Welcome to Sun Thief Press! We are an independent translation-forward small-press run by a tight-knit group of friends based in Providence, Rhode Island. We value well-crafted, difficult, intelligent work that’s in love with its language and balances clarity with mystery. Sun Thief Press is all about the mediation between contraries, the whole and the fracture, apollinian light and dionysian shadow. Send us manuscripts that grapple and interrogate with their own form and process; send us writing that deals in horizons, borders, and the gulf between opposites. Please read our submission guidelines for more details on how to submit!
Sun Thief Press publishes 1-3 high-quality volumes of literature per year with preference for translated work and one biannual literary journal (released on the Solstices). We also maintain an audio imprint that produces and hosts an archive of complete audiobooks of Sun Thief-published titles (read by the author), poetry readings, and interviews with select poets and translators.
Guidelines for Journal Subs
In addition to our published titles, we also run a biannual literary journal released on the Winter and Summer Solstices (December and June 21sts).
We accept submissions to Sun Thief Journal for the Winter issue from July 31st to September 1st; Summer issue from February 1st to March 5th.
Our submission review periods last for three weeks, and you will usually hear back from us on the week of the 1st the following month.
Guidelines for Manuscripts
Sun Thief Press accepts manuscript submissions on a rolling basis between March 20-September 23.
Sun Thief Press charges a $20 reading fee for manuscripts. For a doubled fee ($40), we also offer full editorial feedback, comments, and markup on manuscripts, whether accepted for publication or not.
General Guidelines
- If you’ve submitted the manuscript to us in the past and it has since undergone significant revisions, by all means, try again! Please do not submit an identical manuscript.
- If any of the work has appeared in other literary magazines and journals, please include where each poem has appeared in your cover letter.
- We do not accept AI-generated work under any circumstances. Detection of AI-generated work will automatically remove the submission from consideration.
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately if your book is being published elsewhere. (congratulations btw)
- We are translation-forward, but not translation-exclusive. We accept original English-language poetry manuscripts as well as translated short fiction manuscripts. Our guidelines for these categories are slightly different; see below.
- All work should be in Times New Roman, 12 pt font, unless there is an extenuating stylistic reason.
- We only accept new manuscripts, and will not reprint existing books. All titles will be published with registered ISBNs.
What to Submit
We accept .docx and PDF files.
The manuscript must have:
- A cover page (with no author name) incl. working title.
- Acknowledgements incl. where these poems and/or stories have appeared in print before.
- Numbered pages.
- Table of contents (if relevant)
English-Language Manuscripts (Poetry)
Please submit a completed manuscript of 40+ pgs. Practically speaking, there isn’t an upper limit to the length of manuscripts we publish, but we reserve the right to stop reading if you send us something we determine early on isn’t right for us in style, tone, and sensibility.
Translation Manuscripts (Prose/Poetry)
We accept pitches and/or readers’ reports for literary work from all languages, ancient and modern. We are looking for fresh, experimental translations which approach the text in inventive and imaginative ways. We are especially interested in work which challenges and investigates the nature of writing/translating itself.
General Guidelines
- We accept short-form poetry (no longer than a page) original and translated, short stories (3,000-5,000 words) original and translated, critical essays (of any length), and visual art (including, but not limited to, photography, illustration, painting, and collage).
- Please only submit previously unpublished work. Worldwide first serial rights will revert back to the author following the issue’s publication.
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted but please notify us immediately if you’ve been accepted elsewhere.
- We accept .docx and PDF files. Please include a cover letter with a short 3rd-person bio with your submission. This will be removed during the submissions review process to ensure anonymity.
- For poetry and visual art, we accept up to 5 pieces per submission. For prose, both essays and fiction, we accept 1 piece per submission.
- As with our press, we do not accept AI-generated work. Suspect submissions will not be considered.
- Sun Thief Journal pays! For poetry, we pay $30/poem. For prose, we pay $0.10/word
- There is no reading fee for journal submissions. Send us what you’ve got!
For more information regarding magazine or manuscript submissions, please see our Submission Guidelines.
