Submission guidelines

In the interest of discovering new talent, writers and novelists who are without a literary agent may submit a manuscript to our Arts and Letters Publishing Contest. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and illustrated children’s books accepted. Three winners will receive a traditional publishing contract with a $1,500 advance and distribution to major retailers. Twenty-five runners-up will be publicly announced and acknowledged for their outstanding work, with an option for potential publication in the future. The winning submissions will have a scheduled release date in late summer 2025. Please read the submission guidelines before submitting your manuscript to the contest via the form below. Failure to follow the contest guidelines may result in automatic disqualification.

  1. Entrants must be 18 years of age or older.
  2. Must reside in the United States (we may consider opening submissions to other territories in the near future).
  3. Manuscript must be submitted online. Accepted formats: PDF, Microsoft Word (preferred), OpenOffice, Pages, Wordpad or text. We are not accepting printed manuscripts by physical mail.
  4. Contest entry fee is $125
  5. Contestant may be previously published. However, previously published books are ineligible for the contest and publication.
  6. Only one manuscript may be submitted at a time per form and entry fee. Due to the volume of submitted manuscripts, no more than two manuscripts may be submitted during the contest period.
  7. You may only submit your manuscript once so please confirm it is your most recent version before sending.
  8. Typewritten manuscripts (manuscripts written using a typewriter) must be properly scanned and sent as a PDF or Microsoft Word format. Pages must not be askew and should be free of conversion errors.
  9. Manuscript must be between 10,000-150,000 words. There is no minimum number of words for illustrated children’s books.
  10. We are not interested in publishing material that glamorizes or glorifies extremism, racism, sexism, sexual violence, xenophobia, homophobia, or intolerance of any kind.
  11. Formatting: Must be single spaced using a 12 point font in Times New Romans (no special fonts, script, handwritten or fancier fonts may be used). Chapter headings required.
  12. Children’s books may use special fonts and font sizes, as long as the font is readable. Chapter headings are not required for children’s books.
  13. Serious submissions only. We may not be able to respond to emailed questions due to the volume of emails received. We will announce contest deadlines in the near future. Please complete the form below. After submitting the form you will be taken to the next page to complete the submission. You will also receive an automated email with instructions on how to attach your manuscript. If you do not see the email, check your junk folder.
Arts and Letters Publishing Contest Submission Form
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
Terms
By completing this form you agree that by submitting your manuscript to this contest that, We (Arts and Letters Publishing) are considering your submitted manuscript for publication as an applicant and contestant to the Arts and Letters Publishing Open Submissions Contest. You agree and understand that there are many entrants to this contest and that any entrant may win under equal terms. There is no guarantee that your submitted manuscript will be one of the three winning manuscripts or twenty-five runners-up. All submitted manuscripts begin with an equal chance of winning this competition with the winning manuscripts decided by our editing team. You agree that you are 18 years of age or older, a resident of the United States, and you acknowledge and accept all competition rules by submitting your manuscript and entry fee to this contest. The entry fee is designed to deter unserious manuscript submissions or other inappropriate solicitations. Do not submit to this contest if you feel overeager, impatient, anxious, or otherwise unable to wait for contest results, which will be announced in March 2025. We will make scheduled announcements as needed, in the interim. You agree that we may have other entrants whose stories bear similar plotlines or ideas as purely a coincidence and that you retain all of your copyright and exclusive rights to original ideas, content, and work as presented in your submitted manuscript. You agree that you have read submission guidelines and competition rules as outlined on this website. No author or manuscript may be pre-selected by our editors as winners of the contest. The three winning entries must be selected from the pool of contestants from the Arts and Letters Publishing Contest. Contestants also understand that we currently have other titles scheduled for publication. Entry fee is non-refundable. We do not share your information, data, or manuscript with third parties.
Name
Genre