Scroll down for information on our annual contests.


CONTEST GUIDELINES:

Dzanc Books solicits submissions through our annual contests:

  • the Prize for Fiction, which recognizes novels that are daring, original, and innovative, and offers a $5,000 advance and publication;
  • the Short Story Collection Prize, which seeks well-crafted and powerful book-length collections and offers a $2,500 advance and publication;
  • and, in 2024, the Poetry Prize, which seeks brilliant poetry collections and offers a $1,000 advance and publication.

Our contests open February 1 and close September 30. The winner of each contest, along with a short list of finalists, will be announced by the end of the year.

Please note: At this time, we are not seeking submissions of YA/children's fiction.

For any questions about the contests or our submissions policy, please email michelle@dzancbooks.org. We look forward to reading your work.

Dzanc Books publishes innovative literary fiction and nonfiction—including recent titles from Banah el Ghadbanah, Robert Lopez, Lindsey Drager, Mark Dunn, William Gay, Josip Novakovich, Lee Martin, Chika Unigwe, to name a few—and is currently looking for exciting new titles.

Before submitting to Dzanc, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the type of work we publish by browsing through our upcoming and backlist titles. The styles and forms may vary, but there are a few types of books we won't be considering. This includes genre fiction (sci-fi, mystery, romance, etc.), children's books or YA. We are also unable to consider any works that have been previously released, including self-published titles.

Please include a synopsis of the work as well as a brief author bio. You should enclose the complete manuscript. Due to the high volume of submissions, the review process may take up to six months or longer. Each manuscript is carefully considered, with many of the strongest candidates receiving several reads. We apologize in advance and thank you kindly for your patience and consideration. Most of all, we thank you for your interest in publishing with Dzanc Books.



If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at  info@dzancbooks.org. 

Dzanc Books