Dzanc Books basics:
Founded in 2006, Dzanc Books is an independent, non-profit press with OV Books and Black Lawrence Press as imprints. In addition to publishing fiction, Dzanc hosts a writer-in-residence program with public schools and awards the annual Dzanc Prize, which also includes a community service component.
Dzanc publishes an average of six to seven fiction titles per year; Black Lawrence publishes four; and OV Books publishes one collection of short stories each year. Print runs for Dzanc and OV Books average 2,000-2,500. Black Lawrence prints 1,000 copies of its fiction titles.
Authors/titles representative of their fiction list:
Dzanc Books focuses on literary fiction, particularly that which may not have a niche in larger houses. Roy Kesey’s story collection, All Over, and Yannick Murphy’s story collection, In a Bear’s Eye both represent, and show the range, of the books they publish. They tend to choose writers who "pay attention to what they’re writing, all the way down to the individual sentence level."
What Dzanc Books offers writers that commercial presses don't:
Dzanc Books is willing to take chances on manuscripts that don’t have a specific market in mind for sales. Also, the number of titles they publish allows them to focus on marketing and publicity for each book for extended periods of time. This concentration won't flag just because a new book comes out
Number one thing most likely to put them off a manuscript:
"Not grabbing us from the get-go. As the rate of submissions we receive increases, it’s more and more imperative to grab us by the lapels with the opening sentence and refuse to let go until we turn the last page."
Number one thing most likely to spark their interest:
"We’re looking for exciting work -- adventurous, but not to the point of the work being strictly experimental without still having the soul of a great story."
The Dzanc Prize:
Each year, the press awards the Dzanc Prize, a $5,000 award for the best combination of a work in progress (fiction only) and a proposal for literary community service. Individuals should submit a CV, a summary of their service project, and up to 35 pages of their WIP. They receive half of the prize in January, and the other half when they complete their service.
For more information see the Dzanc Books site.
Dzanc Writer-in-Residence Program:
The Dzanc Writer-in-Residence Program sends authors into public schools to work with a class once a week for a school year. At the end of the year, the class puts together an anthology; Dzanc prints 200-300 copies of the book for the students, teachers, and the school system. Dzanc pays the writers and covers the cost of publishing the anthologies.
Address for submissions:
Submit the first two chapters of a novel or the first two short stories of a collection, with a cover letter, to: submit@dzancbooks.org
The fiction editors are Keith Taylor and Steven Gillis.
Additional advice for writers interested in submitting work to Dzanc Books:
Review work by authors that Dzanc has published or will be publishing to see what type of work excites them. Almost all of their authors have published stories on the web.
