#Microcosm publishing submissions series#

Not having to read through new submissions every week also allows me to go out and speak to writers and publishing professionals at colleges, universities, book festivals, and conferences. And with this narrowed-down pipeline system, when we get manuscripts that are in our wheelhouse, but they aren’t quite right for us, we often have the ability to give individual feedback. This transparency and the national recognition we’ve been getting has helped us maximize the number of manuscripts we get that actually match our taste. We ask for query letters and fifty pages, and we try to be as clear as we can about what we’re particularly seeking and what we don’t like. Our editorial committee convenes when we’re open for submissions-generally once a year for a condensed period of time of four to six weeks. How do you select which manuscripts you publish? We organize a book tour, build on the author’s existing community contacts, and seek new opportunities. We combine the edited manuscript, the new cover, and marketing data into ARCs that we send out to our PGW sales team, reviewers, the media, booksellers, and librarians.īetween the ARC and the final copy, we work on sales and marketing opportunities, including helping our authors drill down into their goals for the book and how we can achieve them. Then we go through the copy-editing phase while our amazing designer Gigi Little creates the perfect cover to help the book reach its target market. It also confirms to the author and those we ask for endorsements that we are investing time and money in promotion. When we complete that process, we make a limited number of coverless galleys to send out for reviews this strategy helps us earn endorsements from big-name authors who might not agree to review a PDF. With each manuscript, we begin with a rigorous developmental editing cycle, which sometimes takes a pass or two, and other times takes a year or two.

Many of our authors are debut novelists, so we build extra time into the pre-publication process to make sure we can help them transition successfully from working on a book to holding the mic-sharing their work with the public. We’re very hands on, starting with offering our authors a packet about how our business model works and what to expect during the contract phase. And we might be able, together, to change how the world works by making space for underrepresented voices and stories that affirm the importance of being present for each other. If we get together and make space for each other, whether that’s inside a library or bookstore, or through opening the cover of a novel and engaging with the characters, we won’t feel so alone. We need each other, not just as book buyers or even book readers, but as human beings with stories to share. Our core goal remains the same as in our earliest days: to bring authors and readers together in independent bookstores as a way of building in-person relationships, deep discussions, and a healthier literary ecosystem. Two years later, I signed with a national distributor-Publishers Group West-and opened for national submissions for the first time, broadening our mission and our visibility, which in turn has exponentially grown our readership. Local publishers agreeably answered my industry questions, giving me the courage to move forward with the business. My background in journalism, public relations, and freelance manuscript editing gave me the basic skills to put together a small press. Not necessarily in terms of quantity, but in terms of investing time and love and money in each book. I started Forest Avenue in 2012, inspired by connecting with many local authors who had urgent, essential stories to tell-and recognizing that creating one more home for fiction could actually make a difference. We are fans of The Masters Review as well! Can you tell us a little about the genesis of Forest Avenue Press, its mission, and what makes it unique?

We are longtime fans of Forest Avenue Press–a fellow Portland publisher!–here at The Masters Review. We get to know them, their tastes, and be sure that they get very early copies of the books, since they are literature’s greatest advocates. We put a lot of emphasis on strong relationships with indie booksellers.

Thank you to publisher Laura Stanfill for taking the time to correspond with us.

#Microcosm publishing submissions series#

Today, our Indie Press Corner series continues with an interview with publishing powerhouse Forest Avenue Press.