Prose Submissions

Thank you for thinking of Tupelo Press for your manuscript submission. We are primarily interested in projects that foreground stylistic innovation and hybridity as a crucial part of their aesthetic. Of course, our vision of experimentation is expansive, and includes work that blends poetry and prose, fiction that questions and interrogates narrative conventions, lyrical fiction, lyric essay, writing that uses the page as a visual field, text and image projects, manuscripts that make unexpected or surprising uses of familiar forms of discourse, and more. We look forward to seeing what risk and innovation mean within the context of your work.

Tupelo Press is now reading prose year-round. If you wish to submit, please send the entire manuscript.

Please keep in mind that this is not a contest. Manuscripts are not read anonymously. We hope to find manuscripts we love and want to publish, but understand, please, that Tupelo Press is under no obligation to publish any of the prose manuscripts submitted to us. Please also bear in mind that Tupelo Press accepts very few works of prose — no more than one or two per year. We are open to all manner of writing, but we’re especially interested in work that pushes boundaries, that is in some way edgy, experimental, surprising, hybrid, or unexpected. All manuscripts will be read and all decisions made by the editors of Tupelo Press only.

There is a reading fee of $45 for each prose manuscript submitted. Why a reading fee? We are an independent, nonprofit literary press. Reading fees help defray, but do not by any means cover, the significant time involved in reading works of prose, and the cost of publishing the books we commit to. Before submitting, be deeply thoughtful about whether your manuscript is fully ready for publication. Please don’t re-send works of prose previously submitted to us, unless specifically asked to do so.

From Tupelo Press’s Fiction Editor

I’m particularly drawn to literary fiction that balances intellectual depth and a distinctive style, marked by excellence, imagination, and intuition. I enjoy writing that spans across all genres and perspectives that blend precise, lyrical language with vivid imagery, inviting curiosity and reflection. Ideal submissions are curious, courageous, and erudite, willing to take creative risks in service of a story’s vision rather than for novelty alone. I’m especially interested in works that bring fresh perspectives to the quotidian, challenging common tropes while showing a deep respect for craft without relying on stylistic excess.–Elizabeth A.I. Powell 

Guidelines for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Content:

We generally do not accept writing or translations generated with AI software because Tupelo Press and Tupelo Quarterly are venues for intentional and thoughtful human creativity. If your work quotes lines generated by AI software (for example, with a reference to another text or published work), you must clearly acknowledge any intellectual borrowing. We understand and appreciate that some interesting creative work is being done that explores and exploits these technologies, but we will only consider such work if it explicitly acknowledges the means by which it was generated.

Submission online, via Submittable
  • Submit via Submittable, our submissions manager
  • Double space and number each page and please include a summary of the book
  • Submittable has fields for all contact information and will prompt you for payment

You may submit your manuscript online here.

Submission via Postal Mail

  • Be sure that you provide contact information, including address, phone number and email address.
  • Include the reading fee of $45, payable to Tupelo Press. We accept checks, money orders, credit cards, or PayPal:
    Pay here with PayPal – The safer, easier way to pay online!
  • Include a SASE for notification. Manuscripts will not be returned.
  • Use standard (8-1/2 x 11) paper unless you are submitting from outside the US.
  • Double-space; print one side only, and number each page.
  • Include an acknowledgments page, listing previously published short stories, or excerpts.

Mail your manuscript to:

Nonfiction Editor
Tupelo Press
PO Box 1767
North Adams, MA 01247