Forum Replies Created
-
Replies
-
IMPORTANT PUBLISHING OPPORTUNITY FROM ASSOCIATED WRITING PROGRAMS
I just received the following notice. Don’t be shy: submit!
If your New Year’s resolution is to get your book published, you’re in luck: The 2026 AWP Award Series is officially open for submissions! Submit your book-length manuscripts in creative nonfiction, poetry, the novel, and short fiction by February 28. Ten finalists and one winner in each genre will be announced around late summer 2026. Winning authors receive an honorarium of $2,500–$5,500 and publication by one of our partner presses.
Submit to the 2026 AWP Award Series! Details here.
Kiese Laymon will judge the Sue William Silverman Prize for Creative Nonfiction. The winning author will receive $2,500 and publication by the University of Georgia Press.
Maggie Smith will judge the Donald Hall Prize for Poetry. The winning author will receive $5,500 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press.
Justin Torres will judge the James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel. The winning author will receive $5,500 and publication by the University of Nebraska Press.
Weike Wang will judge the Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction. The winning author will receive $5,500 and publication by Mad Creek Books, an imprint of The Ohio State University Press.
The AWP Award Series is an annual competition for the publication of excellent new book-length works. The prizes are supported by the AWP Award Series Endowments. The competition is open to all authors writing in English, regardless of nationality or residence, and is available to published and unpublished authors alike. For full submission guidelines and a complete list of prior winners and judges, visit the AWP Award Series page on our website.
Best of luck!
James Tate Hill
Senior Publications EditorExcruciatingly detailed exposé of a scammer you should avoid.
https://litmagnews.substack.com/p/q-just-another-scammy-small-press
Sigh.
Writing genre fiction? Check this out!
Don’t have a book-length memoir yet? Here are a dozen magazines that publish short-story-length memoirs:
https://subclub.substack.com/p/12-lit-mags-that-pay-damn-well-for
Indie presses seeking new manuscripts of poetry, fiction, and more!
Red Hen Press → Open for submissions
The mission of Red Hen Press is to publish works of literary excellence, to foster diversity, and to promote literacy in our local schools. We seek a community of readers and writers who are actively engaged in the essential human practice known as literature. Red Hen publishes approximately twenty-five books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction each year, with over 550 books released to date and distributed internationally. Representative fiction writers include Aimee Liu, Martha Cooley, Donna Hemans, Judy Grahn, Yuvi Zalkow, and Andrew Lam. Representative poets include Chris Abani, Katharine Coles, Camille Dungy, Eloise Klein Healy, Brynn Saito, Peggy Shumaker, Doug Manuel, and Francesca Bell. The press also publishes ten imprints that highlight underrepresented authors from diverse locations and backgrounds. Collectively, our imprints have published over 350 titles.Find details on querying Red Hen Press here.
Alice James Books → Open for submissions
Founded as a feminist press, Alice James Books is committed to collaborating with literary artists of excellence whose voices have been historically marginalized by producing, promoting, and distributing their work which often engages the public on important social issues. Alice James provides a platform from which to elevate exceptional literary artists and is dedicated to helping its writers achieve purposeful engagement with broad audiences and communities nationwide. We help writers tell their stories and connect with readers. We envision this work making continued contributions that sustain American literary and artistic culture and to growing a more understanding, equitable, and just community through literature.Find details on querying Alice James Books here.
Black Mountain Press → Open for submissions
Black Mountain Press strives to find and publish works that aspire to a higher ideal, many times written by unknown, first-time authors, without agents representing them. All too often their works are ignored by the corporate publishers who are more interested in serving up their chain store consumables for a public lost in our mass produced, fast-food induced art world.Find details on querying Black Mountain Press here.
Persea Books → Open for submissions
Persea has published hundreds of engaging and consequential books covering a wide range of subjects, styles, and genres, including poetry, fiction, essays, memoir, biography, and revived classics. Our list focuses on contemporary issues expressed through individual experience. It reflects the rich diversity of American literature, from Native American onward, and includes a wide selection of works in translation. Persea’s poetry editor, Gabriel Fried, has successfully introduced a new generation of contemporary American poets, including Molly McCully Brown, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Mitchell L. H. Douglas, Randall Mann, Patrick Rosal, and Lisa Russ Spaar, among others.Find details on querying Persea Books here.
Mayapple Press → Open for submissions
Mayapple Press is a small literary press founded in 1978 by poet and editor Judith Kerman. We celebrate literature that is both challenging and accessible: poetry that transcends the categories of “mainstream” and “avant-garde”; women’s writing; the Great Lakes/Northeastern culture; the recent immigrant experience; poetry in translation; science fiction poetry.Find details on querying Mayapple Press here.
