Guidelines for Parting Gifts and March Street Press 3413 Wilshire Greensboro NC 27408 The editorial vision of Parting Gifts and March Street Press relies entirely on a deeply entrenched collection of prejudices. We are highly suspicious of work that turns too heavily on rhyme or meter. Look for the work of Kelly Cherry, Janet Kauffman, C.K. Williams, Jim Harrison, Charles Baxter, and Amy Hempel if you want to see the kind of writing we most enjoy and want to foster. All of these authors are published widely, so you should have no trouble finding their work. Poetry of the kind that can be found in Ann Landers, Hallmark cards, church bulletins, or high school haiku magazines will probably never appear in our publications. We occasionally receive poems that sound like recycled song lyrics. They are always returned immediately. Even though our semiannual literary magazine has what might be considered a sad title (Parting Gifts), that doesn’t mean that we specialize in poems written on the deaths of parents, siblings, spouses, children, or pets. Come to think of it, we’ve covered all those bases over the past ten years—which means that we've paid our dues, so don’t send us any more of those, thank you very much. We publish more poetry than fiction, but fiction is actually our first love. The problem is that we have such high standards and peculiar preferences that it’s hard to find fiction to publish. We prefer very short fiction, between 500 and 1000 words. The language in the fiction we publish has to be as strong as the language in poetry—not a misplaced word. And it has to tell a story. No slices of life, please. We’ve published more than our share of “mad girl” stories—stories about neurasthenic women with cruel boyfriends and outlandish ideas about the world they’re muddling through. We’re tired of them. Please don’t send any more. Chapbooks should be 25–50 pages. When we accept a chapbook, we often make suggestions—sometimes strong ones—involving inclusion and exclusion of poems or specific lines or stanzas that don’t work for one reason or another. That’s what real editors do. If you don’t think that your work needs an editor, you shouldn’t be sending it to one. We usually accept 5–7 book manuscripts per year. Selection is always made on the basis of quality, so please don’t write a letter promising to buy 100 (or 200 or 1000) copies if we accept the book. We aren’t a vanity press and that sort of promise doesn’t sway us in the slightest. In fact, we find it somewhat insulting. We accept no government grants or loans. For that reason, we occasionally, with deep regret, have to turn away excellent manuscripts for lack of resources to publish at a particular time. We wish we could publish everything of quality that we receive. Generally, when we reject a manuscript (if it is accompanied by a full-sized SASE) we include something of value (usually a book) so you won't feel you’ve wasted your $20 reading fee. We can’t guarantee that, but it’s something we try to do as funds permit. When we accept a manuscript, we send the author ten copies of the finished book free (a $90 value at retail) and we are open to providing a limited number of review copies and promotional materials (such as postcards or posters for readings) on request, so long as the privilege isn’t abused. Sample copies: $9.00. Subscriptions: $18.00 per year. Checks and money orders (U.S. currency only) should be made out to March Street Press. First rights are all that is claimed by March Street Press for work that appears in Parting Gifts. Once the magazine is published, the rights revert to the author. March Street Press requests that publication elsewhere be accompanied by a mention of Parting Gifts. March Street Press is actively seeking chapbook manuscripts. Economic pressures have forced a $20 reading fee. We are sorry for this, but the expenses of this operation are incredible and even at this, we are just breaking even. We encourage authors to submit a computer disk with the manuscript in electronic form along with the paper manuscript. Include a SASE with your submission. We can’t seriously consider a submission unless it is accompanied by SASE and reading fee. Please don’t bother sending a selection of poems and asking us to make a decision about the book based on them. And now a word about a writer’s responsibility to his or her constitution. Currently the ACLU is involved in a desperate fight to protect our First Amendment rights. While the late Ayatollah attempted to silence one author’s voice, the spirit of Ed Meese rose from the sleaze to silence a whole generation of writers. If you thought Jesse Helms as art critic was chilling, the Justice Department as literary critic will put you in the deep freeze. Literally. In the words of Kurt Vonnegut, “The Justice Department has found yet another devastating legal weapon to misuse in its war on our…right to say, show, hear, read, or see whatever we please without fear of punishment.” The facts are far too complicated to cover here, but I urge you to contact Ira Glasser of the ACLU at 132 West 43rd Street, New York, New York 10036 for details. And if your right to free expression is important to you, send a check as well. Tell as many people as you can about this situation. Motivate them to contribute, too. Another worthy cause is the National Coalition Against Censorship. The kind of harassment you might have thought only happened in Nazi Germany is commonplace in America today. Teachers, librarians, booksellers, and others to whom we owe much of our culture and education (what little of it survives) inspire fringe religious and political groups to follow their basest instincts. Write for details: National Coalition Against Censorship, 2 E. 64th St., New York, NY 10023. Any questions? Please send email to March Street Press.