The Robert C. Jones Short Prose Book Contest

*The Robert C. Jones Prize is currently on hiatus during the academic year of 2020-21. Please check back in the future.

The Robert C. Jones Prize for a book of short prose will open September 15, 2019 and close November 15, 2019. C.J. Hauser will judge this year’s award. The winning manuscript will be awarded $2000 and published by Pleiades Press. We’re interested in reading collections short stories, flash fiction, essays, lyric essays, and any other forms of short prose. The winning collection will be nationally distributed through LSU Press and made widely available through all major booksellers. To learn more about our judge, C.J. Hauser, go to https://cjhauser.com.

The Short Prose Contest is open to all writers, regardless of previous publication. Submit a manuscript of 60 or more pages and please indicate whether this is a work of fiction or nonfiction. Translations are not accepted, nor are “New & Selected” or “Collected” manuscripts including work from previously published books. Previous journal and chapbook publications are OK.

Colleagues and former students of C.J. Hauser are not eligible for this year’s prize.

We read only online submissions. The reading fee is $25 for each manuscript submitted. With each manuscript, include two cover sheets: one with the title of the manuscript, your name, telephone number, and address—the other with only the title of the book. Finalists’ manuscripts will be sent to the judge without identification.

To enter the contest please complete the following two steps:

  1. Go HERE (to the University of Central Missouri online marketplace) to pay your entry fee.
  2. After you have paid your fee, go to pleiadessubmissions.com to upload your manuscript to our submission manager. Please put your order number in the comments fields of the submission manager.

 

Robert C. Jones was a professor of English at University of Missouri and editor at Mid-American Press who supported and encouraged countless young writers through a lifetime of editing and teaching. His legacy continues to inspire all of us who live, write, and support the arts in Mid-America.