• March 27, 2024
          BIPOC Reading Series March
          April 4, 2024
          Everybody Reads 2024: Gabrielle Zevin
          April 8, 2024
          2024 Oregon Book Awards Ceremony
          April 18, 2024
          Aimee Nezhukumatathil: Portland Arts & Lectures 2023/24
  • Box Office

PBF Book Submissions

Portland Book Festival accepts book submissions from January-June every year.

Submissions for the 2024 Portland Book Festival are open now through June 14, 2024.


Portland Book Festival will take place Saturday, November 2, 2024. The festival will feature a diverse group of contemporary authors in conversations, panels, and presentations. When evaluating submissions, we consider not only a book’s literary merit but where it might fit in with the other work in the lineup.

Books are accepted to Portland Book Festival from submissions on a rolling basis; we advise sending us your submission the earliest you are able to! 

To be considered for this year’s festival, please submit or have your publicist submit all of the following:

  1. Complete the fillable, online 2024 Festival Submission Form.
  2. A press kit with clippings and reviews and an author bio, including past publications when applicable, and any other information that often helps us evaluate the submission. (Can be emailed to festival@literary-arts.org or mailed with books).
  3. A cover letter (no more than a page). Please include any additional information if needed regarding travel funding, local connections, or anything else we should know to best evaluate your submission. (Can be emailed to festival@literary-arts.org or mailed with books.)
  4. Two (2) copies of a finished book/galley/ARC/manuscript. Mail to address below. Electronically submitted books will not be considered.

Send books to:
Literary Arts 
ATTN: Portland Book Festival
925 SW Washington Street 
Portland, OR 97205

Note:

  • Digital versions of the press kit and cover letter are acceptable and can be emailed to festival@literary-arts.org. Physical copies of the book/galley/ARC/manuscript are required; please send to address listed above.
  • Incomplete submissions will not be considered. Please make sure you include all materials. Your submission will not be considered complete until we have received all required materials.
  • Literary Arts will accept submissions of books between January and June 14 for the 2024 Portland Book Festival. Complete submissions (all requested materials) must be received by June 14, 2024.
  • To be considered, books must be published in the fifteen months preceding the festival (August 2023-November 2024); priority consideration will be given to books published in 2024.
  • Should you be selected to be a part of the festival program, you will hear back no later than September 2024.
  • Due to the large number of submissions we receive, we are unable to reply to each inquiry individually.
  • Materials will not be returned.
  • All authors who are invited to participate will be featured in a panel or conversation session with other authors. The festival will not feature authors for book signings only or for solo presentations/readings.

The festival will consider books in the following genres:

  • Art and architecture
  • Children’s literature, including picture book, middle grade, and young adult
  • Cookbooks and food writing
  • Fiction — all genres
  • Narrative nonfiction — history, biography, memoir, and essays
  • Poetry

Portland Book Festival focuses on the promotion of literature and literary culture; books on the topics of self-improvement, how-to, or books strictly of academic or religious interest will not be considered.

Self-published titles will only be considered if they meet the following criteria:

  • Printed copies can be available for our bookstore(s) to sell.
  • The work has been professionally edited and a marketing plan is in place.
  • The author maintains an accessible website.

The consideration for self-published titles that meet the above criteria will be the same as traditionally published books, as outlined above. For the 2024 festival, we will not accept self-published titles that exist only in ebook format.


Please complete the fillable online application form, AND ALSO send two copies of the book, a press kit, and a cover letter to Literary Arts in order to be considered for the 2024 Portland Book Festival.

If you have any questions, please consult the FAQ first, and if your question is not answered, email festival@literary-arts.org.