Submissions

If you have a track record of publication in UK or other English-language journals, and a full collection (60 or more pages) of poems ready to go, then please send a sample of 10 poems and a biographical note – both embedded in the body of an email AND as a Word .doc or .docx, or pdf attachment – to editor@pindroppress.com, with 'SUBMISSION' in the header.

If the editor is interested, she will request further poems. Response time is quick, usually within a couple of weeks. Please bear in mind that Pindrop receives a lot of manuscripts and at the moment is only able to publish four collections a year - but this shouldn't put you off from trying!

What happens if you are accepted for publication

Pindrop is a small press consisting of myself, Sharon Black, as editor with my husband Alex Duncan on hand for IT help . It is a labour of love: I put my heart and soul into the creation of books I believe are excellent and deserve to go out into the world and be read. I am a very hands-on editor and work closely with each poet to help make their manuscript the best it can be. I welcome input on cover design and will never force a cover design onto the poet that they are not completely happy with.

In terms of marketing, Pindrop receives no external funding therefore I have virtually no budget: poetry was never meant to make me a living (and just as well). However, I do send out up to 5 review copies of each title to targeted journals, as well as copies to the British Library, the Poetry Library and other usual outlets. I also submit collections to any prizes I think they might be suitable candidates for. Each new title is added to the Pindrop online shop, is advertised via the Pindrop newsletter, and is available for purchase on Amazon. Copies are also stocked in the poetry bookshop Tell It Slant in Glasgow.

After that, it's up to the poet: to organise a launch (I will attend if possible but in most cases I cannot, simply because of location), to organise readings and to market and sell the book through their own networks. Occasionally I organise Pindrop group readings - and am always open to suggestions!

Books are available to their authors in multiples of 10 at an author price of 50% of the retail price. A statement of sales is provided annually, usually around the end of March, and royalties are paid at the same time.

I do my best to support the poets that I publish, within my financial constraints, and am always on hand to answer questions, help with administrative or marketing queries, or anything else a poet wants to know about their book. I won't keep you waiting. If I don't know the answer to a question I will try to find out!

If I had to have a mission statement, it would be: Excellent poetry, beautiful books, good communication, and transparency. And spaces between the words in which you could almost hear a pin drop.

- Sharon