Nonfiction Contest
Guidelines for the 2020 Autumn House Nonfiction Contest
For the 2020 contest, the Autumn House staff serves as the preliminary readers, and the final judge is Jaquira Díaz. The winner receives publication of a full-length manuscript and $2,500. The submission period opens January 1, 2020, and closes June 30, 2020 (Eastern Time).
- The winners will receive book publication, $1,000 advance against royalties, and a $1,500 travel/publicity grant to promote their book
- All finalists will be considered for publication
- Nonfiction submissions should be approximately 200-300 double-spaced pages (50,000-150,000 words)
- The reading fee for the Nonfiction Contest is $30
- All nonfiction subjects (including personal essays, memoirs, travel writing, historical narratives, nature writing) or any combination of subjects are eligible
- Please don’t include your name anywhere on the actual MS
- Include a brief bio in the “cover letter” section of Submittable
- Feel free to include a TOC and acknowledgments page
- Simultaneous submissions permitted
If you have any questions, please check our FAQ page.
Winners of the Autumn House Nonfiction Prize
Year | Author | Title | Judge |
2019 | Melissa Wiley | Skull Cathedral: A Vestigial Anatomy | Paul Lisicky |
2018 | Jennifer Renee Blevins | Limited by Body Habitus: An American Fat Story | Daisy Hernández |
2017 | Dickson Lam | Paper Sons: a memoir | Alison Hawthorne Deming |
2016 | Katherine McCord | RUN SCREAM UNBURY SAVE | Michael Martone |
2015 | Harrison Candelaria Fletcher | Presentimiento: A Life in Dreams | Dinty W. Moore |
2014 | Jill Kandel | So Many Africas | Dinty W. Moore |
2013 | Adam Patric Miller | A Greater Monster | Phillip Lopate |
2012 | Clifford Thompson | Love for Sale and Other Essays | Phillip Lopate |