Woodley Press is no longer accepting manuscripts for submission. Thank you.
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What’s up with that? Since when does Woodley Press not accept manuscripts for submission?
Think of it as the last straightaway of an exhilarating race, with the finish line in sight.
That’s how it seems to us here at Woodley Press.
Slowly but surely, we are closing our doors. After publishing scores of books by Kansas authors on Kansas themes over nearly 50 years – and we’re proud of all of them – this non-profit is winding down the presses.
The reasons? There are several.
Publishing has changed a lot in the last 45 years. In 1979 any promising author could only ship their manuscript to one of the big publishers and then wait and hope for months. Very seldom were these manuscripts ever published by the big houses.
Woodley Press was founded in order to showcase those authors, give them a viable outlet, give them visibility, in short, give them standing in the arts community. We gave them their book.
Today’s authors have many more possibilities: personal websites, poetry- and fiction-committed websites welcoming outside submissions with open arms, personal blogs, Twitter/Facebook/Substack/Medium/The Millions/YouTube/others, not to mention self-publishing, whose cost had decreased and whose distribution has increased.
That accounts for the changes in the world outside Woodley. How about internally?
Woodley has from the start been run by a volunteer Board, hardworking, committed, passionate about Kansas authors…and completely uncompensated.
A mix of recent retirements, career and personal relocations, and deaths, has thinned the ranks of the Board considerably. Some of us have simply aged out. The pandemic did us no good, that’s for sure, reducing our personal cross-state meetings to Zoom calls, and loosening the bonds of mutual interest that only comes with face-to-face exchanges. Once the pandemic slowed it, Woodley became a hard engine to start back up. In consultation with all the members of the Board, we have decided to wind things down officially.
We will have administrative tasks to attend to, and various filings to make to agencies. However, we stopped accepting new manuscripts for consideration half a year ago. That’s a first in these 45 years; so you see, we really are applying the brakes.
For now we will continue to fulfill orders for existing books, both hard copy and online, but reality tells us that we can’t do so forever. Non-profit or not, it costs money to start up an organization such as this, it costs money to run it, and it costs money to close it down. Some funds must be preserved for these expenses. And, as per the law, any funds left over need to be directed to another non-profit with approximately the same mission, and we want to nurture those funds for that future recipient. We will be in touch with our authors in the near future.
(I will say that in new hands, perhaps younger hands, Woodley Press could still – easily – be a going concern, and a great one. It will be necessary to maintain a commitment to its original mission, to publish the best of Kansas authors and Kansas themes. If that interests you and you have a passion for the creative written word…drop us a line.)
This Press started as a tribute by Dr. Robert Lawson to his office mate, Bob Woodley, both of Washburn University. May we all have a friendship like that one and may that friendship be based upon a common love of books, ideas, and rich conversation, as that one was.
Not everyone knows to walk away at the top of their game; we think we do. We did what we came to do – over decades! – and we couldn’t be prouder.
Thanks to all our authors and artists, and thanks especially to our readers. And most especially to the many fine souls over the years, current and past, who have served on The Woodley Press Board: gracias, molto bene, danke schoen, thank you, thank you, thank you. It’s been an absolute honor.
Larry McGurn
President, Woodley Press
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Woodley Press strives to publish books by Kansans or books that focus on Kansas.
Please send blinded book manuscripts as a single file (in Word format or PDF). The writer's name should not appear anywhere on the book manuscript.
Currently, we consider only the following: poetry collection manuscripts, short story manuscripts, novel and novella manuscripts, and nonfiction narrative manuscripts.
Please do not send genre work, such as westerns or science fiction.
As a separate file, send us the following: book manuscript title, your name, your email and postal addresses, your phone number.
Email your submission to woodleysubmissions [at] gmail.com.
Simultaneous submissions are welcome. Please do not send manuscripts previously considered by Woodley Press unless we have specifically asked you to resubmit.
Note: Woodley Press is comprised solely of volunteers. Our reading process often moves slowly. Please allow six months to a year for a manuscript decision.