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 prize by August 1, 2025. 
 

• 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.)
• Autumn House is looking for personal essay collections and memoirs; we do not accept self-help books
• The book should be previously unpublished
• We only accept original manuscripts; AI-generated or AI-supported works are not accepted
• 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.