Old Scratch Press Is Open for Members

Old Scratch Press (OSP), a poetry and short-form collective that I started in 2022, is seeking two new members to join us starting at the end of 2025. I began the press because authors who I had published in Instant Noodles Lit Mag asked me to publish a book of poetry for them. But, as a small indie publisher without a university backing me, it was a big ask to publish one-author-only books of poetry, because books of poetry typically do not sell in a press-sustaining way. I run my various publishing things with my long-suffering husband Dave, and we looked at what the major costs of producing a book are, beyond our time. We decided that, to do it, we'd pay some costs, and some of the labor that had costs associated with it beyond our personal time we could avoid if a group would come together and take on the labor. Basically I went to all the authors I'd worked with in anthologies or the lit mag, and asked them, "If you could trade a little labor for a published book, is it something you'd want to do?" About 40 said yes, about 30 came to the meeting, and about 10 stuck around and signed on, and we just published our 7th book over three years, and the 8th is coming out next month.

OSP, the other members tell me, is a collaborative, grassroots press focused on uplifting fresh, bold voices in poetry, flash fiction, and creative non-fiction. We publish up to three books per year, along with Instant Noodles Lit Mag (3 issues/year), which is curated and edited by our members. To learn more about our work, I invite you to explore past editions of Instant Noodles and OSP-published books.

It's always been our goal, collectively, and mine individually, to have the press grow, and to have a chapbook contest. We've decided to take on the first goal (growth), well, first.

We're opening up the press to new members who might like to get a book out, and might like to join a collaborative group that works to publish together, and learn some stuff about publishing from the publisher's side rather than the author's side.

The particulars about this can be seen in detail here, or read on for the short version:

As a member of OSP, you would:

• Receive a free publication of your manuscript (poetry, short prose, hybrid, any mix of writing and art).
• Get 10 free copies of your book and keep 100% of your royalties.
• Participate in monthly OSP meetings (monthly except December and August, and some other absences are normal).
• Proofread (not edit) and support fellow members’ books and contribute to blog and promo and marketing efforts.
• Be invited to the monthly marketing meetings hosted by Current Words Publishing for all our authors (not just the collective).
• Join a supportive community of working writers committed to mutual aid, creativity, and literary growth.

We’re looking for:

• Writers with a completed or nearly completed manuscript ready for publication in 2026–2027.
• People who can commit to at least two years of active participation (blogging, helping other authors, presenting your work, picking submissions for Instant Noodles, etc.).
• We would love to include more writers (we currently have some) who reflect diversity in identity, perspective, or experience—including (but not limited to) people of color, LGBTQ+ writers, disabled writers, and others underrepresented in publishing.
• Applicants who are not full-time creative writing faculty. We aim to support writers who do not already have institutional resources or access. Adjuncts are okay.
• Writers who have at least a minimal a track record of publication (a few poems, flash pieces, essays, etc.), and a clear desire to communicate something meaningful through their work—someone we can respect as a fellow writer and collaborator.
• Members who are kind, reliable, team-oriented, fun to talk to, and show up for most meetings.

We're going to begin meeting folks on the 19th of July, and we're going to close submissions at the end of August. If you're interested, you can come to the meeting on July 19th. 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89163380848?pwd=RGxVUlJpc1pDdVlBaUR5ODJyejVUZz09

Meeting ID: 891 6338 0848

Passcode: 629066

 

Most members are USA-based, but one outlier is in Brazil by way of his Irish homeland. How that happened no one knows. As you might expect of such a person he's a mad so-and-so, but we love him. We don't mind non-USA-based authors as long as 1. mail (probably US) can reach you to send you copies of your book, and 2. You can attend a Zoom meeting at 8A Pacific time on the third Saturday of the month (barring August and December). We publish through KDP and Ingram Spark.

 

About me, just in case you're curious who is running this thing, I studied poetry writing through an MA and an MFA program, both of which allowed me to work one-on-one with some fantastic authors who included Betsy Scholl, Syd Lea, Juan Felipe Herrera, and Christopher Buckley.  For some reason I decided I could be a publisher, and no one has stopped me. Dave, my long-suffering better half, launched his writing career as a Xeric grant winner for his graphic novel, and has gone on to win other awards, grants, and the like, for his writing and art. He typically makes the covers for the books, and he works very hard to get the authors exactly what they want, and you can see the books here. In some instances, the author has provided the art, and Dave has made it work as a cover, like the books by Doyle, Maril, Golladay, and Elliot. Dave does creative writing all the time, and I tend to push mine to the side to spend more time working with authors, but I'm trying to get better at promoting my own work. The group has members ranging in age from barely 40s to almost 40 years beyond that. Age ain't nuthin' but a number here.

 

One of the more interesting aspects of joining us, I think, is the chance to choose the submissions for Instant Noodles. It's something to sit on the other side of the submission desk. We operate our sites in Wordpress, and some of the members are learning how to actually create the online lit mag, so that's interesting too.

 

Each time the group meets some poor sod takes minutes (and often, sadly, it's me) and we also record the meetings. The visual poet Robert Fleming runs all the meetings, thankfully, and is really good at it. Robert has a lot of connections too, so he has gotten his fellow members interviews and live readings. Nadja Maril helps encourage us all to do our monthly blog posts. Just like with this blog, we each do one. All the authors trade interviews and publicity with each other as we try to help our books find readers. It's a cooperative group beyond my wildest dreams, honestly.

 

In any case, we're a group with a lot of ideas and dreams, and we are hoping to find others like us.

 

Lastly, one of our authors, Ellis Elliott, just published a cozy mystery, not as part of OSP, but in the spirit of OSP, we advertise that too. There are going to be mystery games and giveaways, so take a look and see if you'd like to join the fun for that as well.

And just to be 100% clear, this is not something you pay for. No money is involved, and no salesman will call. It is a free group to belong to, and the group, for free, publishes books for its members and does not share in the royalty. We file US Copyright, and there is no charge for that either. The group will review and vote on the new members, so they're not going to be chosen by me, although I will vote too.

 

Thanks so much for reading about OSP. If you're not interested in joining, but you know someone else who might be interested in just such an opportunity, send them this post!

 

:)

Dianne