CLMP SUBMISSION PORTAL
The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) ensures a vibrant, diverse literary landscape by helping small literary publishers work better. We communicate the art of literary publishing to readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, educators, funders and other literary stakeholders, and work to bring all of these communities together. CLMP carries out this mission so that essential literary voices from all corners can make their way from writers to readers.
Interested in becoming a CLMP member? Apply now.
The Constellation Award supports independent literary presses that champion the writing of people of color, including Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and AAPI individuals. The 2027 recipient will receive $10,000 and will be announced in January 2027. The deadline to submit is November 2, 2026, at 11:59 pm ET.
Eligibility Requirements
- Presses must have a demonstrated commitment to championing books by people of color, including Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and AAPI authors.
- Presses must have a demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in their business practices.
- Presses must be English-language and/or Spanish-language publishers based in the United States.
- Presses must be independent publishers of literary books. (At least 50% of the list must consist of fiction, poetry, drama, and literary prose.)
- Presses must not be primarily self-publishing. (At least 50% of titles must be published by authors not on staff.)
- Presses must not charge authors a fee to publish their work.
- Presses must have a two-year track record of publishing at least one title a year.
- Presses' annual net sales must be below $1 million.
- Presses must publish books that are original and independently created by a human author. Presses that publish works created, written, generated, edited, and/or designed with substantial use of AI tools are not eligible.
For more information and full guidelines, please visit our website.
Novels, novellas, short story collections, and fiction chapbooks published by independent presses during the 2026 calendar year are eligible. Additional guidelines and eligibility requirements are available on the CLMP website.
The entry fee to submit a single title to the Firecracker Awards is $65 ($55 for CLMP members). To submit a single book, select Single Entry Submission Fee (or Single Entry Submission Fee - CLMP Member). Please verify your CLMP membership status before submitting at the CLMP member price.
Additional titles may be submitted for $45 ($35 for CLMP members) each. Please be sure you have submitted one title in any genre at the Single Entry Submission Fee price; subsequent titles may be submitted in any genre using the Additional Entry Submission Fee (or Additional Entry Submission Fee - CLMP Member).
Interested in becoming a CLMP member? Apply now.
Memoirs, essay collections, and other literary nonfiction books published by independent presses during the 2026 calendar year are eligible. Additional guidelines and eligibility requirements are available on the CLMP website.
The entry fee to submit a single title to the Firecracker Awards is $65 ($55 for CLMP members). To submit a single book, select Single Entry Submission Fee (or Single Entry Submission Fee - CLMP Member). Please verify your CLMP membership status before submitting at the CLMP member price.
Additional titles may be submitted for $45 ($35 for CLMP members) each. Please be sure you have submitted one title in any genre at the Single Entry Submission Fee price; subsequent titles may be submitted in any genre using the Additional Entry Submission Fee (or Additional Entry Submission Fee - CLMP Member).
Interested in becoming a CLMP member? Apply now.
Poetry collections and chapbooks published by independent presses during the 2026 calendar year are eligible. Additional guidelines and eligibility requirements are available on the CLMP website.
The entry fee to submit a single title to the Firecracker Awards is $65 ($55 for CLMP members). To submit a single book, select Single Entry Submission Fee (or Single Entry Submission Fee - CLMP Member). Please verify your CLMP membership status before submitting at the CLMP member price.
Additional titles may be submitted for $45 ($35 for CLMP members) each. Please be sure you have submitted one title in any genre at the Single Entry Submission Fee price; subsequent titles may be submitted in any genre using the Additional Entry Submission Fee (or Additional Entry Submission Fee - CLMP Member).
Interested in becoming a CLMP member? Apply now.
Print and digital magazines that were founded prior to 2025 are eligible to submit in this category. Additional guidelines and eligibility requirements are available on the CLMP website.
Print magazines: Please upload a single PDF containing up to three issues of the magazine published in the 2026 calendar year. Digital magazines: Please submit a web address, and if the magazine is organized in issues, submissions may also include up to three additional links that correspond to issues published in 2026.
The entry fee is $65 ($55 for CLMP members). Please verify your CLMP membership status before submitting at the CLMP member price. Interested in becoming a CLMP member? Apply now.
Magazines submitting in the Best Debut category must have launched during the 2025 or 2026 calendar year. Additional guidelines and eligibility requirements are available on the CLMP website.
Print magazines: Please upload a single PDF containing up to three issues of the magazine published in the 2026 calendar year. Digital magazines: Please submit a web address, and if the magazine is organized in issues, submissions may also include up to three additional links that correspond to issues published in 2026.
The entry fee to submit a single magazine to the Firecracker Awards is $65 ($55 for CLMP members). Please verify your CLMP membership status before submitting at the CLMP member price.
Interested in becoming a CLMP member? Apply now.