Editor Interview: Terrapin Books

We publish poetry books.

We like books from Tupelo Press and other small presses.

We carefully edit accepted manuscripts and work closely with our authors. We publish in a timely manner and do not keep our authors waiting for years to see their book in print. We work with a short list in order to operate efficiently.

Read and follow the guidelines carefully. Whether you follow or not is the first impression you make on the publisher.

Follows the guidelines, manuscript is neatly and professionally prepared, poet has a respectable publication history with an emphasis on quality rather than quantity. The poet demonstrates familiarity with our press.

Failure to follow the guidelines carefully. Also some of our past submitters have had an unrealistic expectation of the kind of feedback they should receive.

We want the information we have asked for, not more than that. We do care about previous publication credits as that gives us an idea of the person's commitment to his or her work and suggests a potential market for the book.

We carefully go through each manuscript's first section. The ones that shine get marked "Maybe." Those marked "Maybe" we read in their entirety. From that group the ones that beam we mark "Yes." We read those we marked "Yes" again and select 4-6 for publication.

Life as a publisher is far busier than I had expected, but it's also very exciting. It is a great pleasure to bring poetry books into the world. I work at the computer for several hours a day. When I'm formatting a book, I put in hours each day until it's done. In between the publication work, I go to the grocery store, read for my own pleasure, take walks. My office space is cluttered with books.