Manuscript prizes and other indie publishing notes, October–December
Sharing here a quick roundup of manuscript prizes that may interest Book Work’s readership, along with other fall publishing notes:
The nonprofit FC2 (Fiction Collective Two) is an imprint of the University of Alabama Press, with editorial operations overseen from Wake Forest University. It runs two prizes, both with deadlines of November 1. The Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize is for writers with at least three books of fiction published; it includes $15,000 and publication by FC2 / Alabama. The Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Contest is for writers who have not previously published with FC2; it includes $1,500 and publication by FC2 / Alabama.
The Vassar Miller Prize is given annually for a poetry collection and has a deadline of October 31. It comes with a prize of $1,000 and publication by the University of North Texas Press.
My friends at Hub City are open for nonfiction queries through October 31, and their C. Michael Curtis Short Story Book Prize ($5,000 plus publication with Hub City, for emerging southern writers) runs through the end of December.
The Minds on Fire Open Book Prize from Conduit Books & Ephemera is awarded annually and is open to any poet writing in English. The winning poet receives $1,500 and 30 author copies. Deadline is November 3.
Not a prize or publication opportunity, but don’t miss University Press Week, November 12–18. It includes a full slate of book events, several of them free and online. (Of particular note to fellow Pittsburghers: an online event for Dream Street: W. Eugene Smith’s Pittsburgh Project, hosted by Riverstone Books.)
I’m thinking of running roundups along these lines periodically, so if you know of news or prizes from independent and university presses that should be on my radar, please drop me a line or leave a comment. Appreciate it.