LSU Press Policy Statement on Poetry
Permissions Requests and Fees
As a not-for-profit scholarly publisher, LSU Press remains
committed to our mission of quality publishing, putting our
mission ahead of financial gain. Through our long and consistent
tradition of excellence, we have also demonstrated an ongoing
commitment to poetry publishing. We attend to the books we
publish at every stage, acquiring only the best manuscripts,
which we vet with peer reviewers; developing unique and eye-catching
designs for each title; and marketing these books widely and
enthusiastically.
Unfortunately, rarely does a poetry volume earn back its
publication costs, and the Press must support the considerable
costs of its poetry program through avenues such as grants,
gifts, and–in a small way–permissions fees. These
fees, which charge a third party to reproduce poems in another
work, are nominal, but are nonetheless a factor in recouping
some of the publication costs and providing some compensation
to the poet for his/her creative effort.
Despite the relatively small amount we request when granting
permissions, the Press has lately and increasingly received
requests that seek a waiver of all such fees. Often these
requests for waivers come from those seeking to reprint the
poems in a new collection or anthology, works that will be
sold to generate income for their publishers. Poets are sometimes
directly solicited by those same publishers to join in requesting
that the Press waive all permissions fees. More and more regularly,
therefore, the Press is asked to authorize the free reprinting
of poems on our list.
While cognizant that reprinting poetry is an essential part
of the artistic lives of poets, and often advantageous to
the larger world of the arts, we also feel poets deserve at
least some small compensation for their work whenever possible.
Depending on the circumstances, we will waive or reduce fees
for the disabled, for nonprofit organizations, and in other
special circumstances in which the book will not be sold.
We find it difficult, however, to rationalize waiving fees
for for-profit organizations. To do so, we believe, diminishes
respect for the value of the poet’s work and deprives
the Press and the author of potential income. We do not, therefore,
waive fees in such instances.
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