Editor Interview: Fernwood Press

poetry, human experience

Fireweed, 45th Parallel, Anhinga Press, BLF, Copper Canyon

Annie Lighthart, Naomi Shihab Nye, Claudia Rankine, Chen Chen, Sara Ahmed, Kao Kalia Yang

Our Quaker sensibility lends itself to collective spiritual experience, hope-motivated right action, and truth telling. We are a small but mighty press bringing poems to people who don't think they're smart enough, educated enough, or sophisticated enough to appreciate verse. We work to make beautiful books for collections that make a difference in the world.

Don't apologize for your work, and don't be afraid to follow up from time to time. The work of making a book is a very different process from the creation of the work, so we're not always communicating on the same frequency or wavelength. Ask questions. Tell us what you hope for, what you envision, and what you want. Writers who follow up and follow through help us to help them bring their book into the world.

The ideal submission is an email with an already-formatted .doc or .docx file with 50 or more poems, contact information (phone number, mailing address), a short description of the collection, and an author bio including previous publications (if any).

Some submitters include only a poem or two instead of sharing the full manuscript. Some submitters send a physical manuscript instead of a digital submission.

We do not need a cover letter or a full curriculum vitae. Instead, a brief author bio with publication credits is all we're looking for. Previous publication credits help us get a sense of where your work fits and need not be exhaustive. Because we work with many previously unpublished writers, having publication credits helps but is not required.

We generally read at least a quarter of each collection we receive, although some collections show that they are clearly not a good fit in the first one or two pieces.

We run each submission through a light sensitivity screen and look for any indication that the author is not open to changes/alterations/edits, something we consider a sign of someone we might not be able to work with.

No matter when submissions are received, I generally set aside time in the last week of the month to read, and I get through four or five manuscripts in a single day of reading. In a given month, I may only have two or three days for reading and responding to submissions, so there are frequently submitted manuscripts that I don't get to right away.

Each manuscript goes through a light copyedit for consistency. We want the collection to look and feel like all the pieces were intended to be together. Each manuscript goes through a second reading with a sensitivity reader (a generalist) who flags any language that could embarrass the writer or the press. Each manuscript goes through a final reading, the stage at which the author will be consulted, to resolve any flags and to check the text for fluidity, consistency, and strength. The author receives a proof with this final form of the manuscript and can request changes, clarifications, revisions, insertions, deletions, etc. If changes are authorized by both the author and executive editor, they are incorporated, and a second proof is sent to the writer for final approval.

We nominate work for nearly a dozen regional, state, and national awards, and each year, we're adding to our list of contests and prizes for which we make submissions.

We receive support from nearly two hundred individual donors, a third of which give monthly. We also receive support from half a dozen institutional donors.

We publish a poem-a-day newsletter and send out new titles to roughly two dozen reviewers. We have a small but growing list of brick-and-mortar bookstores who stock our titles.