Open-Reading Submissions for Full-Length Manuscripts

Alternating Current

3 years ago

Open-Reading Submissions for Full-Length Manuscripts

Submission Guidelines for Manuscripts

Book-Length Fiction

Reading Period

Submissions open: Year-round
Selections made: Within 6 months
Publication: 2027/2028
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Current Status

Submissions are now open year-round. Submissions from the past reading periods are currently being read; please refrain from asking for status updates. [Back to Top]

Submission Guidelines

We’re seeking book-length manuscripts of literary fiction, short stories, plays, novels, long novellas, flash collections, or hybrid. We especially want to hear from marginalized and underrepresented authors, and we are an LGBTQUIA2+ safe-space. Manuscripts may be in any genre or style. Choose the category of best fit.
Manuscripts must be geared toward an adult readership. We do not publish books for children.
All work must be in English and must be the author’s own. Single work by multiple authors considered. We do not consider A.I.-generated work.
These manuscripts are not read incognito. It doesn’t matter if your identifying information is (or isn’t) inside your submission file, as long as your Submittable contact information is correct.
If you need to adjust a submission, please use the Request to Edit option through Submittable. Please don’t request to edit for minor flaws, however—all accepted work will go through an editing process and will have the chance to be updated before publication, and your work will not be disqualified for a missing comma.
All authors must be at least 18 to submit.
Simultaneous submissions allowed. Please withdraw your manuscript through Submittable if it is accepted elsewhere.
Collections that contain previously published pieces are considered.
Submit via Submittable only. We do not accept email submissions. Please note that we have rolling submissions that sometimes close at the end of one month and reopen at the beginning of the next month to help us regulate flow. If the portal isn’t open, please don’t email us; just come back later.
There is a $12.99 fee for each manuscript submitted. You may submit as many manuscripts as you’d like, but each one must be submitted separately with a separate fee. The fee helps us with needed administration and book production costs, and we pay our readers for their time and effort, but it’s not meant to be too inhibitive. If you are unable to pay, please email us for an alternative submission method.
Each paid submission comes with a digital copy of our latest fiction book, currently Winter Dance Party, a collection of Buddy Holly’s plane crash in flash, by Brett Biebel ($7.99 value). There is an additional option to purchase the winning Electric Book Award print book (publishing in 2027/2028) as an add-on for a deep discount ($6.99 off the final cover price, U.S. shipping only). If there is no winner selected for a chosen year, advance book purchases will roll over to the next year. If you purchase this option, please make sure to keep your Submittable mailing address current in your profile.
We will send a response to every submission, and we try our best to respond within 6 months. Form response only, unless we are interested in publishing your book. We are regretfully unable to provide feedback. If you have not heard back after 6 months, please feel free to follow up (kindly), but more than likely, we’re just running behind, so thank you for your patience.
All manuscripts submitted through this portal automatically qualify for the annual Electric Book Award, with no separate submission process. Please see the EBA paragraph at the bottom of this page or the EBA website page for more information.
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on what should be Arapaho land with a warehouse on a street that is instead named for a dead white male president who owned enslaved people and severed Native American Nations apart irrevocably and an office on a street named after the very People whose land was stolen. To honor the reparations that this entire country needs to make, Black writers and Native American Indigenous (United States and Canada) writers may submit appropriate manuscripts for free to this open-reading period (please note that if the portal is not open, then we have reached our free-submission monthly cap until the beginning of the next month).
If you’re ready to submit, head on over to Submittable. [Back to Top]

Book-Length Nonfiction

Reading Period

Submissions open: Year-round
Selections made: Within 6 months
Publication: 2027/2028
[Back to Top]

Current Status

Submissions are now open year-round. Submissions from the past reading periods are currently being read; please refrain from asking for status updates. [Back to Top]

Submission Guidelines

We’re seeking book-length manuscripts of creative nonfiction, literary memoir, essay collections, or hybrid. We especially want to hear from marginalized and underrepresented authors, and we are an LGBTQUIA2+ safe-space. Manuscripts may be in any genre or style. Choose the category of best fit.
Manuscripts must be geared toward an adult readership. We do not publish books for children.
All work must be in English and must be the author’s own. Single work by multiple authors considered. We do not consider A.I.-generated work.
These manuscripts are not read incognito. It doesn’t matter if your identifying information is (or isn’t) inside your submission file, as long as your Submittable contact information is correct.
If you need to adjust a submission, please use the Request to Edit option through Submittable. Please don’t request to edit for minor flaws, however—all accepted work will go through an editing process and will have the chance to be updated before publication, and your work will not be disqualified for a missing comma.
All authors must be at least 18 to submit.
Simultaneous submissions allowed. Please withdraw your manuscript through Submittable if it is accepted elsewhere.
Collections that contain previously published pieces are considered.
Submit via Submittable only. We do not accept email submissions. Please note that we have rolling submissions that sometimes close at the end of one month and reopen at the beginning of the next month to help us regulate flow. If the portal isn’t open, please don’t email us; just come back later.
Straight or scholarly nonfiction should have proper citations.
There is a $12.99 fee for each manuscript submitted. You may submit as many manuscripts as you’d like, but each one must be submitted separately with a separate fee. The fee helps us with needed administration and book production costs, and we pay our readers for their time and effort, but it’s not meant to be too inhibitive. If you are unable to pay, please email us for an alternative submission method.
Each paid submission comes with a digital copy of our latest nonfiction book, currently The Uncertainty Principle: Essays on Infertility, Conception, Birth, and Quantum Mechanics by Joel Wachman ($7.99 value). There is an additional option to purchase the winning Electric Book Award print book (publishing in 2027/2028) as an add-on for a deep discount ($6.99 off the final cover price, U.S. shipping only). If there is no winner selected for a chosen year, advance book purchases will roll over to the next year. If you purchase this option, please make sure to keep your Submittable mailing address current in your profile.
We will send a response to every submission, and we try our best to respond within 6 months. Form response only, unless we are interested in publishing your book. We are regretfully unable to provide feedback. If you have not heard back after 6 months, please feel free to follow up (kindly), but more than likely, we’re just running behind, so thank you for your patience.
All manuscripts submitted through this portal automatically qualify for the annual Electric Book Award, with no separate submission process. Please see the EBA paragraph at the bottom of this page or the EBA website page for more information.
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on what should be Arapaho land with a warehouse on a street that is instead named for a dead white male president who owned enslaved people and severed Native American Nations apart irrevocably and an office on a street named after the very People whose land was stolen. To honor the reparations that this entire country needs to make, Black writers and Native American Indigenous (United States and Canada) writers may submit appropriate manuscripts for free to this open-reading period (please note that if the portal is not open, then we have reached our free-submission monthly cap until the beginning of the next month).
If you’re ready to submit, head on over to Submittable. [Back to Top]

