Plain View Press gives contemporary voice to a far flung community
of humane and passionate writers and readers.
Welcome to the Plain View Press Submissions Page!
For New Authors: We currently are not taking submissions from new authors. We will announce when submissions are open. Please join the notification list in the sidebar to receive an announcement when submissions are open. Your email is kept private and is not used for any other purpose. Please do not mail us anything, and if you submit a query when submissions are not open, you will not get a response.
For Plain View Press Authors: An author that has been vetted and published, can submit new work at any time, beginning with an email inquiry.
Submission Guidelines
Plain View Press is so named because we want people to be able to tell the truth about their lives. We seek authors who have a voice to add to the literature of our time — a story to tell in poetry, fiction, nonfiction or memoir. You will find us open to activist and/or literary content many publishers won’t touch. With a long history as an issue-based literary publishing house, we publish a variety of contemporary literature. We are selective, typically choosing about one in ten manuscripts. Our standard is literary and our mission is to create beautiful and meaningful books that work in the world to change the world.
“Despite evidence that relentless violence has taken root worldwide,
there is hope and there are artists to show the human face of it.”
– Susan Bright, Poet, Founder, Plain View Press
We publish books, not chapbooks or short individual pieces of work. The minimum finished book length for us is 80 pages which requires at least 60 pages of content. We are converting our books to eBooks for online distribution as well.
Our process is collaborative, meaning an author is involved in every aspect of book making. It is an exciting and creative endeavor. We are an independent press with no outside funding. We will collaborate with you in fund-raising efforts that you spearhead. Our publishing model favors authors retaining rights and low printing costs. It offers a way to keep your book in print with your ongoing participation in sales and promotion. We believe good books are worthy of on-going distribution.
Submission Process
When submissions are open, we use an online submissions process. To make a submission you will go to our submissions page to create an account, confirm your email, and then login to submit your work. You will use the same login to check your submission status. When you submit, you will pick a category, enter the title, a brief description, a short author bio, and attach a file.
When submissions are open, this video explains how to make a submission.
The first stage of submissions requires a query before a complete manuscript. The query includes a brief description and an excerpt of your work, about 10 pages of poetry or 20 pages of prose. You will be notified if we want to see a whole manuscript in the second stage of submission. A query or full manuscript must include your name, address, and email contact on the title page.
Keep on reading and writing!
Pam Knight, Publisher
Plain View Press
