River River Books 2023 Summer Reading Report

This year, we opened a second time for poetry manuscript submissions, 1 June-July 31, 2023 (note that next year, we will open for a shorter period, most likely the month of June, so that we can read manuscripts before the school year begins for Amorak and me).

Now! The statistics for our Summer 2023 Open Reading Period:

• We received 309 manuscript submissions in total this year (compared to last year’s 264).

• 39 manuscripts were withdrawn (five with notifications that they had been accepted elsewhere—congratulations, poets!).

• Amorak and I read 270 manuscripts in December, later than we’d wished; we both had tremendously busy falls with new jobs (and Amorak MOVED!), family health, etc. Thanks for your patience, and the kind notes that poured into our inbox when we sent a notification email that we were still reading, albeit delayed.

• We received $2118.30 via Duosuma’s (optional) tip jar feature. That averages out to $6.85 per submitter, but the reality is that tips ranged from $1-$50, with the majority landing around $15. This money goes directly towards printing and design costs for our titles, and we want to say a profound and warm thank you for supporting our micro poetry press and the writing community. 

• We kept our What’s your favorite river? question in our submission form, and loved your answers, which included “Styx” and “Lethe” and “Roaring Forks River” and “the river of the heart.”

Finalist manuscripts we loved and cheered for, in non-hierarchical order:

The above list is a testament to the wonderful work we read this December, and the absolute difficulty of choosing only two manuscripts to publish in 2025.

Thank you for your trust and support of River River Books

Amorak & Han

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