About
In Canadian vernacular, Upper Rubber Boot is slang for a remote, possibly unhip, probably insignificant place, much like America’s Podunk. Upper Rubber Boot Books was founded in July 2011 to give a voice to writers working from a (metaphorically) remote place, and to that end we publish fine literary and speculative writing, with a special focus on poetry and short story collections, genres which have a particularly difficult time finding a home in the publishing world. Our editions are available as ebooks only.
If you buy the wrong format, we will replace it. Likewise, if you decide to change e-readers and have purchased one of our books for your old device, we will replace it with a copy compatible with your new device, assuming we publish one. Simply email us at joanne at upperrubberboot dot com with a copy of your original receipt, and let us know which format you would like to switch to.
Please note that Upper Rubber Boot Books never uses DRM. If you discover DRM on any of our titles, it was put there by the bookseller—please let us know so we can correct the situation with our vendor.
Submissions: We are open to submissions. We look for poetry and fiction with a unique vision and honed language that goes beyond the merely functional. We’re interested in new work, and also in reissuing older work which is no longer available to the public in any form (or is only available in a language other than English, and you own English-language rights, and can provide the manuscript in English) and which is still vital and relevant to today’s audience. The editor has special loves for: literary work with speculative elements and speculative writing with a literary feel; poetry inspired by or explicating science; feminist writing; writing from traditions outside the English-language publishing world; and writing from the American South and Canadian Maritimes; but we’re not limiting ourselves to those categories. Writers need not have previous book publications, but we do require that writers have at least a handful of individual pieces published in anthologies, journals or magazines. Please do not send submissions via postal mail. Send your complete manuscript as a .RTF to joanne at upperrubberboot dot com with a cover letter briefly telling us about yourself and listing your previous publications (if this is a long list, please limit it to one page by selecting some more recent or representative works). We do not take simultaneous submissions. We try to reply within a month or two.
For cover art submissions, please contact us by email to direct us to your work online, and let us know what areas you work in so we can keep your name on file for future projects as needed.
Review copies: Please simply email the editor at editor@upperrubberboot.com to let her know what you would like to review, and where you plan to publish.
URB’s Editor is Joanne Merriam, a Nova Scotian poet and short story writer living in Nashville. She is the author of The Glaze from Breaking (Stride, 2005; URB, 2011). When you submit unsolicited to URB, you’re submitting to her.
URB’s Acquisitions Editor is Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum. His writing has appeared in The Missouri Review, storySouth, New Letters, Glimmer Train, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Potomac Review, and many others.
You can reach us at:
Upper Rubber Boot Books
PO Box 41232, Nashville, TN 37204
But please don’t send submissions here.
