aunt lute is a multicultural women’s press. Their priority is to publish work by women, both transgender and cisgender, particularly women of color. They publish both fiction and nonfiction. They also publish poetry but only as part of an anthology or a larger prose work. They were founded in 1982.

They are distributed by Small Press Distribution. I’ve seen some of the work they’ve published in local bookshops. They have published a number of well-known authors including Audre Lorde and Alice Walker.

aunt lute is based out of San Francisco. Their website is well organized and easy to navigate. Their book cover design varies widely. To get a feel for what they have previously published, you can browse their catalog here.

They do not accept submissions via email. All submissions must be mailed to them. They ask that you include a cover letter, synopsis, a table of contents and two sample chapters of your work (or approximately 50 pages). Don’t staple pages together and make sure your name and the page number is on top.

To learn more or visit their submission guidelines, go here.