Book-Length Poetry

Reading Period

Submissions open: Year-round
Selections made: Within 6 months
Publication: 2027/2028
[Back to Top]

Current Status

Submissions are now open year-round. Submissions from the past reading periods are currently being read; please refrain from asking for status updates. [Back to Top]

Submission Guidelines

We’re seeking book-length manuscripts of poetry, experimental, prose poems, or hybrid poetry. We especially want to hear from marginalized and underrepresented authors, and we are an LGBTQUIA2+ safe-space. Manuscripts may be in any poetry style.
Manuscripts must be geared toward an adult readership. We do not publish books for children.
All work must be in English and must be the author’s own. Single work by multiple authors considered. We do not consider A.I.-generated work.
These manuscripts are not read incognito. It doesn’t matter if your identifying information is (or isn’t) inside your submission file, as long as your Submittable contact information is correct.
If you need to adjust a submission, please use the Request to Edit option through Submittable. Please don’t request to edit for minor flaws, however—all accepted work will go through an editing process and will have the chance to be updated before publication, and your work will not be disqualified for a missing comma.
All authors must be at least 18 to submit.
Simultaneous submissions allowed. Please withdraw your manuscript through Submittable if it is accepted elsewhere.
Collections that contain previously published pieces are considered.
Submit via Submittable only. We do not accept email submissions. Please note that we have rolling submissions that sometimes close at the end of one month and reopen at the beginning of the next month to help us regulate flow. If the portal isn’t open, please don’t email us; just come back later.
There is a $12.99 fee for each manuscript submitted. You may submit as many manuscripts as you’d like, but each one must be submitted separately with a separate fee. The fee helps us with needed administration and book production costs, and we pay our readers for their time and effort, but it’s not meant to be too inhibitive. If you are unable to pay, please email us for an alternative submission method.
Each paid submission comes with a digital copy of our latest poetry book, currently Fish Love by Bryanna Licciardi ($7.99 value). There is an additional option to purchase the winning Electric Book Award print book (publishing in 2027/2028) as an add-on for a deep discount ($6.99 off the final cover price, U.S. shipping only). If there is no winner selected for a chosen year, advance book purchases will roll over to the next year. If you purchase this option, please make sure to keep your Submittable mailing address current in your profile.
We will send a response to every submission, and we try our best to respond within 6 months. Form response only, unless we are interested in publishing your book. We are regretfully unable to provide feedback. If you have not heard back after 6 months, please feel free to follow up (kindly), but more than likely, we’re just running behind, so thank you for your patience.
All manuscripts submitted through this portal automatically qualify for the annual Electric Book Award, with no separate submission process. Please see the EBA paragraph at the bottom of this page or the EBA website page for more information.
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on what should be Arapaho land with a warehouse on a street that is instead named for a dead white male president who owned enslaved people and severed Native American Nations apart irrevocably and an office on a street named after the very People whose land was stolen. To honor the reparations that this entire country needs to make, Black writers and Native American Indigenous (United States and Canada) writers may submit appropriate manuscripts for free to this open-reading period (please note that if the portal is not open, then we have reached our free-submission monthly cap until the beginning of the next month).
If you’re ready to submit, head on over to Submittable. [Back to Top]

Publication

Selected manuscripts receive book publication on Alternating Current Press, which includes distribution through Ingram, Asterism, and all major online retailers. Publication is in hardcover*, paperback, and ebook formats, with possible audiobook publication, as well, and includes 5 complimentary hardcover copies*, 10 complimentary paperback copies, a complimentary digital copy in all available formats, and 30% net royalties. Publication also includes our standard publicity package, including a press kit, a book-club reading guide, a press release, multiple mailing-list email blasts, social media, review and contest copies, and more. We generally select about 10 manuscripts per year for publication from our open-reading submissions.

(*Hardcovers are available for full-length books only; if an accepted submission is deemed a chapbook or too short for a full-length, it will not be available in hardcover.) [Back to Top]

Electric Book Award

All book-length manuscripts in all genres that are submitted through these portals qualify for the annual Electric Book Award. The EBA is an editorial prize that is selected in December from the manuscripts that we have accepted over the preceding year. Submissions that have not yet been read by December roll over to qualify for the following year’s prize. There is no separate submission process for the EBA. All books submitted through the above portals, along with Little Pigeon chapbook submissions, automatically qualify for consideration for the EBA if accepted by our press. [Back to Top]