2025 Autumn House Press Nonfiction Prize

For the 2025 prize, the Autumn House staff as well as select outsider readers serve as the preliminary readers, and the final judge is May-lee Chai. The winner receives publication of their full-length manuscript and $2,500. The submission period opens March 1, 2025, and closes April 30, 2025 (Eastern Time). We will announce the finalists and the winner of the contest by August 1, 2025. 

Guidelines for the Autumn House Nonfiction Prize

• The winner will receive book publication, a $1,000 honorarium, and a $1,500 travel/publicity grant to promote their book
• All finalists will be considered for publication
• Nonfiction submissions should be approximately 150-300 double-spaced pages (37,500-75,000 words)
• The reading fee is $35 (We will waive the submission fee for those undergoing financial hardship or living with limited means. Before you reach out to request a waived fee, please read our full statement and instructions here. If the guidelines are not followed, we will not be able to offer a waived fee.)
• Personal essays and memoirs are eligible
• The book should be previously unpublished
• Do not include your name anywhere on the actual manuscript; if your name appears within the body of the text, please omit it or black it out (first name is fine, but last name must be omitted)
• You may include a brief bio in the “cover letter” section of Submittable
• Do not include a bio or an acknowledgments page in the manuscript
• Feel free to include a table of contents (This does not count as part of your final page count)
• Simultaneous submissions permitted
• Friends, family members, and former students of judges or Autumn House editors may not submit to the contest. Students do not include interactions at short-term residencies or fellowships.
• Former employees of Autumn House, including interns, may not submit to the contest.

If you have any questions, please check our FAQ page.