Call for Submissions from Southern Writers: Belle Point Press

*Submissions are open as of June 15, 2024. We will be reading for our 2026 catalog on a rolling basis throughout the summer months. When we are ready to close, we will share an update with a final deadline.*

We are seeking full-length manuscripts in the following genres: Fiction (novels and novellas, short stories, etc.) 

Poetry collections (full-length)
Creative nonfiction (memoirs, essays, etc.)
General nonfiction (reported or critical essays, cultural projects, etc.)
Hybrid collections

Prose manuscripts vary in length across categories; we are generally more interested in the project’s sense of cohesion than specific word counts. For full-length poetry, we would prefer collections with at least fifty pages but are willing to consider shorter manuscripts.

Currently, we are not reading chapbook manuscripts or considering submissions for our Prose Series. If this changes, we will update this page and announce on our socials.

Note: We prefer to see full manuscripts rather than proposals. However, if you do not have a completed manuscript but have made substantial progress on a project that you think could be a strong fit for us, please send a sample and overview of the book along with a projected date of completion.

If you have any questions, general queries should go to Casie Dodd at:

submissions@bellepointpress.com

Please do not send full submissions to this address.

What we’re looking for:

Our mission is simple: stick around and read. What does this mean in practice? Two things, broadly speaking: At Belle Point Press, we are often preoccupied with stories defined by people who invest in the places they call home—who decide to make a place into a real community, with all its particular qualities. In a time when many often find themselves displaced or restless (for many reasons), we’re most interested in cultivating writers committed to their places. If you’d like to learn more about our vision, check out this post.

As a press centered on building a community around our region, we are primarily interested in seeing work from writers tied to Arkansas and the surrounding area, including Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Missouri. We also consider the broader South and the Gulf Coast to be in conversation with this multifaceted region. (This connection doesn’t necessarily have to be explicit in the work itself.). Show us what it means to be from around here.

Writing with a clear sense of place (whether still rooted here or hovering around its margins)

We tend to focus on literary work (i.e. poetry, literary fiction, creative nonfiction) but are open to seeing other types of nonfiction projects (such as reported or critical essays and other cultural projects related to the region).

Want to know more? Read these tips from our Founder/Publisher.

We look forward to reading your work!

Full submission guidelines and link here.