FAQ
What is Cactus Press?
Established in 2006, Cactus Press is a Canadian micropress based in Montreal, specializing in limited edition poetry chapbooks with the occasional perfect bound collection. We typically release 6-10 chapbooks a year divided across three or four seasonal waves.
Do you only accept poetry manuscripts?
Yes! We are a poetry press. Sometimes we accept poetry manuscripts that incorporate other genres of writing through a poetic lens, but please don’t send us your novel or short story collection, because this will just result in a long waiting time for an inevitable rejection.
Do you publish in other languages?
We are an anglophone press, so we publish texts written in English. That doesn’t mean we’re not open to manuscripts that incorporate language in interesting ways. For instance, we’ve published chapbooks by Carlos A. Pittella and Loch Baillie, both of which explore language in ways we love.
What do you publish?
Poetry. All shapes and sizes. It really is as simple as that. (Could it be?) The only caveat is that we almost exclusively publish poetry coming out of the emerging Montreal literary scene. There are all manner of poetry publishers in Canada to choose from, each with their own flavour and agenda. You could say that our flavour is inclusivity and our agenda is community, at least as that pertains to the city of Montreal and its neighbouring regions. In this busy literary landscape we call CanLit, we have found our niche. It keeps us busy and, so far, satisfied. We used to refer to ourselves as outlaws, but that, in itself, becomes an exclusionary label. It would be fairer to say that we are a nebulous organization that is neither pro-MFA nor anti-MFA. We're pro-poet. We're interested in revealing what the scene has to offer, across the spectrum of styles and voices.
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For those curious or interested, Devon enjoys the poetry of ee cummings, Robert Frost, Alden Nowlan, Stephen Crane, Denise Levertov. More recently that of Fernando Pessoa, Mina Loy, Tristan Tzara, and Paul Celan. He is interested in literary greatness, visionary poetry, poetry that breaks conventions, poetry that is idiosyncratic, folk poetry, outsider poetry, weird, wild, wonderful poetry, and anything in between that has a heart and a soul. Willow likes poetry that is as sonically compelling as its contents. She likes poetry that is unpretentious, raw, wry, imaginative, folkloric/ mythological, and spelllike in voice. Think Gwendolyn MacEwen, Robin Richardson, Ken Babstock, Elizabeth Smart, Sylvia Plath, Angela Carter, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Maya Angelou, Anne Carson, Kate Bush, and Oscar Wilde.
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For a less whimsical answer, check out our catalogue. Buy some Cactus Press chapbooks and see for yourself.
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Who is Cactus Press for?
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Are you a Montreal-based writer? Are you looking for a way to engage more deeply with the Montreal literary scene? With our strong affiliation to sister organization Accent Open Mic, Cactus Press has a level of community engagement and integration that is rare in Canadian publishing. When you publish with Cactus Press, you aren't publishing in a vacuum. Rather, you are joining a thriving and energized coterie of writers. After acquiring a handful of publishing credits, a chapbook is a great next step for emerging writers to get their name out there. We've been proud to offer dozens of poets their debut collection of poems. That said, we aren’t exclusively focused on emerging writers. Montreal finds itself in an anglo literary renaissance, one we are proud to be a part of. On top of the stream of fresh new hopefuls that pile out of Concordia's Creative Writing program each year, more and more, we are finding that creatives of all stripes and from all corners of the world are flocking to our city’s vibrant, arts-focused culture. Cactus Press prides itself on being a hub, a nexus point where the emerging, the recently arrived, and the "been-here-for-a-dog's-age" writers can all congregate and prosper.
What is a “chapbook” anyway?
Strictly speaking, a chapbook is not a book. It’s a baby of a book: not perfect bound, but bound to be imperfectly perfect. Chapbooks come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from the ornate objet d’art you might find from Jackpine Press to the down and dirty DIY photocopied collections lining the walls of your local anarchist bookshop. Our chapbooks run from 20-40 pages on average, staple-bound with a cardstock cover. A happy medium that keeps our product sleek and handsomely affordable.
Do you pay your writers?
Our authors receive 20% of every print run in contributor copies in lieu of monetary royalties. Typically, first printings are 25 copies, so the author gets 5 free copies, the equivalent value of $50 in saleable product with the option to buy additional author discounted copies at $6/book. Anecdotally, and candidly, $50 is about all the profit we'll see ourselves in a first print run, and even that profit goes back into supporting Cactus. As a small, volunteer-run press, this venture is a labour of love, and we don’t make any perceivable profits. Even popular titles that go into second or third print runs only help us offset the costs of the lesser-selling titles. What we're trying to do here at Cactus Press is operate in a way that allows the maximum amount of voices to be heard and that means taking risks on writers we believe in.
