Here at Soft Skull we love books that are new, fun, smart, revelatory, quirky, groundbreaking, cage-rattling and/or/otherwise unusual.
Nonfiction: Please send a cover letter describing your project and a full proposal along with two sample chapters.
Fiction: Please send a cover letter describing your project in detail and a completed manuscript.
Please do not send original material, as it will not be returned to you. Due to a high volume of submissions, please note that we are unable to respond to all queries, and will only respond to proposals we find of interest. We unfortunately no longer able to take electronic submissions. Please do not follow up on a submission via phone or e-mail.
Editorial Submissions—[FICTION] or [NONFICTION]
Soft Skull Press
1919 Fifth Street
Berkeley, Calif. 94710
Do I need an agent to submit?
No.
Even for fiction?
Yes, even for fiction.
I’m writing a novel. Do I really need to finish the entire manuscript before submitting?
Yes, please.
If I send you an SASE, will you return my materials?
We will make every effort to but can’t guarantee. We ask that you not send original or valuable material.
Do you accept poetry submissions?
Dear poet,
We salute you.
Nay, we sound a barbaric yawp to you.
We honor your metalinguistic adeptitude,
Your verbal jousting genius,
Your epiphanies via sonnets, haikus and nevermores,
We think your chapbooks are grand.
So it saddens us deeply
And we say this quite weepily
We have no choice but to sheepishly
Confess.
Soft Skull no longer publishes new poetry.