West Virginia University Press publishes literary short fiction, fiction, and creative nonfiction by both new and established writers. Historically, WVU Press has published literary fiction with a focus on Appalachian culture, and although this continues to be an important part of its mission, its scope now expands beyond this region as it seeks to publish original voices from across the globe. With this in mind, WVU Press is dedicated to publishing literature that deals with diverse aspects of all cultures and bears a strong sense of place.

Agents and solicited submissions may email queries to submissions@wvupress.com

We accept unsolicited proposals from authors of all backgrounds (previously published or not) via email only. In return, we ask that you familiarize yourself with our publishing list in order to determine if your manuscript is a good fit for WVU Press. You may email queries and submissions to submissions@wvupress.com

West Virginia University Press no longer publishes creative work under the Vandalia Press imprint. All creative work will be published under West Virginia University Press.

At this time we are not accepting proposals for historical fiction, novellas, unsolicited poetry, young adult fiction, or children's books. We do accept proposals for other genres, especially short story collections and novels. Creative nonfiction may be considered.

To submit:
Please provide, at minimum, a synopsis of the project, a short personal bio, and two chapters for a novel or creative nonfiction, or two stories for a story collection. You may also provide more information through a proposal.

Email submissions only. We do not accept submissions through the mail, only by email. Please do not call to discuss proposals or submissions, and please do not mail hard copies of your proposal or manuscript. We will not return mailed submissions. 

We do our best to respond to submissions in a timely manner, but due to our staff size and the steady flow of proposal submissions, our review of your proposal may take several weeks or months. If the fiction editor would like to read your full manuscript, you will be contacted. We cannot respond to letters, phone calls, or emails requesting proposal status.