Milk & Cake Press will accept both chapbook and full-length poetry manuscripts again from February 1 to March 31, 2025.
Milk and Cake Press publishes full-length and chapbook collections of poetry. We are especially interested in manuscripts with attention to the sound of language. We also like experimental work, though we are open to virtually any kind of manuscript. (No light verse or limericks, please.)
We welcome the work of new, emerging, and experienced poets and encourage submissions from BIPOC, LGBTQIA, neurodivergent and disabled writers.
Please note that this is an open reading period, not a contest. We expect to publish two titles from this submission period. Publication will be in 2025. Our final selections will be read by several volunteer staff, including the editor-in-chief.
Be sure your name is not on the manuscript. Do not provide a biographical statement or acknowledgments of previously published poems. Instead, in your cover letter, provide 3-5 sentences summarizing your manuscript. Why? We want to see that you can succinctly explain your work; this is a good sign that a book is ready for publication.
General submission instructions: please submit your manuscript via Duotrope’s submission manager, Duosuma:
https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/milk-cake-press-NLJ9U
You must have an account to do so, but you dod not need to pay for the more advanced services Duotrope provides. Submissions must be in Word or PDF. We do request a submission fee; however, if this is prohibitive for you, please email kim@milkandcakepress.com
Why do we charge submission fees? These fees, along with book sales, cover the costs of printing and marketing our titles. Our press, now a nonprofit, is completely run by volunteers.
Chapbook submissions should be 18-30ish pages of poetry. The fee for a chapbook submission is $10.
Full-length manuscripts should be 48-60-ish pages. (Longer is not necessarily better!) The fee for a full-length submission is $25.
If the length of your manuscript doesn’t fit these guidelines, send it anyway!
You may submit to both categories or multiple manuscripts in either category, with the appropriate fees. Simultaneous submissions are welcome; please let us know as soon as possible should your work be accepted elsewhere (congratulations!).
Please submit your work and submission fee here. You may need to create a Duotrope account, if you don’t already have one–it’s free to create an account. If for some reason you can’t use Duotrope, please email kim@milkandcakepress.com to discuss. Also, if the submission fee is a barrier, please email Kim (above).
Payment for selected work is 25 copies. We do not pay royalties or an advance. Selections will be made and announced in late spring or early summer 2024.