North Dakota State University Press → Open for submissions
North Dakota State University Press has given the region a voice for more than seventy years. In March 2025, we will celebrate our 75th anniversary. Since 2016, by means of our Contemporary Voices of Indigenous Peoples series, we launched our voice into the national and international scene. In the spring of 2019, we initiated our Certificate in Publishing, approved by the State Board of Higher Education and attended by undergraduate and graduate students at NDSU and the Tri-College area. Through classroom and hands-on learning, students gain working knowledge of the history, business, and practice of small press and university press publishing. Our dual mission is to publish scholarly and literary books and to provide experiential learning for the next generation of publishers.Find details on querying North Dakota State University Press here.
Unsolicited Press → Open for Submissions
The vibe at Unsolicited Press is rebellious, relentless, and philanthropic. All of the net profit is funneled back into the business to maintain operations. Additionally, we love supporting non-profits that are doing so much good by donating a portion of our proceeds to support their missions. We embrace being quirky and love helping authors launch and/or further their writing careers. We are open for submissions year-round.Find details on querying Unsolicited Press here.
Wayfarer Books → Open for submissions
Wayfarer Books is a fiercely independent, trans-owned press publishing bold, genre-defying literature from the wild and societal margins. Founded in a fair-trade café in Boston’s North End during the summer of 2009, the press officially launched in 2011 under the name Homebound Publications and expanded in 2012 to include Wayfarer Magazine. From the beginning, the press focused on works rooted in spirituality and ecological consciousness, carving out space for reflection and stillness in a chaotic world. In 2024, Homebound Publications became Wayfarer Books. Against all odds—and through a collapsing industry, a global pandemic, paper shortages, shipping disruptions, and the looming dominance of Amazon—Wayfarer has not only survived, it has endured. The press remains committed to amplifying voices often silenced by the mainstream and continues to publish poetry, essays, and nonfiction that speak truth from the wild margins of both landscape and culture. Wayfarer Books exists to champion the feral, the subversive, and the silenced. These are dangerous times, but they are also sacred. The press is still here, still printing, and still refusing to look away.Find details on querying Wayfarer Books here.
Nine Arches Press → Closed (Open Oct 1–Oct 31)
Nine Arches Press are an independent poetry publisher and a poetry development organisation based in the West Midlands, UK. We publish, develop and support the some of the most exciting and talented voices in contemporary poetry, nationally and internationally. Founded in 2008, Nine Arches Press have published nearly 140 poetry publications and more than 30 issues of Under the Radar magazine. We have created poetry books which have gone into the hands of over 30,000 readers since 2016. Our Director / Editor is poet and tutor Jane Commane.Find details on querying Nine Arches Press here.
Black Lawrence Press → Closed (Open Nov 1–Nov 30)
Black Lawrence Press is an independent publisher of contemporary poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. We also publish the occasional translation from German. Founded in 2004 by Colleen Ryor, Black Lawrence became an imprint of Dzanc Books in 2008. In January 2014, we spread our wings and became an independent company in the state of New York. Our books are distributed nationally through Independent Publishers Group to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and various brick and mortar retailers. We also make our titles available through our website and at various conferences and book fairs.Find details on querying Black Lawrence Press here.
If you’ve struggled at all to write after graduating from the Professional Creative Writing Program, check this out:
It’s a bit crazy to call Shaunta Grimes’ site “The Write Brain,” a site for “writing tips.” It’s much more robust than that, especially if you’re writing creative prose. Also check out her Ninja Writers thread. Shaunta delivers great advice, complex and useful thought-work, and overall good humor. Enjoy!
Everything Nobody Tells You About Querying
This is from an extremely useful writing site called Sub Club. It’s a Substack site, so to get the full benefit of it you’ll want to consider subscribing.
Handy hints for getting your poetry and short prose into the right publications. Make the new year productive out of the gate! https://westerncoloradowriters.org/how-to-choose-publications-for-your-poetry-and-short-prose/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR00Pgqnzbdr2RU8I-YbT1Vj06n77ZpEZWKgMg_W8jzg8-8qRkjkc1ktal8_aem_O6KWcFNXz7uENV_4sJeORw
If you’re writing creative nonfiction, give one or more of these publications a try!
Best of luck!
Joe
Where are you all? Probably where I am: swamped with work-work (not poem- or story-creation) and so not posting as I promised myself I would. The writing life, eh?
Well, in the hope that you are all writing AND SUBMITTING YOUR WORK, here’s an honest but encouraging take on that process:
https://litmagnews.substack.com/p/how-to-read-between-the-lines-of
Enjoy!
Check out this publisher seeking fiction, especially chapbooks (5000 to 10,000 words), novellas (10,000 to 40,000 words), and short novels (up to 60,000 words).
Check this submission manager out. Brand new and looks very useful!
Cheers!
Joe H
An absolutely fascinating article tracking the evolution of writers’ careers. Don’t miss it!
The Making of A Six Figure Author: How Authors Evolve With Their Income
