Profile of Livingston Press
Livingston Press basics:
Livingston Press, of the University of West Alabama, was founded by Charles Henley in 1983 as a means of publishing regional authors. The nonprofit press publishes ten books a year, most of which are fiction or poetry (the average print run is 1500 copies). They continue to publish regional work, but also publish literature that is "offbeat" in voice or in form.
Fiction editor Joe Taylor completed this profile.
What they're looking for:
We look for voice first. A convincing voice. We’re open to styles and approaches after that.
Two authors/titles representative of Livingston Press's fiction list:
Scott Ely, Eating Mississippi; Melissa Fraterrigo, The Longest Pregnancy.
What they offer writers that commercial presses don't:
Publication? We have paid some royalties, not a lot.
Number one thing most likely to put them off a manuscript:
Lack of control in language or voice.
Number one thing most likely to put them off a cover letter:
Slick sales pitch.
Number one thing most likely to spark their interest:
Control of language and voice.
Address for submissions:
Our standing policy is to read over-the-transom, open submission, ONLY in June of every year. See our site for more information about this and about the Tartts fiction contest.
Fiction editors:
Joe Taylor, Tina Jones, and Debbie Davis.
Additional advice from their website:
When we are reading over the transom, we accept only fiction -- either story collections or novels.
Our emphasis is on offbeat literature. In a sense, all literature is offbeat -- as opposed to mainstream -- but we particularly look for unique style or form. We do also publish Southern literature. Roughly one-third of our authors live in the South. You may send about 30 pages of work to us, along with an SASE. Be aware that we pay only in contributor's copies (10% of 1500) for the first 1500 books. Thereafter, we offer a royalty contract. Our royalty is figured on net. We highly recommend multiple submissions of your work. Simply let us know if it is accepted elsewhere.
Livingston Press, of the University of West Alabama, was founded by Charles Henley in 1983 as a means of publishing regional authors. The nonprofit press publishes ten books a year, most of which are fiction or poetry (the average print run is 1500 copies). They continue to publish regional work, but also publish literature that is "offbeat" in voice or in form.
Fiction editor Joe Taylor completed this profile.
What they're looking for:
We look for voice first. A convincing voice. We’re open to styles and approaches after that.
Two authors/titles representative of Livingston Press's fiction list:
Scott Ely, Eating Mississippi; Melissa Fraterrigo, The Longest Pregnancy.
What they offer writers that commercial presses don't:
Publication? We have paid some royalties, not a lot.
Number one thing most likely to put them off a manuscript:
Lack of control in language or voice.
Number one thing most likely to put them off a cover letter:
Slick sales pitch.
Number one thing most likely to spark their interest:
Control of language and voice.
Address for submissions:
Our standing policy is to read over-the-transom, open submission, ONLY in June of every year. See our site for more information about this and about the Tartts fiction contest.
Fiction editors:
Joe Taylor, Tina Jones, and Debbie Davis.
Additional advice from their website:
When we are reading over the transom, we accept only fiction -- either story collections or novels.
Our emphasis is on offbeat literature. In a sense, all literature is offbeat -- as opposed to mainstream -- but we particularly look for unique style or form. We do also publish Southern literature. Roughly one-third of our authors live in the South. You may send about 30 pages of work to us, along with an SASE. Be aware that we pay only in contributor's copies (10% of 1500) for the first 1500 books. Thereafter, we offer a royalty contract. Our royalty is figured on net. We highly recommend multiple submissions of your work. Simply let us know if it is accepted elsewhere.
