Welcome to the Submittable Page for Book Submissions to Green Writers Press. 

Thank you for your interest in our small, indie publishing house located in rural Vermont. Due to some health issues in 2026, we have decided to slow down and regain our (mighty!) strength. Our publisher, Dede Cummings, had a stroke in March, which is partly why we need to take a breather . . . Our reading period for poetry (only, for 2027) is open from March 1, 2027, until June 1, 2027.

Green Writers Press is an independent, women-owned, Vermont publisher whose mission is to spread a message of hope and renewal through the words and images we publish and to print our books sustainably. Throughout we will adhere to our commitment to preserving and protecting the natural resources of the earth. To that end, a percentage of our proceeds will be donated to environmental and social activist groups. In the past twelve years, Green Writers Press has expanded significantly, publishing authors such as Julia Alvarez, David Budbill, Chard deNiord, John Elder, Dr. M Jackson, former Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin, Congresswoman Becca Balint, Sharyn Skeeter, Ha Kiet Chau, and Clarence Major. The start-up publishing company was invited to be part of the Women’s Convention in 2017, was a finalist for the Association of Writers and Writing Program’s Publisher of the Year Award in 2019, and was a recipient of The Vermont Literary Inspiration Award in 2019. Recently, Founder Dede Cummings was invited to appear on “The Innovation Station,” at the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI) at the U.S. Department of State. Book Awards include: Nautilus, Foreword Reviews INDIES Awards, Green Earth Book Awards, John J. Burroughs Riverby Award, Banff Mountain Literature Fiction Award and Grand Prize; Fiction Finalist for the California Book Award, New England Book Award Finalist in Poetry, LitHub 100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025, the 2026 Paterson Poetry Prize, and more. Read more at www.greenwriterspress.com. We are a literary press based in rural Vermont, with a focus is nature, environment, social/racial/environmental justice, gender/and all forms of collective liberation and activism. 

Artificial Intelligence should not be used in any manner to develop the content of the manuscript submission.

We value your work, as our submitters, and we do not charge a reading fee (only for a contest or book prize). We try to respond in a timely manner (but, honestly, we can't always keep up), so allow for 6-9 months (and feel free to email us if you want to be sure your manuscript is in proces. Since we are a small organization and so swamped with inquiries, we don't want you to feel lost if we don't get right back to you

Independent Publishers Group (IPG) in Chicago handles our distribution for all our books, and they are very good at what they do and keep impeccable records. The nice part is that bookstores and libraries can order all of our books directly from IPG (usually with a 40-50% discount), or through other wholesalers like Ingram (must include the not-desirable Amazon here), Barnes & Noble, and the educational distributor, Follett. 

Visit our Bookshop.org affiliate page to see some of our books!

PRIZES & SPECIAL SUBMISSIONS:

We plan to also offer a GWP Poetry Prize for a first or second poetry collection—open to new and established poets—so stay tuned for that! Hopefully, we will announce details soon. 

Our Howard Frank Mosher Book Prize in Fiction is a publication prize for a novelist or short story writer from Vermont or one who writes about Vermont and/or the themes that resonate so well with Howard's work: love, friendship, forgiveness, nature, Vermont, solitude, that are part of Howard's literary legacy. Vermont residency is not required. We will open the prize for submissions, hopefully in 2028.

The Hopper

In 2014, we founded an environmental literary magazine called The Hopper, which is now independent of our small press. To find out more, you can go to this link to find details about submitting poetry, fiction, essays, and artwork. Some of the Hopper authors publish books with us, too! 

Whole Terrain

In 2022, we co-published our first issue of Whole Terrain, Antioch University New England’s nationally acclaimed journal of reflective environmental practice, which is dedicated to the experiences of those who have chosen the environment as the basis of their work. Whole Terrain cultivates reflective thought and mindful awareness in an effort to create a balance between humanity and the Earth.

Information about submitting to Whole Terrain can be found here. 

Sundog Poetry Center

Sundog Poetry Center is pleased to continue publishing work by Vermont poets with an annual book award for a first or second poetry manuscript, in partnership with Green Writers Press, which will design, print, and distribute the book nationwide. The final judge for the inaugural Sundog Poetry Book Award was Vermont Poet Laureate and award-winning poet, Mary Ruefle. The 2021 judge was Dartmouth College professor and poet Vievee Francis. This contest is open to all Vermont-based poets. Submissions of manuscripts of a first or second book by a Vermont poet. A cash prize of $500 will be awarded along with 50 copies. Sundog Poetry will assist with promotion through a featured book launch and readings scheduled throughout the state. Manuscripts should be between 48 and 64 pages. All submissions must be authored by a poet who resides in Vermont; proof of residency will be requested, along with a $20 application fee online via Submittable. 

Information about our Sundog Poetry Prize can be found here. ~~~~~Our themes revolve around the environment and doing something to save it from greed and destruction. You can read about our awesome freelance team on our website, and we have the best interns on the planet. We march, we grow our own food, we care about social and migrant justice, we want to live with the smallest carbon footprint possible, we went to Standing Rock to stand with the Native American water protectors, and we care deeply about the environment and the fate of Mother Earth—sadly, it is more important now in 2026-27 with the horrible, despicable, oligarchy in power. 

Oh, and we love to read, and most of our editors are also working writers! Please join us, as readers, writers, activists, artists . . . We look forward to reading your work! THE EDs.