Sarabande Books is a nonprofit literary press founded in Louisville, Kentucky. Established in 1994 to champion poetry, fiction, and essay, we are committed to creating lasting editions that honor exceptional writing. With nearly three hundred titles in print, we have earned a dedicated readership and a national reputation as a publisher of diverse forms and innovative voices. 

For more information, visit: www.sarabandebooks.org. 


Annual Submissions Opportunities

NEW! January 1 - February 15: The Sarabande Prize in the Essay

January 1 - February 15: The Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction

January 1 - February 15: The Kathryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry

July 1 - 31: The July Open (poetry, short fiction, and nonfiction)

July 1 - 31: The July Open (translation proposals)

NEW! September 1 - 30: The Sarabande Chapbook Prize


Please submit your work to the appropriate category. If you are submitting a hybrid manuscript, please select the submission category that best fits your work.

$34.00

The prize includes $2,000, publication of the full-length collection, and a standard royalty contract, and an introduction written by the guest judge.


 

ELIGIBILITY

This contest is open to any short fiction writer of English. Employees and board members of Sarabande are not eligible. Agented manuscripts are not eligible. Submissions may include a collection of short stories, one or more novellas, or a short novel. Individual pieces from the manuscript may have been published previously in magazines, chapbooks of less than 48 pages, or anthologies, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished. Translations and previously published collections are not eligible. To avoid conflict of interest, close friends of a judge or current students in a degree-granting program with a judge are not eligible.


 

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Manuscript must be ANONYMOUS—the author’s name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript (title page should contain the title only)

  • Must be typed, standard font, 12 pt. 
  • Between 150-250 pages
  • Manuscript must be paginated consecutively with a table of contents and acknowledgements page (a list of publications in which stories in the manuscript have appeared)
  • Must be accompanied by a $34 submission fee
  • Must be submitted electronically through Submittable

Multiple submissions are permitted if submitted separately, each with a submission fee. Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but please withdraw the submission if accepted elsewhere. 

Sarabande Books considers all finalists for publication. 

$34.00

The prize includes $2,000, publication of a full-length collection of poetry, and a standard royalty contract, and an introduction written by the guest judge. Kathryn A. Morton was an author and devotee of fine literature, especially poetry.
 

 

ELIGIBILITY

This contest is open to any poet writing in English. Employees and board members of Sarabande are not eligible. Agented manuscripts are not eligible. Individual poems from the manuscript may have been published previously in magazines, chapbooks of less than 48 pages, or anthologies, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished. Translations and previously published collections are not eligible. To avoid conflict of interest, close friends of a judge or current students in a degree-granting program with a judge are not eligible.
 


 

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

  • Manuscript must be ANONYMOUS—the author’s name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript (title page should contain the title only)
  • Must be typed, standard font, 12 pt. 
  • Minimum length 48 pages
  • Manuscript must be paginated consecutively with a table of contents and acknowledgements page (a list of publications in which poems in the manuscript have appeared)
  • Must be accompanied by a $34 submission fee

Multiple submissions are permitted if submitted separately, each with a submission fee. Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but please withdraw the submission if accepted elsewhere. 

Sarabande Books considers all finalists for publication. 

$34.00

The prize includes $2,000, publication of the full-length collection, a standard royalty contract, and an introduction written by the guest judge.


 

ELIGIBILITY

This contest is open to any nonfiction writing in English. Employees and board members of Sarabande are not eligible. Agented manuscripts are not eligible. Individual essays from the manuscript may have been published previously in magazines, chapbooks of less than 48 pages, or anthologies, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished. Translations and previously published collections are not eligible. To avoid conflict of interest, close friends of a judge or current students in a degree-granting program with a judge are not eligible.


 

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Manuscript must be ANONYMOUS—the author’s name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript (title page should contain the title only)

  • Must be typed, standard font, 12 pt. 
  • Between 100-250 pages
  • Manuscript must be paginated consecutively with a table of contents and acknowledgements page (a list of publications in which essays/excerpts in the manuscript have appeared)
  • Must be accompanied by a $34 submission fee
  • Must be submitted electronically through Submittable

Multiple submissions are permitted if submitted separately, each with a submission fee. Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but please withdraw the submission if accepted elsewhere. 

Sarabande Books considers all finalists for publication. 

Sarabande Books is seeking manuscript readers for poetry, essay, and short fiction. Each year, submissions to Sarabande’s annual prizes and open periods are read by a rotating panel of enthusiastic and highly-qualified manuscript readers in their respective genres. 

If you’re interested in joining our panel of readers, we invite you to inquire by completing the form below.

We are accepting readers on a rolling basis, so we recommend inquiring early! The inquiry form should take approximately ten minutes to complete. 

ELIGIBILITY

This opportunity is open to any reader of the English language who does not and will not have a manuscript under consideration with Sarabande Books through 2024. 

Sarabande Books