Yavanika Press
CLOSED FOR SUBMISSIONS
Yavanika Press is affiliated with the literary & arts journal Sonic Boom. Using the theatre metaphor of “the curtain” as our reference point, we aim to cast the spotlight on bold and new emerging voices, as well as veterans of the craft. We want your unforgettable lines, your pulsating images, and your attempts at breaking out of the mould. We accept writing and art in a variety of combinations and invite you to join us on stage!
Reading period:
May 1 - June 30
What we publish:
- Poetry
- Japanese short-forms
- Short prose/hybrids/haibun
- Mixed-genre
- Mini-chapbooks (poems under 10 lines)
Where to submit:
Response time: 2-4 months
Things to remember:
1. Please submit only ONCE per reading period.
2. Simultaneous submissions are accepted as long as you inform us in a timely manner if your manuscript has been picked up by another market.
3. You can submit chapbooks across all sections during a given reading period.
4. Authors/artists can either provide their own cover art, or we will work together and create some truly unique eye candy.
5. Please ensure that at least 30% of the pieces in your manuscript are unpublished. And, it goes without saying that all manuscripts, as a whole, must be previously unpublished.
6. All manuscripts will be published as e-books on our website, save for anthologies or solicited full-length manuscripts. Additionally, all rights will revert to the individual authors upon publication. Select titles may be printed as limited edition runs at the sole discretion of the press.
Guidelines for Mini-chapbooks:
Submission fee:
Rs. 200 for those residing in India. Please make your payment here.
$5 USD for those residing outside India. Kindly make your payment using PayPal to shloks89@gmail.com.
Size and Template:
The size of our mini-chapbooks is 4.5 x 5.5 inches, featuring poems under 10 lines with or without artwork. You can get as creative as you like! We will not be publishing prose pieces in this section. To view examples, consider purchasing one of our titles from the archive.
1. Please submit 15 poems for consideration. The final manuscript will be published as a collection of 10 poems.
2. Please download our template above and ensure that every piece has a title and begins on a new page.
3. Submit your manuscript as an MS Word or PDF document that includes the title, dedication (if any), acknowledgements, and the poems/artworks. Page numbers need not be added at this stage.
4. Please use Garamond, size 12 font type.
5. Please include your cover letter and short bio note in the body of the email. Also include the submission fee receipt for our reference.
6. Collaborations are highly encouraged.
Guidelines for Poetry e-chapbooks:
Submission fee:
Rs. 300 for those residing in India. Please make your payment here.
$8 USD for those residing outside India. Kindly make your payment using PayPal to shloks89@gmail.com.
We want poems that challenge us and draw on emotion at the same time, poems that dialogue with the reader. Give us the ordinary, the grandiose, the hauntingly beautiful, and avoid rhyme unless it’s the lifeblood of your piece. We love sharp, crisp images, engaging metaphors, and unpretentious poetry. We are not fond of poems that deliberately obfuscate. Make us mourn the short-lived love affair as we near the end of your manuscript. We are open to publishing found/cento/remixed pieces. Please note that we are unable to accept translations at this time.
1. Please submit 15-20 poems for consideration along with a manuscript title.
2. Please ensure that every poem has a title and begins on a new page.
3. Line length for all poems must be under 20 lines (one or two exceptions will be considered).
4. We prefer publishing chapbooks that are loosely centred around a theme, as opposed to a random collection of verses.
5. Submit your manuscript as an MS Word document that includes the title, dedication (if any), acknowledgements (citing previously published poems), a table of contents (listing the sequence of poems alone), and the poems. Page numbers need not be added at this stage. All poems must be single-spaced. Please use Garamond, size 12 font type.
6. Please include your cover letter and short bio note in the body of the email. Also include the submission fee receipt for our reference.
7. Collaborations welcome.
Guidelines for Japanese short-forms e-chapbooks:
Rs. 300 for those residing in India. Please make your payment here.
$8 USD for those residing outside India. Kindly make your payment using PayPal to shloks89@gmail.com.