What happens if my manuscript is accepted?
Once accepted, a chapbook goes through an editorial process which involves polishing the manuscript, typesetting the text, and developing cover art. All our chapbooks are launched at our sister organization, Accent Open Mic.
What happens if my manuscript ISN’T accepted?
This is in no way a reflection on the quality of your work. We probably cried about not being able to print it! In recent years, the team has made the decision to scale back the number of chapbooks we publish each year. We made this decision to allow us to better support our authors and maintain a sustainable practice. Because of this, we are not able to say yes to many projects, despite how much we enjoyed reading them. If your manuscript is not accepted in a given year, we urge you to keep honing your craft and resubmit the following year. In the meantime, we encourage all emerging writers to attend the Accent reading series. It’s not only an opportunity to see what sort of things are being written and published, meet other writers, and share your poetry; but we tend to prioritize poets who are actively involved in the scene. Bottom line, if you’re putting in the work to be a poet, we’re impressed.
Can I publish more than one chapbook with Cactus?
While we give priority to writers we haven’t yet worked with, if we’ve published your work before, it’s because we like it, so please do submit again. We try to reserve one slot a year for a returning poet.
How long should I wait to hear back about my manuscript?
The good news is, our submission window is always open. We don’t close for months on end. The bad news is, we tend to read through a calendar’s worth of submissions in the fall, to decide the roster for the following year. Responses are sent during October and November. Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please let us know if you receive an acceptance elsewhere so we can update our list and wish you congratulations.
What are the perks of publishing with Cactus Press?
As previously mentioned, all our books are launched at the popular and long-running reading series Accent, often to a packed house with much fanfare. There's a synergy between our creative output and our community involvement that is uncommon, in our experience. On top of which, there's a level of visibility in choosing Cactus Press over, say, self-publishing. Our chapbooks have been reviewed in the Montreal Review of Books, Montreal Serai, Arc Poetry Magazine, Westmound Magazine, and even made it to the top of The Miramichi Reader's best poetry collections in 2025. Each year, we table at Expozine and yolk's Literary Oktoberfest. In 2022, Jerome Ramcharitar's The Wrong Poem and Others Like It won Expozine's Best in English Book Award and Cactus titles are frequently nominated at Expozine. We also regularly submit our chapbooks to the bpNichol Chapbook Award. Cactus Press is the only poetry publisher in Canada (that we know of!) specifically dedicated to serving and spotlighting the Montreal anglo writing community. That might sound simple, but if you're a writer in Montreal, you'll realize how rare and precious it is.
My manuscript has been accepted but I need to push the release date to next year, what happens now?
Although there are exceptions to every rule, if this unfortunate scenario should unfold for you, we may, in fact, ask you to withdraw your submission and resubmit it again when you are ready to publish. In most cases, we are able to come to an accord before that transpires, but please do submit when you are ready to publish and not before.
Do you read blind?
Blind…folded? We haven't learned that trick yet, although it would add a bit of spice to the acceptance rate. In all seriousness, no, for our purposes, there's no need to read blind. We want to know who you are; it informs our decision-making. And, like previously mentioned, we prioritize writers who are already putting in the time and energy by attending and participating in the local scene. Having said that, the work is the work, and we will always prize a stand-out manuscript.
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My manuscript has been rejected or I do not live in Quebec. Can you recommend another chapbook publisher for me to submit to?
We get emails all the time from writers living outside of Quebec who are interested in publishing with Cactus Press. We are flattered, we really are. That said, we only have so much spare bandwidth in a year and the Montreal lit scene is keeping us well occupied. But fear not, dear writer! There are plenty of other options out there for you and, to be honest, unless you're a Montreal-based writer, one of these other publishers will probably serve you better. So, without further ado, here is Cactus Press' infamous list of Canadian rivals and archnemeses:
above/ground press
https://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/
Agatha Press
The Alfred Gustav Press
Anstruther Press
https://www.anstrutherpress.com/
Baseline Press
The Blasted Tree
https://www.theblastedtree.com/
Broke Press
Discordia Review
https://discordiareview.substack.com/
Espresso Chapbooks
http://espresso-chapbooks.com/index.html
Gap Riot Press
Knife Fork Book
Jack Pine Press
Raven Chapbooks
https://www.ravenchapbooks.ca/
Turret House Press
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Does Cactus Press accept interns?
Officially and historically the answer is no. We feel morally uneasy about bringing on unpaid interns. However, we do from time to time get asked this question and we know that it could be fun or exciting for some people to become a part of something, get experience, build connections, and what not. The answer could change, to be determined.