We do take open submissions, and we do answer queries. Well, we answer queries to the point where we get buried in them, then we’ll try as hard as we can. This is a two-part question though:

Books

We’re just getting started with books, and it’s at the stage where I’m asking people if they want their book published instead of them asking me. But if you have a manuscript or an idea, please contact me. I am looking for full-sized manuscripts, and also 30,000-ish word novellas or short books to use for a line of pocket-type books. I’m looking at having half of the books of the absurdist bend, the other half outsider. All of the other rules below apply.

I am also mulling the idea of having an imprint that just does
reissues of books that people have stuck on print-on-demand presses, because Paragraph Line Books can probably do that at a much lower cost than the others. If you’re in that boat (and I am, which is why I’m starting it), drop me a line.

The Journal

The number one first thing you should do is go to our News blog and see what issue is underway and what we want for it. Each issue has a theme, and I only, ONLY take pieces that match the theme. I typically collect stuff from regular contributors, and then open it to the general public.

First, before submitting anything, you should know what the journal is
and what we’re doing here.

  • Each issue is a 200-page(ish) print-on-demand 6×9″ color
    cover/perfect bound book. It has a cover price under $15.
    It has a barcode or ISBN/ISSN, and distribution on major online
    booksellers (Amazon, B&N, etc).
  • I edit the book and have the byline and copyright. The ISBN
    belongs to Paragraph Line Books. Any royalties come back to me to
    cover expenses, but the price is kept low to make it affordable, and I
    aim to break even (but still haven’t.)
  • There are about a dozen writing contributors per issue that will
    chip in stories. The total wordcount is about 80,000. I sometimes let veterans publish two shorter bits, but
    I really don’t want like 48 people each writing like one livejournal
    post, though.
  • I am always hungry for good cover art. Interior art and stuff
    for the web site, too.
  • Contributors agree to give me one-time rights to publish the
    story and then it reverts back. You don’t need to sign a contract or find a
    notary; we can agree by email. I also need your bio, plus URLs, email, whatever.
    No writer photos, because that’s stupid.

What kind of stuff do I want?

My goal has always been to have something that was very readable. Not
overly high-brow, not all just crap skimmed from web pages and photocopied, but something that people find immersive, and which has a lot of variety.

A lot of this depends on my tastes, and there are things I really like to read, and things that totally shut me down. Here’s an attempt at a list of those.

Rule Zero and you must obey this rule or your submissions will not be taken: when I ask for stories or manuscripts that match a theme and are between X and Y words long, please don’t submit a story that doesn’t fit the theme and/or is too short or too long. Seriously, if you can’t read the instructions, I can’t read your story.

I like (in no order):

  • Absurdist fiction (Mark Leyner, Joseph Heller, Kurt Vonnegut)
  • Outsider fiction (Bukowski)
  • Good rants
  • Long, immersive travel journals
  • Modernist stuff that really talks about life
  • Fiction about real life
  • Interviews of interesting people who aren’t just trying to sell junk – I only like long-format interviews though, not q/a/q/a/q/a stuff.
  • Obscurely funny stuff
  • Heavy, emotionally draining short stories
  • Hard science fiction that’s not corny
  • Dream journals
  • Stories like how your car broke down in Kansas and you met Iggy Pop at a Denny’s, or other weird but true or just bad-luck-many-times stories
  • Good parody
  • Outsider culture
  • Anything that’s so weird that I could not even think of it to put it on this list

I don’t like:

  • Poetry. No poetry at all. I don’t care if it’s good.
  • Most political stuff, especially generic “fuck bush” stuff that’s going to be dated in a few years anyway.
  • Really genre-specific stuff (detective, horror, fantasy).
  • Record reviews, zine reviews, and the other generic crap that every
    other zine has.
  • Fan fiction.
  • Products of the academic-industrial complex that are overly
    politically correct.
  • Anything obvious. (“I’m so depressed and nobody likes me”,
    “everyone’s so stupid and I’m a genius”, “Look I just got a thesaurus.”)
  • Anything that is so grammatically incorrect that I can’t read it
    without wincing.

Note:, even though I put the “anything obvious” thing in the list, at least 50% of the submissions I get are obvious. The simple rule is this: if your submission looks like a blog entry, and says more than it shows, it’s probably obvious.

I’m the final word on what goes in each issue (i.e. this isn’t some kind of hippie commune where everyone votes and we end up with the worst of everything because it’s supportive of the environment or the plight of the native americans or whatever.)

How to submit

Email submissions or questions to info [at] paragraphline [dot] com.

Technical considerations:

  • Microsoft Word is great. I use both a PC and a Mac, so I’m pretty
    agnostic about versions.
  • RTF, HTML, or a text file are also good. Or cut and paste into
    your email message works too.
  • Your document will be reformatted to match the rest of the book.
    If your story looks like you started with the default Word template
    and typed everything in with no formatting, I will love you. If you
    have heavy and extensive formatting and styles, and insist on having
    all of your paragraphs right-justified and in 20-point bold and with
    graphics of the Smurfs on the start of each line because you are the
    center of the universe and that is your vision, there’s a good chance your story might not make it.
  • I generally can’t use photos in stories. If it’s really needed,
    drop me a line first.
  • I don’t edit the text of submissions unless it’s a really horrific
    error, so please make sure to proof your work before you send it.
  • Sorry, no snail mail or paper submissions. If you’ve got something really neat to share or trade, email and I can give you my postal address. But if I list it here, I will get hundreds of offers to refinance my mortgage.
  • If you are an artist and are interested in doing a cover, send a query and links to your work online, if possible.
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