Passager is a nonprofit journal and book press that publishes authors over 50. We want to bring attention to older writers and to encourage imagination throughout our lives.
Passager will be accepting book queries during the month of November 2026 to select a new title for publication by Passager Books in the next year (2027-2028).
To be eligible for publication, you must:
• Be a U.S. resident
• Be age 50 or older by September 1, 2027
• Have already been published in a print issue of Passager Journal
• Have a completed, previously unpublished manuscript of poetry, short stories, memoir, or personal essays.
If we have already published a book of yours, you are not eligible to submit, unfortunately.
If you meet these criteria, please send:
- A query letter. In it: • Introduce yourself (more than as a list of publications) • Describe the book (50-100 words) • Explain why you’d like Passager to publish your book / why you think Passager is a good fit for your book
- A sample from the manuscript. Do not include piece(s) published in Passager Journal in your sample. Please see genre specifics below: • Poetry: 10 poems, single-spaced • Prose: 3,750-5,000 words, double-spaced. (Note: The prose sample does not need to be the first 5,000 words of the book.) • Please number the pages and include your name and contact info on each page. • Submissions of poetry or prose with illustrations are accepted.
- An acknowledgements page, if any of the pieces have appeared elsewhere
- A $15 reading fee
Deadline: November 30, 2026
We will review queries on a rolling basis. If yours is selected for further consideration, we will contact you to send the full manuscript. All writers will be notified of a decision by April 1.
Other requirements:
One submission allowed per person.
We consider a completed manuscript to be 50-60 pages of poetry, or 35,000-55,000 words of prose.
We are currently not accepting translations, posthumous submissions, or previously published books.
We consider previously published to mean:
• If a book has been for sale at any venue it is ineligible.
• If a book has been self-published and sold on the internet (Amazon, for example, or an author’s website) it is ineligible.
However,
• If some of the poems have appeared in a chapbook, of 25 poems or less, it is eligible.
• If the poems have been printed by a vanity press and given to family and friends, it is eligible.
About AI: Passager celebrates the creative imagination and originality of writers over 50 and does not accept work generated or assisted by AI.
Questions? Email Johnny at editors@passagerbooks.com.