To submit to Acre Books, use the contact form below. Please attach TEN PAGES only (they need not be the first ten pages) and tell us a bit about you and your book (include the title!). PLEASE SUBMIT ONLY ONE BOOK AT A TIME. If we wish to see the full manuscript, we will contact you requesting it. If you do not hear from us within three months, we have decided not to pursue your submission, but we are grateful to you for considering Acre as a home for your book. PLEASE NOTE that we do not consider chapbooks, novellas, or children’s books. Thank you for your interest in Acre!
Lisa Ampleman, Poetry Series Editor
When I read a book of poetry, I want to know early on what’s at stake for the speaker—or for the work itself, if there’s no central “I”—and to see a clear progression of that central concern as the reader moves through the poems. I want to know that something matters for the poet and the manuscript. I also will be looking for verse that sets my skin on fire; that’s a hard quality to define (I respond to traditional and experimental forms, as well as everything in between), but I recommend sending us polished work with rich diction that makes the subjects seem new and with enough variety in style that the poems don’t all sound the same. Though I will collaborate with writers on edits, possibly including order, I especially love finding books thoughtfully arranged by their authors, with sections that highlight the poems’ best features and lead to that sense of progression, whether through narrative, themes, or tone. I love a book that teaches you how to read it and fulfills the expectations it sets up in the first few pages—or unmistakably and purposefully challenges them.
Nicola Mason, Publisher
For fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid works, I’m open to anything in terms of subject and form and driving force (whether that force be character, plot, structure, humor, concept, or some combination of these). What I’m looking for in particular are books that exude energy and command—that persuade and even transport me with the world or worlds, the characters and consciousnesses, they present. I adore innovation and am usually more drawn to imperfect work that takes risks than I am to something accomplished that does no more than meet expectations; I enjoy playful modes but also appreciate tonally serious stuff. Craft is paramount to me. I’ll read anything that’s artfully written, no matter its so-called category. I should mention that I’m an active editor—line by line as well as in the developmental/structural sense. I love digging in, bouncing ideas back and forth, and thoroughly enjoy working with my authors. Thanks for considering Acre.