Submission Guidelines

The Small Press Exchange is a literary website that explores the boundaries of poetry, literature, creative/literary nonfiction, criticism, et al. We welcome book reviews, personal essays—including nature, environmental, and travel essays—memoirs, personal critical essays, and literary journalism.

We also publish interviews and full-length and capsule ("Reader-to-Reader") reviews of current books. Moreover, we encourage suggestions for topical genre issues that we can consider for our roundtable forum, and we invite readers to respond to the journal's content in our "User Opinions" section.

We try to respond to book review & interview submissions within two weeks and to queries within one week. News items are vetted almost immediately.

News

• Features are longer, in-depth factually-supported articles about issues surrounding poetry, literature, creative/literary nonfiction, and criticism. (500–1000 words). Registered users may so submit online, please use our form here. The editor may be contacted here.
• News articles describe recent  poetry, literature, creative/literary nonfiction, criticism news, generally with, but not restricted to, a small press focus. (250–500 words). Registered users may so submit online, please use our form here. The editor may be contacted here.
• Newsflashes are short  headlines that link to articles, very often published on other websites, with some short commentary from the submitter. (30–250 words). Registered users may so submit online, please use our form here. The editor may be contacted here.

Commentaries are written opinions of various issues related to poetry, literature, creative/literary nonfiction, criticism. (250-1000 words). Registered users may so submit online, please use our form here. The editor may be contacted here. Be sure to also include the following:

1. Short bio (2–3 lines) about yourself for the contributor’s page of the Small Press Exchange.

Book Reviews

The rough length for a Small Press Exchange review is 500-700 words, but we realize that different books require different lengths of reviews. The wordcount is a guideline only; as an electronic forum, the Small Press Exchange is not constrained by the need to fill up a certain amount of page space the way a print magazine or newspaper is. If you are reviewing two books within the same review, the overall word count per book might be less than average (though the overall length of the review could be about the same). Registered users may submit Reader-to-Reader capsule book reviews online, please use our review submission form here. The editor may be contacted here.

Be sure to also include the following:

1. The exact title, author, publisher, page numbers, cost, publication date, and if the book is in paperback. Use format as it appears in other issues.
2. Short bio (2–3 lines) about yourself for the contributor’s page of the Small Press Exchange.

Reader-to-Reader Capsule Book Reviews

This column is devoted to keeping good books in print by using the most reliable of methods: having enthusiastic readers recommend their favorite books to other enthusiastic readers. Most of us jot down the names of books that friends recommend over lunch, in the gym, at a party—and if we like what we read, we jot down more names. This column works the same way with some adjustments for the printed page.

If you’d like to contribute to the Reader-to-Reader column, here’s what to do:

Choose 1–3 of your favorite nonfiction books, preferably clustered around a topic, theme, or some connection that you find relevant.

Write an intro that sets up the books to follow. Take a look at Reader-to-Reader columns to see the various ways that writers do this.

Write capsule reviews—not more than 250 words. Some things to include: a quick summary, a few signature lines to give the flavor of the book, and what struck you about the book that made you like it. You might also include who else might like it and what other books it is like or not like.

Most people choose an informal tone, conversational—as if you are talking to a friend. We look forward to your recommendations and invite you to explore excerpted capsule reviews on our site. Registered users may submit Reader-to-Reader capsule book reviews online, please use our review submission form here. The editor may be contacted here.

Be sure to also include the following:

1. The exact title, author, publisher, page numbers, cost, publication date, and if the book is in paperback. Use format as it appears in other issues.
2. Short bio (2–3 lines) about yourself for the contributor’s page of the Small Press Exchange.

Interviews

Small Press Exchange publishes interviews in which interviewers encourage working writers to reflect on issues of craft and genre. The interviews are centered on the interviewee’s work in their respective genre and relationship to the field: development and background, composing strategies and work habits, aims and objectives, teaching methods, thoughts on their respective genre and reflections on distinctions among literary genres. The interview should give the reader some insight into the individual writer’s published works and works-in-progress, some understanding of that writer’s creative methods, and some perspective on the genre in general as well as on the subgenre(s) in which the writer works. Potential interviewers should read several previously published interviews ion the Small Press Exchange and contact the Interviews Editor to propose the interview, providing a brief introduction to the prospective interviewee and an explanation of that writer’s appropriateness as a subject for an interview on nonfiction.  Query before initiating the interview process here.

User Reviews

Small Press Exchange wants your comments to be heard!
The recommended User Review length is 75–300 words.

What to include:

Your review should focus on the book's content and context. The best reviews include not only whether you liked or disliked a book, but also why. Feel free to mention related items and how this book rates in comparison to them.

What not to include:

The Small Press Exchange is proud to provide this forum for you to air your opinions on the items we feature. While we appreciate your time and comments, we respectfully request that you refrain from including the following in your review:

1. Time-sensitive material (i.e., promotional tours, seminars, lectures, etc.).
2. Commenting on other reviews visible on the page. Other reviews and their position on the page are subject to change without notice.
3. Profanity, obscenities, or spiteful remarks.
   Single-word reviews. We want to know why you liked or disliked the item.
4. Phone numbers, mail addresses, URLs.
5. Availability, price, or alternative ordering/shipping information.
   Solicitations for helpful votes.
6. A review is not an appropriate place to tell us our catalog has typos in it. If you'd like to tell us about a specific problem, please contact us.

Any review in violation of these guidelines will not be posted. In order to post User Reviews, find a currently existing review and add you opinion! If you have any questions the reviews editor may be contacted here.