We have a palpably strong connection to Japanese short-forms of poetry. These word pictures in under a dozen words have decidedly ensnared us and we proudly admit it! We will be looking for haikai forms that go beyond the norm and open up new realms of experience. Show us what we’ve known all along, but never could articulate quite like you have. Spare us from reading about herons, cherry blossoms, sunsets, and other tropes that are wont to plague these forms, unless you’re bringing us old wine in a very snazzy new bottle! To get a feel for our aesthetic, we encourage you to check out the work we publish in our journal Sonic Boom, or grab a copy of our anthology, where the roots are: Best of Paper Lanterns, Volume 2, which received an Honourable Mention in the Touchstone Distinguished Books Awards for 2021.
1. For haiku & senryu chapbooks, please submit 30-50 individual poems and we will help you shortlist the final pieces. Please note that we will not review sequences or linked forms (rengay, renku, tan-renga, etc.).
2. We prefer publishing chapbooks that are loosely centred around a theme, as opposed to a random collection of haikai verses.
3. For cherita-only or gembun-only chaps, please submit 20-40 poems, each on a new page.
4. Submit your manuscript as an MS Word document that includes the title, dedication (if any), acknowledgements (citing previously published poems, if any), and the poems typed one below the other, not one poem per page. Page numbers need not be added at this stage. All poems must be single-spaced. Please use Garamond, size 12 font type.
5. Please include your cover letter and short bio note in the body of the email. Also include the submission fee receipt for our reference.
6. Collaborations welcome.
Guidelines for Prose e-chapbooks:
Submission fee:
Rs. 300 for those residing in India. Please make your payment here.
$8 USD for those residing outside India. Kindly make your payment using PayPal to shloks89@gmail.com.
Send us your prose pieces, including vignettes, short scenes, hybrid forms, haibun, and works that defy categorization. We favour the prose poem over action-centred pieces. A strong voice, the willingness to take risks with language, and attention to the odd but beautifully defining details are more likely to find a home. We are open to experimentation, but not at the cost of quality. Also, we do not care much for sci-fi, speculative fiction, erotica, or horror.
1. Please submit 15-20 prose pieces for consideration.
2. Please ensure that every piece has a title and begins on a new page.
3. While there is no minimum word count, please ensure that each individual piece is no longer than 350 words.
4. Submit your manuscript as an MS Word document that includes the title, dedication (if any), acknowledgements (citing previously published pieces), a table of contents (listing the sequence alone), and the prose pieces. Page numbers need not be added at this stage.
5. All pieces must be set at 1.5 line spacing and must be typed in Garamond, size 12 font type.
6. Please include your cover letter and short bio note in the body of the email. Also include the submission fee receipt for our reference.
7. Collaborations welcome.
Guidelines for Mixed-genre e-chapbooks:
Submission fee:
Rs. 300 for those residing in India. Please make your payment here.
$8 USD for those residing outside India. Kindly make your payment using PayPal to shloks89@gmail.com.
Do you have a story that begs to be interpreted as a series of haiga? Or a bunch of newspaper blackout poems? An erasure series from a single novel? Want to collaborate with your favourite artist and send us an ekphrastic manuscript? Have you always wanted to work on a chapbook comprising collage, visual poems, Dadaist pieces, asemic writing, or anything else that is as cool, if not cooler? This is your chance! Send us your mixed-genre creations and we will do everything in our power to showcase them beautifully and with the utmost care.
1. Please submit 20-30 mixed-genre works for consideration.
2. Please ensure that every piece has a title and begins on a new page.
3. Submit your manuscript as a PDF document that includes the title, dedication (if any), acknowledgements (citing previously published pieces), a table of contents (listing the sequence alone), and the works. Page numbers need not be added at this stage.
5. If your manuscript incorporates text, it must be typed in Garamond, size 12 font type.
6. Please include your cover letter and short bio note in the body of the email. Also include the submission fee receipt for our reference.
7. Collaborations are highly encouraged.