- Feliza Casano is the editor in chief of Glass Tower Press.

Growing up I learned that poetry was about a nice, cleanly presented rhyme and meter, about placing whatever message you wanted to express fit nicely into someone else’s mold. In grade school and throughout high school, I found myself being pushed away from a language that I could not understand or relate to. I was shown the famous Shakespearean sonnets and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and told that this is the poetry to learn from.

I remember staring blankly at the words, reading them over and over again, but without much hope at finding meaning. It left an awful taste in my mouth, and I decided that poetry was not for me. After that, any thought of reading it was met with resistance.

Little did I know that poetry wasn’t finished with me.

I’ve learned a lot since then and my appreciation for the English language has grown. I no longer think about words as something I just have to get through, but as something to be savored, and I’ve learned how to write my own poetry in modern terms.

The form that I have experimented so frequently is called free verse, and it changed the way in which I viewed everything  I have learned up to this point.

Free verse is an attempt to emulate actual thoughts or words and put them onto the page in that way. The rhyme is a natural rhyme created through the words of our own vocabulary, unique to each of us. The meter is a natural meter, following the speaker’s breath and cadence developed over a lifetime.

Poetry is about moving out of time. Taking a microscope to a single moment that may otherwise go overlooked and looking to see what’s inside. And by inside, I mean outside and all of the things surrounding you.

This love of poetry has brought me full circle. I believe that there are others in the same position that I was in and I do not want them to be so quick to push poetry away. I am proud to announce the opening of Stained Glass Books, an imprint of Glass Tower Press interested in contests for and the publication of up and coming poets.

Because we know that gaining traction in the literary word can be difficult, we hope to allow poets to build their portfolio through publishing accepted submissions, as well as winning money though a variety of contests. We are also accepting submissions for poetry chapbooks.

At Stained Glass Books, we are interested in creating genuine handmade books, as real as the thoughts and words that will be found inside of them.  We’re looking forward to your submissions and developing a strong literary community in Toledo.

- Alan Beyersdorf is the poetry editor at Glass Tower Press and the imprint Stained Glass Books.

Since starting our reboot in November, we’ve had a number of structural changes to our website.  Our submissions and guidelines pages have changed dramatically, and we have added a page of submissions we will not accept that is separate from our guidelines page in order to make the guidelines page more streamlined.

We have also added a new submission managing program through the site Submishmash.  Submishmash offers a great submission system separated into categories.  Accounts to submit are totally free, and you can use it to submit to any of a number of publications on their site.  Eventually, we plan to expand our use of Submishmash to include contest entries and other types of submissions.

Many of these changes are thanks at least in part to our new staff member.  If you head on over to the Staff page, you’ll find we have a new poetry editor.  Welcome to Alan Beyersdorf, who will now be accepting poetry chapbook submissions for Glass Tower Press!

In the future, Glass Tower Press may be looking for more staff as submissions increase.  Please stay tuned to get more information, particularly upcoming information about GTP accepting potential high school and college interns.

- Feliza Casano is the founder and editor in chief of Glass Tower Press.

Submissions of all genre will be accepted, excluding genres and submissions outlined on our dedicated page.

Manuscripts will be considered for publication during GTP’s 2013 publishing year.  We hope to publish up to 5 chapbooks of both poetry and fiction.

Poems must be fully developed before submission; workshopping poetry before submitting is encouraged.  Please submit query, two sample poems, and full collection outline for poetry.  For short stories, please submit query and full text.

Novel and novella submissions will also be accepted.  Please follow Glass Tower Press’ general submission guidelines for novels, which can be found here.

Submit digital copy in PDF format to gtp.editor@gmail.com.  You can also contact the editor at that address with any questions or other inquiries.

Those interested in buying copies of any GTP title or merchandise can purchase it directly from our Big Cartel application on our Facebook page.

Please note purchases will include shipping and handling costs.

• We’re always looking for interesting and thought-provoking Asian-American poetry collections.  We are looking for poetry about the AsianAm experience as well as the experience of immigrants from all nations.
• Currently interested in poetry about the Arab-American and Muslim American experience.
• We are also currently interested in the “hometown America” style of poetry.  An example of this, though it’s not poetry, is Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio short story collection.
• Lyrical poetry with whimsical language
• Collections of several haiku centering on a very specific theme

Currently, we are not interested in the following:

• Experimental or explicit poetry collections
• “Romantic” love poetry

Please refer to our Submissions page to find out how to submit a poetry collection to Glass Tower Press.

Authors and poets are invited to submit poetry collections of at least six poems and individual stories of at least 1,500 words related to the Theme 2012 “Hope & Hopelessness.”

Manuscripts will be considered for publication during GTP’s 2012 publishing year.  We hope to publish up to 5 chapbooks and a short story collection.

Poems must be fully developed before submission; workshopping poetry before submitting is encouraged.  Please submit query, two sample poems, and full collection outline for poetry.

For short stories, please submit query and full text.

Novel submissions will also be accepted.  Please follow Glass Tower Press’ general submission guidelines for novels, which can be found here.

Submit digital copy in PDF format to gtp.editor [at] gmail [dot] com.

Submissions wanted for ENDINGS-THE DENOUEMENT are works themed around “Endings,” the end of something old with the element of something else beginning. All fiction should be innovative and interesting. Possible genres include light fantasy, thriller, and horror. Glass Tower Press would prefer short story submissions between 1,500 words and 4,000 words, although 1-page submissions of poetry will also be considered.

To submit to the contest, please include a cover letter and one copy of the work. The text of the submission should be in 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins. The deadline to submit to the ENDINGS-THE DENOUEMENT contest is 31 March 2011.

Entry fees are $5 for the first work and $2 for all additional works. Fee payments accepted by check only. Works must be submitted at the same time to receive entry fee discount for additional works. Monetary and merchandise prizes will be awarded to First, Second, and Third Place contest winners. Runners-up (up to 5) will receive one Glass Tower Press title. Honorable mentions (up to 7) will receive a certificate. All winners will have the chance to be published in the ENDINGS-THE DENOUEMENT collection, scheduled for release in late 2012.

All entries should be mailed to the following address:

ENDINGS-THE DENOUEMENT Contest
Glass Tower Press
506 Ogden Ave.
Toledo, OH 43609

You may also contact Feliza Casano, Editor, at gtp.editor@gmail.com.

GTP is looking for the following submissions this summer for possible release in an August 2010 publication:

• Short Stories (Teen or College)
• Book Reviews (preferably YA novels)
• Literature-related articles

Submissions are open to all student writers, fitting with GTP’s mission statement.  GTP is also looking for distributors in the Northwest/Northeast Ohio areas, including urban areas and college campuses.

Interested parties can contact the editor at gtp[dot]editor[at]gmail[dot]com.

The store is hosted at Big Cartel and contains sales for GTP’s first title, The TECH Project.  Other items will eventually be posted to the shop, including specialized merchandise and book-related items.

If you would like to request specific items, such as specialty T-shirts or different editions of books, please contact the Editor through the form on the store site.

The URL for the GTP Online Store is http://glasstowerpress.bigcartel.com.