PLEASE NOTE: WE HAVE A FULL SCHEDULE FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE AND UNFORTUNATELY ARE CLOSED FOR SUBMISSIONS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. PLEASE JOIN OUR MAILING LIST FOR UPDATES.

Waterloo Press Publication Schemes

Waterloo Press is a not-for-profit organisation run by an editorial and design collective, the members of which work pro bono or for substantially less than market rates, while also maintaining day jobs. We aim to produce 5-10 new titles per year, and publish new work under the auspices of these separate schemes:

1) Public Funding

Two major grants from Arts Council England have funded the 2019-2020 LIT-UP programme for emerging poets of colour; the 2020 relaunch of our website; and the publication of 12 new titles over 2009-2011, including two translations.

A grant from the NHS Artists’ Award Scheme of the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust enabled the publication of The Hats We Wear/ Blank Versing the Past (2009), an anthology of mental health service users’ writing.

The Sur Program for Translation Support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of the Argentine Republic funded – in 2010, 2012 and 2017 – the publication of six translations of Argentinean poetry.

2) Cooperative Publishing Scheme

Cooperative publishing (also called ‘hybrid publishing) is an emerging model whereby writers work with the publisher to fund their titles. This differs from vanity press publishing in two critical respects: a) the press chooses the work on the basis of literary merit and b) the press does not seek to make a profit from the book. The cost to the poet is far lower than most vanity presses, and our model is designed for the poet to break even if they sell a respectable number of copies.

Due to staff illness we are holding back on launching this scheme. Further details of the scheme will be announced when all staff members are back in full health.

In the meantime, please note that you do not necessarily need to have the funds upfront: the scheme allows for funding via subscription, a form of crowd-funding to generate advance orders. however, that simply being able to help raise the funds for your book will by no means guarantee its acceptance. We are at all times looking for poetry that formally and thematically excites, moves, challenges and informs us. Your ability to help raise advance orders reflects well on the strength and importance of your work. It will also demonstrate your commitment to a community of readers and fellow writers, a commitment we regard as vital to the health of the poetry world.

3) Private Donations / Adopt-a-Book Scheme

Waterloo Press has benefited in the past from the generosity of private benefactors, most particularly our co-founder Sonja Ctvrtecka. We are always open to donations from individuals who wish to support our editorial mandate to publish the best of radical poetry. Without compromising our editorial integrity, we work closely with donors to ensure they fund books they can be proud of.

The Adopt-a-Book Scheme, inaugurated in 2022, invites donors to fund or part-fund a particular volume or reprint, either as a full donation or a long-term loan to be paid back as and when the books sell. Adopters may remain anonymous, or, if they wish, are encouraged to dedicate the print run to a person of their choice, and to write a WP blog post exploring their connection to the book. Waterloo Press thanks Royston Murphy, our first Adopter, for part-funding the reprint of b/w (2010) by the late Niall McDevitt, and for his moving blog post in memory of his sister, Cordelia Murphy, and the bohemian gestalt she shared with Niall. We also thank Julie Goldsmith, Niall’s partner, for purchasing copies of b/w to make available at the various live events that will honour Niall in coming months and years.

Submissions

Submissions are currently closed. For more information on the cooperative publishing scheme when it is announced, please join our mailing list by emailing us at <info@waterloopress.co.uk> .

Waterloo Press is an Equal Opportunities publishing house with a decolonial ethos, and actively encourages submissions from poets from a diverse range of cultural and social backgrounds. Modernists and translators too, are most welcome!

Waterloo Press
95 Wick Hall
Furze Hill
Hove, BN3 1NG
UK