Afton Montgomery (she/her)

We founded Belt in 2013 to promote voices from the Rust Belt, and we have expanded our focus to include smart narrative and serious nonfiction on any topic, as well as commercial fiction with a regional foothold. In 2023 we were acquired by Arcadia Publishing, where we remain an independent imprint. We are excited to tell overlooked stories, particularly those written by writers from underrepresented backgrounds and flown-over places. We especially love books of cultural criticism, books with an urbanism theme or about progressive politics, smart histories that are not nostalgic, and those that "are hard to know where to shelve." We are drawn to scholarly research made plain. We publish everything from memoir to criticism, fiction, maps, and cookbooks. Our titles have been longlisted for the PEN/Galbraith award for nonfiction, named “Best of the Year” by NPR and Publishers Weekly, and reviewed by the New York Times Book Review, the Times Literary Supplement, Harper’s, the New Yorker, the New Republic, and dozens of other outlets. We value horizontal loyalty, writers over markets, the long game over the quick hit. Our authors receive traditional publishing contracts and industry-standard royalties. Nordlyset handles our subrights. We welcome both agented and unagented submissions.