Celebrating the Best of Independently Published Literature
The CLMP Firecracker Awards for Independently Published Literature are given annually to celebrate the books and magazines that make a significant contribution to our literary culture and the publishers that strive to introduce important voices to readers far and wide. Prizes are awarded in the categories of Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, Magazines/General Excellence, and Magazines/Best Debut.
Each winner in the book categories will receive $2,000 ($1,000 for the press and $1,000 for the author or translator). Each winner in the magazine categories will receive $1,000. In addition, a national publicity campaign spotlights and promotes our winning titles each year. In partnership with the American Booksellers Association, promotional materials—including a press release and shelf talkers featuring the winning titles—are distributed to over 500 independent booksellers across the country. Winners are also promoted in CLMP’s newsletters, on our website, and through a dedicated social media campaign. The publishers of winning titles receive a free one-year membership to CLMP, and magazine winners receive a one-year CLMP Member subscription to Submittable.
Submissions for the 2026 Firecracker Awards will be accepted from September 15 to November 14, 2025. See below for more information and guidelines.
Finalists will be announced in spring 2026; the winners will be announced in June 2026.
Submission Guidelines
- There is no limit to the number of unique entries publishers may submit.
- The entry fee is $65 ($55 for CLMP Members) for the first submission and $45 ($35 for CLMP Members) for each additional entry. Interested in becoming a CLMP Member? Join now.
Book Categories
- Books must be published by an independent publisher during the 2025 calendar year.
- Books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction for adults are eligible. This includes English-language books from international publishers, books in translation, and graphic novels.
- Self-published books, including books published with “hybrid” publishers in which authors pay for part or all of publication costs, are not eligible.
- Children’s and young adult books are not eligible.
- Anthologies are not eligible.
- Posthumous submissions are not eligible. The author or translator must be living at the time of submission.
- Entries should be submitted by the publisher. However, authors may submit their own books if the publisher consents to the entry of the book. If an author submits their book themselves, they must provide contact information for the publisher in the application. CLMP will only communicate with publishers about submitted books.
Magazine Categories
- Magazines must be independent and literary in nature (primarily publishing fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and/or literary reviews).
- Magazines submitting in the General Excellence category must have published regularly for at least the past two years.
- Magazines submitting in the Best Debut category must have launched in the 2024 or 2025 calendar years.
- Both print and digital magazines are eligible.
- Magazines may be based anywhere in the world, but at least 50% of the magazine’s content must be in English.
- Magazines may be submitted in only one category.
CLMP reserves the right to determine all submissions’ eligibility, and its decision will be final.
2026 Firecracker Award Judges
Fiction
Stacie Shannon Denetsosie, author of The Missing Morningstar: And Other Stories (Torrey House Press, 2023)
Mubanga Kalimamukwento, author of Obligations to the Wounded (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2024)
Mikey LaFave, operations manager at Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia
Creative Nonfiction
Neesha Powell-Ingabire, author of Come By Here: A Memoir in Essays from Georgia’s Geechee Coast (Hub City Press, 2024)
Poetry
José Angel Araguz, author of Ruin & Want (Sundress Publications, 2023)
Danny Caine, author of Jewish American Dream (Sarabande Books, 2025)
Esther Lin, author of Cold Thief Place (Alice James Books, 2025)
Magazines
Joyce Chen, executive director and editor-in-chief of The Seventh Wave
