River River Books: 2024 Open Reading Period Report

Ten days ago, River River Books’ two-month summer reading period closed. What an incredible response we received this year.

This was our third reading period, and we set a new high mark for manuscripts received. In Year 1, we received 264. Last year it was 309. This year, a whopping 334. It says something good about the world, we think, that there are so many poets out there with something to say and a book’s worth of poems they believe in. We’re honored to be trusted with these collections.

The quality of the field this year is so, so high. Four of the collections have already been withdrawn because they were picked up elsewhere—a heartfelt congratulations to those poets. We love to see it!

Our submissions remain fee optional, with no required payment. But we do accept tip jar donations, and in all honesty, that generosity is essential for sustaining the press. This year, 190 of our submitters (about 58 percent) donated about $2800, an average of around $15 per donor. It’s hard to fully express how grateful we are for this. Running a small press is a labor of love, certainly, but so many things we do require capital: paying our designer, printing, shipping, nominating the books for prizing, hosting the website, etc., etc., etc. We could not do it without the support of the community around us.

As in past years, we kept our question for submitters: What’s your favorite river? The answers, once again, provided delight. So much love for the Ohio River in particular. We were delighted to see Alabama’s Cahaba River on the list, as it’s also the favorite of editor Amorak. There were unnamed local rivers, famous international rivers, and mythical rivers. Some people took the time to tell stories about the importance of waters in their lives. Thank you for indulging us, and thank you for loving rivers as we do.

Both editors will read every submission and consult on our final choices. We started reading early this year and have been reading all along, so we’re fully expecting to be able to announce our final choices of (at least) two new books much sooner than we did last year.

We can’t wait to make those choices and share them with you!