Contributing
The Nervous Breakdown features the work of published and emerging authors and poets from around the world. Our submissions guidelines for each section are listed below. Please read them carefully. If you would like to be considered as a potential regular contributor to our Nonfiction and/or Arts & Culture sections, please contact us at [email protected].
Guidelines go as follows:
1.) E-mails should be 500 words or less.
2.) Please tell us a bit about yourself: who you are, what you’ve published, work experience, life experience, what you’d like to write for us, etc.
3.) Please provide up to five links to any of your writing that currently appears on the Web.
Thank you.
Book Reviews
From Shya Scanlon, Book Reviews Editor:
Submitting Books for Review
The Nervous Breakdown considers books in the categories of poetry, literary fiction, literary genre, cross-genre/slipstream, literary nonfiction, memoir, and graphic novels. Our tastes cover wide terrain, but often veer toward smart, edgy, niche or otherwise underrepresented areas of these genres. Likewise, we love to cover books not only by mainstream presses, but by the indies and micros too. Of course, the best way to get a sense of what we like to read is by reading the reviews we’ve already published.
If you feel that your book, or a book you represent, may be a good fit for coverage in The Nervous Breakdown, please send an ebook or PDF of the contents to: [email protected], along with links to appropriate press materials and a publication date. We will contact you the moment we decide upon covering your title, and you will be asked to send a physical copy directly to the reviewer.
Thank you for your interest!
TNB Arts & Culture
From the Editors:
The Arts & Culture section features artists of note and cultural movers and shakers across a wide spectrum. If you are an artist, agent, publicist, etc., and you have an interest in being “featured” (or having one of your clients featured) in our pages, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you.
TNB Fiction
From the Editors:
The Nervous Breakdown celebrates vibrant and provocative voices in contemporary fiction. We publish short stories and excerpts from novels and novellas by both emerging and established writers. Interested writers should query us first, noting the contributing guidelines above, at [email protected]. It is helpful to us if you become familiar with our Fiction section and let us know which stories stand out for you. This will help us match your submission to the appropriate fiction editor. Thank you.
TNB Nonfiction
From the Editors:
For those interested in writing for us, please see “Contributing” up above.
If you are an author, agent, publicist, etc., and you have an interest in being “featured” (or having one of your clients featured) in our pages, please contact us at [email protected].
TNB Poetry
From the Editors:
We at The Nervous Breakdown Poetry Department generally dig all styles and epochs of poetry. We love and respect the art, the heart and the craft of poetry. This is not to say that we publish all the poetry that we receive. Au contraire. In terms of unsolicited poetry, we are looking for an unusual voice with a palpable sense of craftsmanship and an inherent penchant for cool language synthesized with a distinct style. How your poetry appears on the page is crucial. Unorthodox style is encouraged as long as it holds rationale and is artful. Tone-wise, we prefer a 21st-century edgy piece about being unemployed over a pastoral piece about a stroll on the golf course with your collie or a description of the play of light in your breakfast nook.
That being said, we are open-minded and look forward to publishing not only established poets with books, CDs, and tours, but also up-and-coming bards with extraordinary talent and soul trying to prick the consciousness. And we are called The Nervous Breakdown, so please bear that in mind…
POETRY SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
1.) Please submit 1 to 3 poems, any format, any length, to [email protected]. Poems can be pasted into the body of the e-mail or attached as a Word doc.
2.) A high-resolution headshot, attached as a jpeg.
3.) A 200-to-500 word current bio, written in the third person.
This is a fine opportunity to promote your work to thousands of readers, which in most cases, is a poet’s primary objective.
We will notify you within two weeks.
Truly,
The TNB Poetry Team
