View the event in the AWP Schedule.

Room 2505AB, Kansas City Convention Center, Level 2
Thursday, February 8, 2024
10:35 am to 11:50 am

Independent publishers publish some of the most dynamic and exciting books in the literary landscape, often launching debut writers’ first books or chapbooks. This panel, featuring publishing veterans from prominent independent presses, will demystify the process of submitting to and publishing work with an indie press. Panelists will share the benefits and challenges of working with an indie press, as well as tips for how to put your best foot forward when submitting your work to indie presses.

Moderator: Margot Atwell (she/her) is a writer, editor, publisher, and community funding expert. She is the executive director and publisher at Feminist Press. She's the author of Derby Life, coauthor of The Insider's Guide to Book Publishing Success, and writes the On the Books newsletter about money and arts.

Ryo Yamaguchi is the publicist at Copper Canyon Press. He is the author of The Refusal of Suitors (Noemi Press), and has been a book critic for Harriet Books at the Poetry Foundation and Michigan Quarterly Review, among others. His poems have appeared widely, including The Best American Poetry 2020.

Kate Arden McMullen is the managing editor of Hub City Press, a nonprofit independent publisher of extraordinary writers from the American South. She is on the lookout for voice-driven literary works from the margins of Southern experience. Kate received her MFA in fiction from UNC-Wilmington.

Cat Fitzpatrick is the editrix at LittlePuss Press, and the director of women's and gender studies at Rutgers University Newark. Her novel in rhyme, The Call-Out (Seven Stories) won the 2023 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction.