Future Tense Books

(Novels, SS, Non-fiction, Poetry, YA, Kid’s)
futuretensebooks.com
info@futuretensebooks.com
#futuretensebooks

We think you’re going to love this one, and may have listed it just because of their attitude. Once you look at their catalog, you know why we really picked them, but their submissions page is still one of the funniest we’ve come across in a while.

For one thing, they’ve been around since 1992. That really says something. Future Tense is proud to have published many groundbreaking debuts and small-press classics like Garielle Lutz, Chelsea Hodson, and Jamie Iredell, FTB takes great pride in publishing new and groundbreaking authors, writers who take chances.

“We’re committed to showcasing writers who are not just important and innovative, but also accessible and fun. We’re in this to create real art. We’re in this for the long haul. Thank you all for your support and love!”

We believe them. After all, they’ve been around for more than 30 years.

Who is Kevin Sampsell?

Kevin is the editor and publisher of Future Tense. From humble beginnings in Spokane, Washington, a brief detour through Arkansas, to now its home in Portland, Oregon, Future Tense has gone all the way from Xeroxed chapbooks to high-quality books. Kevin Sampsell oversees it all; he’s the man with the attitude.

He won’t read your manuscript, but still you can get to know Kevin a little better in this 2002 interview with the great Rebecca Brown at TheStranger.com.

Brown: Why and when did you start Future Tense?

Sampsell: Purely for selfish reasons, in 1990. I was living in Spokane and going to the only open mic in town, as well as setting up my first-ever “spoken word performances” at a couple of bars. I wanted to publish my own chapbooks to give to people at readings. In hindsight, I probably wasn’t very good. This was also the same time I started to send stuff to little magazines and get a few things published.

Brown: How do you find the manuscripts?

Sampsell: Many are Portland writers, but there’s a good handful of them I’ve found in other cities or in small magazines. People send me stuff in the mail all the time. I reject a lot of it, including some stuff I like. I just can’t take on everything I think is worth publishing.

Read the entire interview at the TheStranger.com.

Future Tense Books Submissions

“We usually only publish three or four books a year, so WE DON’T TAKE SUBMISSIONS (in the traditional sense) any more. This may seem strange, but believe me when I say, We know what we’re looking for and we know where and how to find it and we have a good healthy list of writers we want to work with already.

If you want to say Hi and that you like us and you want to be on our radar, send us an email and introduce yourself. If we feel the need to take submissions again, maybe we’ll have a contest someday, but for now we’ve got too much on our plates. Thank you for your understanding.”

Brutally honest. Love it!

Future Tense Distribution

Most Future Tense titles can be purchased through Amazon.com and Powells.com. As well as some select stores like Quimby’s (Chicago), Atomic Books (Baltimore), McNally Jackson (New York),and Skylight (Los Angeles).

Future Tense books are listed in Books-in-Print and can be ordered from most book stores, no matter where you live. Their paperback titles can be ordered from bookstores through Ingram Tennessee and Small Press Distribution.

Future Tense titles

– Easy Tiger by Evan Nicholls
– An Incomplete Catalog of Disappearance by Diana Oropeza
– Sean the Stick by Kevin Sampsell
– And Yet by Jeff Alessandrelli
– Cheap Therapist Says You’re Insane by Parker Young

See if your book fits in with these Future Tense titles.

Future Tense Books
P.O. Box 42416
Portland, OR 97242

Think maybe you’ve got the writing bug? REAL WRITER’S MARKET.