Writer Guidelines for Bottom Dog Press, Inc. & Bird Dog Publishing
Chief Editor: Larry Smith
and others on special projects.
*Please note Reader's fee for submissons.
1) We are a book publisher; we do not accept individual poems, stories, or essays unless for a specific collection which we have sent out a call (Exs. Working-class short stories, Family Poems for an announced anthology).
2) We require that you submit a query first, that you write out a description of your book, yourself (as writer and person), explaining the potential audience for that book. Where are you from, what have you done, what are your plans for this book? You may include a few poems, a sample essay, or a story to introduce yourself and the book. *This may be done via e-mail, and it may save us all time and postage.
3) As one of thousands of independent small presses, we have developed and achieved a certain character. It is suggested that you read some of our publications to sense this. In brief, we publish books focusing on these themes: Sense of Place (ie. the Midwest) --Working-Class Culture and Values--American Zen Writing--African-American Writing from the Midwest--Literary Biography--Family and Spirit--Peace and Justice.
4) If work is accepted we will expect the author to work with us on layout and help with promotion. We expect the final manuscript from the author on computer disk, along with a hard copy for reference.
5) Writers receive a flat fee for anthology collections, a royalty for book projects, or a co-operative arrangement on special worthy projects (Bird Dog Publishing).
6) We publish about 4-5 books a year of literary and social worth.
7) Include a self-addressed stamped envelope, with sufficient postage. We prefer a full size envelope for return of manuscript with comments. Query answer in 2 weeks; unsolicited manuscripts 2 months.
8) *Reading Fee: Due to increased costs and decreased funding, we are now asking that you include a “reader's fee” of $20 (It takes at least 2-3 hours per book). This does guarantee you a careful reading and a solid response to your work.
9) Bird Dog Publishing uses print-on-demand technology to publish deserving books.
We pay royalties on net sales on all of our books. See our web page http://smithdocs.net/BirdDogy/BirdDogPage.html. Book publication includes royalty, promotion, distribution, layout and design, as with our Bottom Dog Press books.