Ugly Duckling Presse

ABOUT

Ugly Duckling Presse is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit publishing collective founded in 1993, run without a single editor-in-chief but through a rotating group of editors and volunteers who make design, production, and acquisition decisions collectively. It is best known for its commitment to the physical object of the book: many titles are letterpress-printed, hand-bound, or otherwise produced in-house using traditional printing equipment the collective maintains itself. Over three decades UDP has built a catalog centered on poetry, translation, and experimental writing, with dedicated imprints for specific projects — including the Eastern European Poets Series, Emergency Playscripts, Señal (contemporary Latin American poetry in translation), the Lost Literature Series, and Dossier — alongside artist books, periodicals like Second Factory, and works of drama, performance text, and nonfiction.

UDP does not run a standard open submissions queue in the manner of a magazine; most titles arrive through the collective's own curatorial relationships, translation initiatives, or periodic themed calls and imprint-specific reading periods, so writers should watch the site and mailing list for announcements rather than expect a year-round general submission form. The press's finances run substantially on book sales and a subscription program (the 'Full Presse' annual subscription), which funds print runs and keeps prices low; no reading fee is advertised. As with most small nonprofit literary presses, compensation for authors is modest and typically structured around author copies and small royalties rather than advances — nothing on the site specifies exact payment terms. The New & Forthcoming list turns over frequently (multiple titles announced across any given season), and UDP maintains an active events calendar of launches and readings, mostly in Brooklyn and other cities, which is a good way to track a title's release before it's formally announced.