Mission Statement

Ooligan Press is a student-run trade press rooted in the Pacific Northwest dedicated to cultivating the next generation of publishing professionals. We prioritize literary equity and inclusion. Ooligan strives to publish culturally relevant titles from our local, marginalized voices in order to make literature accessible and redefine who has a place within its pages.

Our Interests

We seek to publish regionally significant works of literary, historical, and social value to the Pacific Northwest.

We recognize the importance of comprehensive representation and diversity, particularly within the publishing industry, and are committed to building a literary community that includes traditionally underserved voices; therefore, we encourage works originating from, or focusing on, the experiences that come from these people and communities within the Pacific Northwest.

Additionally, our press is concerned with sustainability and the future of the publishing industry’s impact on the planet. Our OpenBook series represents our pledge to transparency in sustainable book production. By focusing on responsible and efficient printing methods, the titles in our OpenBook series are published with minimal environmental impact. We welcome work that examines and engages these issues.

Submission Guidelines

We invite you to submit the following:

• Literary fiction
• Young adult fiction
• Nonfiction
• Memoir
• Books about the craft and teaching of writing, publishing, and book production
• Books on sustainable practices

Please note we will not consider the following:

• Poetry
• Children's picture and middle grade books
• Religious books
• Self-help books

We also do not accept agented submissions.

The process:

• Please submit a query letter and the first ten pages of your manuscript.
• Notify us of any content/trigger warnings. As a teaching press, graduate students often read the submitted manuscripts, so please advise us of any potentially sensitive content in your work.
• If we like what we see, we will request a proposal package including the full manuscript. Do not submit a proposal package until requested.
• Your manuscript will be evaluated by several editors in our press.
• Once your proposal package has been evaluated and a decision reached, we will contact you.
• Due to the nature of our press and our extended review process, please note that proposal evaluations may take as long as six months.
• Thank you for submitting—we appreciate your patience.

Please note that Ooligan has two acquiring seasons: fall for nonfiction and spring for fiction. We read every submission, and submissions received outside of these seasons will still be reviewed and evaluated by our editors, but they are unlikely to be considered for publication in the upcoming season and response times may be longer.

Thank you for your interest in Ooligan Press! We look forward to reading your manuscripts.