About Us
At the Center: On Books & Writing is an accumulate/quiet project and is edited by Jeremy Michael Reed. It will debut in late Spring 2026.
At the Center is a publication for reviews, interviews, book coverage, and author resources. We aim to foster a healthy literary ecosystem by helping writers find what they need: resources, opportunities, deadlines, and more, and by providing creative and in-depth coverage for books and authors underrepresented in the book world. The best way to receive our author resources on a monthly basis and stay up to date with our book coverage is to sign up for our newsletter.
At the Center has several inspirations:
And also:
Submissions & Pitches
The focus of At the Center is on books and writers typically underrepresented in book coverage, whether because they are emerging writers or not with a Big 5 press, because of the author’s identity, region, genre(s), or any of the many reasons books have difficulty reaching new readers. Our preference is to cover books published within the last year, but we are open to covering books from the last three years.
We are open for submissions of finished pieces as well as pitches for new material. We aim to reply in a timely manner, and you will hear from us one way or the other. Whether or not we publish your writing, we appreciate your work on behalf of books everywhere.
Since everything on our site is intentionally free to read and free of advertisements, we are not a paying market but we hope to find a way to pay our contributors in the future.
Please see the following categories of what we would like to publish:
Book Reviews
Like the books we cover which often go beyond traditional genre boundaries, we are expansive in how we understand the book review. We accept traditional book reviews, but we also accept creative approaches to reviewing such as through comics, maps, centos/erasures, lyrical pieces on the reading life, essay reviews, and more. We do not take reviews of self-published books or books printed through vanity presses, and we do not take previously published reviews. If you have an idea for a review or a question about whether your idea is a good fit for us, just reach out.
For finished reviews, please include a third person bio for the author(s) and the reviewer(s), links to where the book(s) can be bought, and images of the books and author(s).
For a pitch, please send a short paragraph or two with your idea, why the review would be a good fit for our site, and why you are a good fit to review the book.
In both cases, please email atthecenteradmin AT gmail DOT com with the subject line REVIEW: (author or book name).
Interviews
As with our reviews, we think broadly about the interview genre to include traditional interviews, mutual or collaborative interviews, roundtable discussions, and more.
For finished interviews, please include a third person bio for all involved, links to where the book can be bought, and images of the books and author(s).
For a pitch, please send a short paragraph or two with your idea, why the interview is a good fit for our site, and why you are a good fit to conduct the interview.
In both cases, please email atthecenteradmin AT gmail DOT com with the subject line INTERVIEW: (author or book name).
Book Excerpts & Previews
If you are a publicist, author, or publisher, and you would like us to consider featuring an excerpt of a book, chapbook, or literary magazine, please send the excerpted material, a link to where the book can be bought, an image of the book and author, and a third person bio of the author(s) to atthecenteradmin AT gmail DOT com with the subject line EXCERPT: (author or book name).
Resources (Coming Soon)
If you know of a resource not included in any of the categories on our Resources page or you know of a correction to a resource we have listed, please send the information to atthecenteradmin AT gmail DOT com with the subject line RESOURCE.
ARCs & Other Ideas
If you are a publisher or a publicist and you would like to send us an advance review copy, whether physical or digital, please email us at atthecenteradmin AT gmail DOT com. While we cannot guarantee coverage, we will share ideas with our staff writers and pitch them to reviewers if we think we know a good fit for your project.
If you have other ideas for book coverage and you think we would be a good fit for your idea, please email atthecenteradmin AT gmail DOT com with the subject line QUERY.
Reprints & Permissions
The reviews and original book coverage published on our site are free of advertisements and free to read.
We welcome other outlets like newspapers or arts organizations to republish this original work; all we ask in exchange is that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution, and link to our website.
Book excerpts or previews are published under the copyright of the author or publisher and are not available for redistribution without their permission.
Staff
Editor-in-Chief
Jeremy Michael Reed is a writer, editor, and teacher. He holds a Ph.D. in English and Creative Writing from the University of Tennessee. An Associate Professor of English for Westminster College, he lives in Columbia, Missouri his wife and daughter and edits s w i f t s: a literary magazine and At the Center: On Books & Writing.
Staff Writers
If you are interested in becoming a staff writer with At the Center, the best way to start the process is to pitch us some of your work! We love working repeatedly with good-fit writers and reviewers. Being a staff writer for us means that we’ll include you on our brainstorming process for coverage, pass along ARCs that may be a good fit, and remain an open ear for your ideas. Once you’ve worked with us a bit or if you have a proven track record writing reviews for other outlets, let us know if you’re interested in working with us in a long term by emailing atthecenteradmin AT gmail DOT com with the subject line STAFF