Our contests are closed until March 2025; please check out the options for general submissions, open through January 1.

CONTESTS

Submissions open from
Feb 1st - Sept 30th

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

Dzanc Books is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All contest fees will go toward funding the prize as well as supporting Dzanc’s commitment to producing quality literary works, providing creative writing instruction in public schools through the Dzanc Writers-in-Residence program, and offering low-cost workshops for aspiring authors. Active and former Dzanc authors and employees are not eligible for the prize.  

Prize for Fiction

The Dzanc Books Prize for Fiction recognizes daring, original, and innovative novels. Sarah Yahm, author of The Moveables, was chosen as the winner of last year’s Prize for Fiction. A $5,000 advance and publication by Dzanc Books will be awarded to the winner.

  • Qualified submissions will include:

    • New, upcoming, and established writers alike. Agented submissions are also eligible

    • Previously unpublished novel-length manuscripts (generally over 40,000 words, but there is no hard minimum)

    Not qualified submissions:

    • Genre fiction (sci-fi, mystery, romance, etc.), children's books, and YA are not qualified. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the type of work we publish by browsing through our recently released titles.

    • Previously released and/or self-published titles

  • Please submit the following materials to the Prize for Fiction submittable form:

    • The full manuscript as a PDF, Word, .doc or .docx

    • A brief synopsis

    • Author bio

    • Author contact information

    • All agency contact information (if applicable)

    • $25 entry fee

    Submissions open from Feb 1st - midnight Sept 30.
    Simultaneous submissions are permitted. We will not accept physical submissions.

  • Submissions are open from Fed 1st - midnight Sept 30th. Finalists will be compiled in-house and passed along for evaluation to this year’s judges: Farah Ali (The River, The Town), Chika Unigwe (The Middle Daughter) and Sarah Yahm, author of The Moveables, which was chosen as the winner of last year’s Prize for Fiction. The winning submission and a short list of finalists will be announced on the Dzanc web page in November.

Short Story Collection Prize

The Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize celebrates imaginative and inventive writing in book-length collections. Past winners include Nino Cipri, (Homesick), Anne Valente (By Light We Knew Our Names), Chaya Bhuvaneswar (White Dancing Elephants), Jen Grow (My Life as a Mermaid), Julie Stewart (Water and Blood), and Ethel Rohan (In the Event of Contact). The winning submission will be awarded a $2,500 advance and publication by Dzanc Books.

  • Qualified submissions will include:

    • New, upcoming, and established writers alike. Agented submissions are also eligible.

    • Previously unpublished collections, generally over 40,000 words, but there is no hard minimum.

    Not qualified submissions:

    • Genre fiction (sci-fi, mystery, romance, etc.), children's books, and YA are not qualified. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the type of work we publish by browsing through our recently released titles.

    • Previously released and/or self-published titles (individual stories are allowed to have been previously published)

  • Please submit the following materials to the Short Story Collection Competition submittable form:

    • The full manuscript of the collection as a PDF, Word, .doc or .docx

    • A brief synopsis

    • Author bio

    • Author contact information

    • All agency contact information (if applicable)

    • $25 entry fee

    Submissions open from Feb 1st - midnight Sept 30.
    Simultaneous submissions are permitted. We will not accept physical submissions.

  • Submissions are open from Fed 1st - midnight Sept 30th. The winning submission and a short list of finalists will be announced on the Dzanc web page in November.

poetry Collection Prize

The Dzanc Books Poetry Prize, run for the first time in a decade, recognizes daring, original, and inventive writing in book-length collections. The winning submission will be awarded a $1,000 advance and publication by Dzanc Books. This year’s judges are Keith Taylor (All the Time You Want) and Jonathan Fink (The Crossing, Barbarossa).

  • Qualified submissions will include:

    • New, upcoming, and established writers alike. Agented submissions are also eligible.

    • Previously unpublished collections, generally over 60 pages, but there is no hard minimum.

    Not qualified submissions:

    • Genre fiction (sci-fi, mystery, romance, etc.), children's books, and YA are not qualified. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the type of work we publish by browsing through our recently released titles.

    • Previously released and/or self-published titles (individual stories are allowed to have been previously published)

  • Please submit the following materials to the Poetry Prize submittable form:

    • The full manuscript of the collection as a PDF, Word, .doc or .docx

    • A brief synopsis

    • Author bio

    • Author contact information

    • All agency contact information (if applicable)

    • $25 entry fee

    Submissions open from Feb 1st - midnight Sept 30.


    Simultaneous submissions are permitted. We will not accept physical submissions.

  • Submissions are open from Fed 1st - midnight Sept 30th. The winning submission and a short list of finalists will be announced on the Dzanc web page in November.