Meet Sand and Gravel Press
Five Questions with founding publisher James Keith Smith
Sand and Gravel Press has been producing chapbooks since 2025.
Helmed by founding publisher James Keith Smith, this “small, but mighty press” has already made big waves in the chapbook world with books by Travis Flatt, Sean Ennis, Elizabeth Rosen, and more.
“Dedicated to the miniature,” Sand and Gravel Press loves a pocket-sized read, each volume measuring only 4.25 x 5.5 inches.
Five Questions
What’s Sand and Gravel Press’s origin story?
About four years ago, some members of my then-writing group were producing incredibly strong work, but they struggled to get published. Believing those stories deserved an audience, I launched the press in 2022 with our first pocket-sized chapbook: Free to Be by Lauren Merz, a 5,000-word story about a doomed van-life relationship.
I wanted to keep the momentum going but realized I didn’t know enough writers outside my immediate circle. That changed when I joined the SmokeLong community, which opened the doors to a massive network of talented writers. I also started going to writing events and open mics in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, where I live.
By 2025, I felt ready to relaunch the press with a slightly evolved ethos. I joke that I’ve become lazier, but really, the format shifted to focus heavily on curation—bringing together brilliant, previously published flash pieces into a single, cohesive physical object. Not everything fits that exact description—Michael Keen’s chapbook, for example, is a deeply personal essay about cocaine addiction and karaoke. But the core mission remains: to champion the work of writers I love and admire.
What can readers expect from Sand and Gravel Press?
Readers can expect lovingly crafted chapbooks, striking cover photography, and unique insight into the writing process through our interviews and author profiles. We aim to publish eight-ish titles a year—honestly, everything at Sand and Gravel is "-ish." This project runs in tandem with my own writing to keep the press sustainable. While you may see full-length books down the road, our current bread and butter is the pocket-sized chapbook.
For our writers out there, what are you looking for when reading manuscripts?
Thus far, our chapbooks have been about a 50-50 split between solicited and unsolicited work. As a reader, I love absurdity and the weird—writers like Etgar Keret and Kelly Link are high on my list. While we are primarily a venue for fiction, earlier this year we published Who Will Bury My Body, a full-length poetry collection by the talented young writer Charlie Zacks. I never planned on publishing poetry, but Charlie’s writing is absolutely devastating, pairing a stand-up comic's caustic wit with raw emotion.
If you write fiction that fits our vibe, we will likely be open for submissions during November. Stay tuned!
What’s been surprising you about the world of independent publishing lately?
Honestly, when I first dipped my toes into the water, I was surprised by how hungry people are for new places to publish—especially within a physical medium. Even established writers with full-length collections out in the world are genuinely excited to collaborate with a micro-press like Sand and Gravel.
Chapbooks are the antidote to . . .
. . . blurred vision. In a world of endless scrolling and short attention spans, a chapbook gives you something tangible, finite, and beautifully crafted that you can finish in one sitting.