SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Eligibility

The Slapering Hol Press (SHP) Chapbook Competition is open to all writers who have not yet published a collection of poems in book or chapbook form. Individual poems may have been previously published, but poems should not have been published as a group in any form, including self-published collections. Poems should be largely in English, though poets can, of course, incorporate phrases from other languages.

Manuscripts may consist of a collection of poems or one long poem, and should be a minimum of sixteen and a maximum of twenty pages (not including title page, table of contents, or cover sheet).

Formating

Please use 12 point Times, Times New Roman, or Garamond font. All poems should be single spaced. No more than one poem should appear on a page. The author’s name CANNOT appear in the file or in the file name. Please name your file as the manuscript title only.

Please use the submittable form to provide acknowledgments that list the titles of poems that have been published in journals or magazines, and where they appeared. If your manuscript does not contain poems that have previously appeared in magazines or journals, please type "Not Applicable" in the "acknowledgements page" field. The acknowledgments must not be included in the manuscript itself. Entries are read without looking at any acknowledgements or other identifying materials.

Simultaneous Submissions

Manuscripts may be under consideration elsewhere, but please withdraw your manuscript immediately if it is accepted for publication. Entry fees will not be refunded for manuscript withdrawal.

Reading Fee

Each Submittable manuscript should be accompanied by a $17 reading fee to cover administrative fees for online submissions. All BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) applicants are invited enter this contest for $2. 

Deadline

Entries must be submitted no later than June 15th, 2025. The winner is announced in the fall. The winning chapbook will be published in spring of 2026, with a reading to follow.

Prize

The prize for the SHP Chapbook Competition is a $500 cash award, publication, ten copies of the chapbook, and a reading at The Hudson Valley Writers Center (or on Zoom). Travel expenses of up to $500 may be offered to support an in-person reading in Sleepy Hollow, NY. Winning authors may suggest ideas for cover art, subject to the discretion of the editors and the terms of the publishing agreement. Likewise, winning authors may suggest a mentor with whom they would like to read at the chapbook launch.

Please direct any questions about these guidelines to: shpinfo@writerscenter.org.