Writer's Guidelines
Thank you for offering to write for the Small Press Review, which also incorporates the Small Magazine Review.
Before "free-lancing" a review please clear the title with us. Otherwise, at your request we will place you on our reviewer's list and send you books and/or magazines to review. If you do not hear from us right away, please be patient. We often become overloaded with material waiting to be published, and do not accept more until things thin out. Do not review titles in which you appear as a writer or editor!
Here are some particulars about SPR: It is primarily a magazine of short reviews, news items and announcements of independent publishing activity worldwide. The first half is about small press books, the second about literary and other magazines. We try to include "hard" information: who, what, where, etc., along with advancing the cause of independent publishing and raising the visibility of small presses, books and magazines.
SPR is published every other month starting in January. Deadline for copy and advertising is the tenth of the first month in the period [January, March etc.]. Half of its readers are independent press editors and publishers; the other half are poets, writers, librarians, printing trades people, and book dealers.
Reviews written for SPR should be 100-300 words in length. Anything longer may be edited down, delayed in publication, or returned. Reviews near 150 words tend to be published more quickly because they are more flexible to work with. We publish two guest-editorial opinion pieces per issue and are always looking for good material here. Pieces should be 600-750 words usually relating to independent publishing and/or literature.
Each review should be preceded by vital bibliographic data. For books: author, publisher and address, price, date, type of cover (paper or cloth) and number of pages. For magazines: Title, Volume, Number, Date, Editor(s), Frequency, Address, Subscription Price. Do not review titles published in other than the current year. Double-space all copy, one side of sheet. Use separate sheets for each review. Reviews of books or magazines published by major corporate publishers cannot be used. If you are unsure about what is "major corporate," either query us or consult the International Directory of Little Magazines & Small Presses (if the publisher is listed you're OK).
