Dorothy, a publishing project is an award-winning feminist press dedicated to works of fiction or near fiction or writing about fiction.

Each fall, we publish two new books simultaneously. We work to pair books that draw upon different aesthetic traditions, because a large part of our interest in literature lies in its possibilities, its endless stylistic and formal variety.

The press is named for its editor’s paternal great-aunt Dorothy Traver. Dorothy was a librarian, rose gardener, animal lover, children’s book author, and bookmobile driver who regularly gifted her niece children’s books stamped with an owl bookplate. Read more about Dorothy here.

You can learn more about the press in interviews and articles at Publishers Weekly, CLMP, The Atlantic, Paris Review Daily, The Millions, literaturhaus, Speculative City, Kenyon Review, Kirkus, The New York Times, and Vol. 1 Brooklyn.

 

E-NEWSLETTER

 

SUBMISSIONS

Submissions are currently closed. Please read all of the information below before emailing us to ask us any questions about submissions.

We are open to submissions for the first two weeks of September, every September. Submissions will open on September 1 and close on September 14. During the 2024 open reading period we will be reading for books to be published in the autumn of 2026. If you’re considering submitting work, the best way to get to know what we might be interested in is to read some of the work we’ve already published.

We accept agented and un-agented submissions; simultaneous submissions are perfectly fine.

Every submission should include: 1) a brief description of the book-length manuscript in question (no lengthy plot synopsis or pitch letter required; a paragraph or two is all we need), 2) a brief author’s and/or translator’s bio, 3) the first 20 pages of the manuscript pasted into the body of the email.

Please note: Dorothy publishes works of fiction or near fiction or writing about fiction. Arguably, we do not publish memoirs or poetry (if you wonder what we mean by “arguably,” please familiarize yourself with our catalog). We will only consider one submission per writer per reading period. We will not open any attachment that we haven’t specifically asked for. We also ask that you please not send us any physical submission materials via snail mail. We are very few people dealing with an extremely high number of submissions, so any submissions that do not follow our instructions will not be considered or responded to.

Our response time can be anywhere from one week to several months. We appreciate your interest in Dorothy and your patience as we read our way up to and through your submission. We will get back to everyone who submitted and respected our guidelines.

All submissions and questions about submissions should be sent to the following email account only (submissions sent to other accounts may not be considered):
dorothysubmissions@gmail [dot] com

 

masthead

co-founder and editor / designer
Danielle Dutton
editors@dorothyproject [dot] com

co-founder and publisher
Martin Riker
publisher@dorothyproject [dot] com
publicity@dorothyproject [dot] com

foreign rights
Kate Johnson
kate@wolflit [dot] com

editorial interns
Hannah Kofman  & Amy Peltz
(MFA students at Washington University in St. Louis)

web
Ben Donnelly
Amarnath Ravva

owl logo
Yelena Bryksenkova

former (beloved) interns
David Ehmcke, Natasha Muhametzyanova, Ally Findley, Stephen Mortland, Edil Hassan, Sebastian Mazza, Cora Lewis, Precious Musa, Irina Teveleva, Halley Parry, Red Samaniego, Robin Tripp, Meghan Lamb, Christina Wood Martinez, Erinrose Mager

 

MAILING ADDRESS

Dorothy, a publishing project
PO Box 300433
St. Louis, MO 63130

 

“A decade ago Danielle Dutton and Martin Riker began their Dorothy publishing project, putting out two books by mostly contemporary women writers each fall, a list that has become its own canon, challenging and upending the potentialities of fiction in this current landscape.”
Kate Zambreno, BOMB Magazine

“I love everything about Dorothy. I love the incredible women writers; I love the design, so beautiful; I love that they streak across the sky every autumn, the genius of just two books a year, just carried out perfectly.”
Barbara Epler, President of New Directions

“Inventive, idealistic publishers are as important, and praiseworthy, as their writers, because they support and promote the art of writing. My choice for best book of 2014 is Dorothy, a publishing project.”
Lynne Tillman, salon