Guidelines for Poetry Collections

 


Submissions will be open:


  • 1st - 31st October 2024
  • 1st - 31st October 2025
  • Please read these submission guidelines carefully. We cannot consider submissions that ignore these guidelines



  • We actively encourage and welcome diverse submissions, and would love to see more poetry submitted to us by poets who are Black, Asian, mixed race or from other underrepresented ethnic backgrounds, identify as LGBTQI+, who are neurodiverse, D/deaf, disabled, working class or on a low income. 


  • Please note that we are not currently accepting submissions for: poetry pamphlets, children's poetry, collaborations or manuscripts by more than one author, or illustrated books.


  • We are currently accepting submissions for both debut collections from new or emerging poets and submissions from established poets with previous collections published. We welcome poets of all ages. 


  • Please submit by using our Submittable submissions portal only. We do not accept email or postal submissions. If you cannot access Submittable, please contact us to arrange an alternative way to send us your poems. We do not charge for submissions. 


  • Please send us a sample of twenty poems from your full collection manuscript, in one single document. Please also include a short biographical note, which should include information of any previous or forthcoming publication (in magazines, journals, pamphlets, collections, online etc.).


  • Please only submit previously unpublished work. By this, we mean that the complete collection of poems you are sending us should not have already been published either in physical form or online together as one complete collection, book or pamphlet. Publication of individual poems in various or selected magazines, journals, or e-magazines is fine, and a inclusion of a selection from a pamphlet is also acceptable. Please contact us if you're unsure.


  • We will only seriously consider publishing poets who have a track record of publication or audience for their poems in the United Kingdom in some form. By this, we mean that you have had a record of previous publication of your poems in some of the following: poems in magazines or journals, featured, listed or winning as part of prizes or competitions, published in anthologies, in pamphlets or in previous full collections (but not in self-published volumes) or commissioned for performance, video or audio. If you have no track record of previous publication in any of the forms listed above, please consider this point carefully before sending us your work, as it is highly unlikely we would accept a collection where the poet has no track record of previous publication of poems elsewhere. If in doubt, please send us an email to clarify.


  • Please do not make simultaneous or multiple submissions, either by sending us a manuscript you have also simultaneously submitted to other publishers, or by sending further additional manuscripts for us to consider before we have responded to your first submission. We cannot consider submissions which ignore this request.


  • We do have a very high volume of work to consider, so please allow at least twelve weeks from the close of each submission window for a reply with regard to your manuscript.


  • Please note that Nine Arches Press is committed to creating a welcoming, respectful, inclusive space for all poets, readers and audiences. We are opposed to discrimination of all forms, including racism, transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, ableism, or any other form of prejudice.



Any questions? Please contact our Editor Jane Commane via email here. Please do not send submissions to this email. 



Thank you for reading these guidelines, and all the very best of luck with your submission.

We look forward to reading your work.



READY TO MAKE A SUBMISSION?



If you are ready to send us your poetry collection submission, please click the Submittable button here. Please note that this will only be open to submissions on

the dates advised above.


We look forward to reading your poetry submission. Good luck!

submit