Last Updated September 2025

The Feminist Press was established as an independent nonprofit literary publisher in 1970.  The Feminist Press is the oldest women’s publishing house in the world. They are open to submission from female/female identifying, and non binary authors. They publish literary fiction and works of nonfiction.

It is easy to get a feel for what they publish by visiting their new releases section, although it can be helpful to note what was published as a result of a contest and what was not. It is also helpful to read their mission statement. They host a number of contests every year, as well as being open to submissions on an ongoing basis. They are only interested in complete manuscripts.

They accept digital and mailed submissions, but prefer digital ones. All digital submissions must be attached in the form of a PDF.

They ask that you submit a proposal, which includes a synopsis of your work, three sample chapters (or at least 50 pages), a short author bio, and a brief marketing plan, along with your contact information

They receive hundreds of submissions a year and only publish 15 books a year. They don’t say how long response times are, but they imply that they are considerable.

They are currently closed to submissions but strive for having one reading period per year. They haven’t yet announced exactly when their next reading period will be, but they have said this “The next call will be winter 2025/2026.” and it will be “open to international literature, hybrid memoirs and nonfiction, literary fiction, short story collections, and anthologies.”

Their submission guidelines are here.

Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, The 2019 Guide to Manuscript Publishers, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The Authors Publish Guide to Children’s and Young Adult Publishing.

She occasionally teaches a course on manuscript publishing, as well as a course on publishing in literary journals.