Persea Books is an independent book publisher based out of New York that was established in the 1970s. Since then they have gained a reputation for publishing thoughtful books in a variety of literary genres.
They have an extensive catalog and fairly good distribution. You can often find their books in bookstores, libraries, schools, and universities. They are not interested in popular fiction, children’s books, text books, self-help books, genre work, social science or psychology books.
They are open to receiving fiction and non-fiction submissions via the post or email from authors directly. This includes queries regarding novels, novellas, short story collections, biography, essays, literary criticism, literature in translation, memoir, neglected works that merit rediscovery, and anthologies that would interest the general reader of literary books, as well as anthologies that could be assigned in secondary and university classrooms.
At this time they are particularly encouraging submissions to their growing Young Adult list in non-fiction, fiction, and poetry. These books are aimed at the educational market as well as literary readers.
As of March 1, 2016, due to high volume, they no longer respond to email queries unless they are interested. If you have not heard from them in eight weeks assume they are not interested.
Queries must include a cover letter, author background and publication history, as well as a synopsis of the proposed work, and a sample chapter. You can simultaneously submit to Persea but please indicate it in your submission to them.
You should make sure to study their backlist before submitting, to get a better understanding of what specifically they are looking for.
Submissions of poetry queries should be made only via email, and they are generally interested only in poets with a publication history either in terms of literary journals or previously published books or chapbooks. Submit no more than 12 pages for their consideration. They will only contact poets if they are interested in seeing more of the work.
To learn more about Persea or to submit, visit their submission guidelines here.
