The Emerging Writer’s Contest
is currently accepting submissions until May 15, 2016 at noon EST.  Submit via our online submission manager.  You must be logged in to access this page. 

The Emerging Writer’s Contest is open to writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry who have yet to publish or self-publish a book. The winner in each genre will be awarded $1,000. Read past winners of the contest here.

Publication
The winning story, essay, and poems from the 2016 contest will be published in the Winter 2016-17 issue of Ploughshares, and each writer will receive $1,000.

Eligibility
You are eligible if you:

• Have yet to publish a book (including chapbooks, eBooks, translations, books in other languages/countries, and self-published works).
• Have no book forthcoming before April 15, 2017.
• Are not affiliated with Ploughshares or Emerson College as a contributing author, volunteer screener, blogger, intern, student, staff member, or faculty member.
• Will not have a relationship with Emerson before April 15, 2017 (example: if there is a chance you will attend the Emerson MFA program in the coming year or if your work has been accepted for publication for an upcoming issue).

Submitting
The contest opens March 1, 2016 at noon EST and closes May 15, 2016 at noon EST. 

Fiction and Nonfiction: Under 6,000 words
Poetry: 3-5 pages

Submit one entry per year via our online submission manager.

• No entries via email or mail will be considered for the contest.
• Submitted work must be original and previously unpublished in any form.
• For poetry, we will be reading both for the strongest individual poem and the general level of work, and may choose to publish one, some, or all of the winner’s submitted poems.
• Cover letters are not necessary. All identifying information will be removed from submissions. 

Entry Fee
Entry to the contest requires a $24 fee, which is waived if the submitter is a current subscriber. The fee is:

• Payable by Visa or MasterCard through the online submission system.
• Includes a 1-year subscription to Ploughshares (beginning with the Spring 2016 issue and ending with the Winter 2016-17 issue).

Current subscribers—through the Winter 2016-17 issue—may submit for free.*

*If you are a current subscriber, you will still be prompted to checkout, but you will not be required to enter your credit card information and will not be charged. 

>via: https://www.pshares.org/submit/emerging-writers-contest/guidelines