[Alternating Current Press]: Electric Book Award

This is a book-publication contest of Alternating Current Press. Please know what it is before submitting.

We’re seeking book-length manuscripts of literary fiction, short stories, poetry, plays, novels, long novellas, creative nonfiction, literary memoir, essay collections, or hybrid. We especially want to hear from marginalized and underrepresented writers, and we are an LGBTQUIA2+ safe-space.

Winner receives $1,000, our Electric Book Award digital medallion, a certificate, and book publication on Alternating Current Press, which includes distribution through Ingram, Asterism, and all major online retailers. Runners-up may also be offered book publication.

Submissions open: January 1, 2025

Submissions close: May 31, 2025 June 30, 2025 (extended because portals were not opened on time)

Winner announced: September 2025

Publication: 2026/2027

• Manuscripts may be of any length in any genre or style. Manuscripts can be fiction, nonfiction, poetry, plays, or hybrid. Choose the category of best fit.
• Manuscripts must be geared toward an adult readership. We are not interested in books for children.
• All work must be in English and must be the author’s own. Single work by multiple authors considered. We do not consider AI-generated work.
• Manuscripts are read incognito. DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME OR ANY IDENTIFYING MARKS INSIDE THE FILE, including headers, footers, cover pages, acknowledgments, and file names. If you do leave your identifying marks inside the file, the submission will be read as-is, but the reader may disqualify the submission if he knows you on any personal level.
• If you need to adjust a submission, please use the Request to Edit option through Submittable. Please don’t request to edit for minor flaws, however—all accepted work will go through an editing process and will have the chance to be updated before publication, and your work will not be disqualified for a missing comma.
• All authors must be at least 18 to submit.
• Simultaneous submissions allowed. Please withdraw your manuscript through Submittable if it is accepted elsewhere.
• ACP and The Coil staff may submit work for publication consideration, but they are ineligible to win prizes while on our staff (including volunteers).
• Collections that contain previously published pieces are considered. Don’t include acknowledgments in the file.
• Submit via Submittable only. We do not accept email submissions.
• Straight or scholarly nonfiction should have citations.
• There is a $19 fee for each manuscript submitted. You may submit as many manuscripts as you’d like, but each one must be submitted separately with a separate fee. The fee helps us with needed administration and book production costs, and we pay our readers for their time and effort, but it’s not meant to be too inhibitive. If you are unable to pay, please email us for an alternative submission method.
• Each paid submission comes with a digital copy of our latest Electric Book Award winner, River Weather, a collection of dark Appalachian stories by Cameron MacKenzie ($7.99 value). There is an additional option to purchase the winning Electric Book Award print book (publishing in 2026/2027) as an add-on for a deep discount ($6.99 off the final cover price, shipped free worldwide). If there is no winner selected for a chosen year, advance book purchases will roll over to the next year. If you purchase this option, please make sure to keep your Submittable mailing address current in your profile.
• We will send a response to every submission and post an announcement of the winner by the end of September. Form response only, unless we are interested in publishing your book. We are regretfully unable to provide feedback. We reserve the right not to choose a winning manuscript if there are no contestants that meet our high judging standards.

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