Submission Guidelines

Book Manuscripts

We publish book-length literary fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, including short story and essay collections. We also specialize in limited edition, handcrafted mini books up to 50 pages.

We look for work that will appeal to our local, regional, and university communities, with a focus on authors with ties to the Appalachian Region or the Northeast. We take a special interest in debut authors and projects that contribute to our mission of increasing diversity, equity, inclusion, and transparency within the publishing industry.

We will be open for submissions in spring of 2025. During this reading period, we are particularly interested in novels, memoirs, and essay collections.

Please check back in January 2025 for detailed submission guidelines.

Blog Posts

Our blog covers current issues and events in the publishing and bookselling industries. We encourage submissions of investigative journalism, as well as think pieces, research rabbit holes, and social commentary. Articles must be between 500 and 1,500 words long, and should incorporate links to other sources as well as a copyright-free image.

We look for work that is topical in subject matter. Articles should also have a strong voice and something important to say. To get an idea of what we publish, please read our recent posts.

At this time, we only accept pitches. Full drafts will not be considered.

In your pitch, we ask that you provide:

1. A short summary of your post, along with a proposed title

2. A brief outline of your article’s structure and overall argument

3. What makes your idea topical to the current moment

4. Why your article would be a good fit for Susquehanna University Press and/or how it will contribute to our mission of increasing diversity, equity, inclusion, and transparency in the publishing and bookselling industries

Below is a sample pitch:

Dear Susquehanna University Press Blog Editor,

Hello! My name is Jackie Springer, and I’m a third-year student studying creative writing and Spanish studies at Susquehanna University. I’ve been published in Gilded Goldfish and Pastry Poets, and I work as a copyeditor for The Central Pennsylvania Review. I write today with a pitch for an article about St. Martin’s Press PR package scandal, titled: “Book Box Buzz: The Unexpected Political Fallout of Sending Unsolicited Vibrators to Book Reviewers.” My article will trace how the backlash St. Martin’s Press received for including a sex toy in their PR package in August 2024 unexpectedly forced the company to address a nine-month-long boycott by Readers for Accountability. The boycott, which started in December of 2023, began in protest of allegedly anti-Palestinian rhetoric posted by a company employee.

First, the article will consider the opinions of various book reviewers who received the unsolicited sex toy in the mail to advertise Casey McQuiston’s erotic novel The Pairing. Then, it will connect the incident to Readers for Accountability’s initial concerns about racism towards popular POC book reviewers who were not receiving as much material from publishers as their white counterparts. The article will detail SMP’s eventual statement, and Readers for Accountability’s closing response. Lastly, it will conclude how these two very different, and separate, public upsets reveal a need for more thoughtfully inclusive and transparent processes for publishers sending out book mail.

This article involves relevant topics by discussing a recently released NYT best-seller, various notable book Influencers, and recent surges of anti-Palestinian sentiment. I think this intersection of the literary, social, and political spheres would be perfect to publish through a university publisher like Susquehanna University Press.

Thank you for your consideration!

Best,

Jackie Springer

Email your completed pitch to our Blog Editor, Ellie Pasquale, at ellie@susqupress.com. We strive to respond to all submissions within one week.