Chapbook-length manuscripts are admittedly more common for poetry than for fiction, but that certainly doesn’t mean they’re off-limits for prose writers. This length of around 20-40 pages is ideal for collections of micro-fiction and micro-essays, as well as stand alone short stories and essays that aren’t quite big enough to be novellas (if you write things that straddle that length divide, you can check out my list of long short story and novella publishers to find more places to send them).

Since this length and style of book has been considered the domain of poets for so long, though, searching for fiction chapbook publishers can be frustrating. They’re definitely out there—it can just take creative search terms and time spent scouring press guidelines to find them.

I’ve recently done some of that work in search of places to send a fiction chapbook I’ve been working on, so I figured I’d pass along what I found to maybe save some other writers a bit of time. As with any list like this it’s certainly not comprehensive, but hopefully it at least gives you some ideas of places you can send your manuscript.

Black Lawrence Press

(via the Black River Chapbook competition)
Black Lawrence Press on Duotrope
What they publish: Perfect-bound literary chapbooks of 16-36 pages.

The Black River Chapbook contest runs twice a year (April 1-May 31 and September 1-October 31) and is open to both poetry and prose manuscripts. Each contest’s winner gets $500 along with publication and 10 copies, which as you can imagine does make it a very competitive contest. It’s also not cheap, at $17 for an entry. On the plus side, Black Lawrence books are beautiful, and their chapbooks get the same publicity and attention as their full-length titles, so it’s an excellent home for the right manuscript.

BlazeVOX

See their submission guidelines
BlazeVOX on Duotrope
What they publish: Hybrid, experimental, and otherwise innovative poetry and prose

BlazeVOX is an independent small press with a focus on works that push the boundaries of form. Content-wise, they tend to stick to realistic, literary fiction, particularly works that explore human relationships and emotions in fresh, new ways.

Bull City Press

During their Chapbook Open Reading Period
Bull City Press on Duotrope
What they publish: Micro, flash, and hybrid prose chapbooks and tinychaps

Another independent small press, all of Bull City’s titles come from their open reading periods, and they use a pay-what-you-can model for their contests to keep the process accessible for all writers. While their catalog is mostly literary, there are a few more speculative-leaning collections in the mix.

C&R Press

See their submission guidelines
C&R Press on Duotrope
What they publish: Collections of fiction, poetry, and CNF, along with hybrid and experimental work

C&R Press aims to publish works that are often overlooked and ignored by commercial publishers. They publish chabooks in two series, their Winter Soup Bowl Series and Summer Tide Pool Series. This one does come with a steeper entry fee ($20 per 20-40 page manuscript) but those selected for publication receive a $100 honorarium along with extensive promotion by the press. It’s also different from other contests in that they’re looking for 1-3 titles for each chapbook call instead of only choosing one winner.

Cutbank

(via the Cutbank Chapbook Contest)
Cutbank on Duotrope
What they publish: Single works or collections totaling 25-40 pages

Another one with a steep entry fee ($20) but a high potential payoff. The winner gets $1,000 plus publication, and two runner-ups will also have their manuscript published. The cost to enter is also offset somewhat by the fact that you get a print copy of CutBank Magazine with your entry. As far as content, this is a great market for lyric essays as well as voice-driven fiction.

Eggtooth Editions

(Via their Any Genre Chapbook Contest)
Eggtooth Editions on Duotrope
What they publish: Manuscripts in any genre of 15-50 pages

The Any Genre Chapbook Contest is open to any writer who hasn’t published a full-length book, making it a great opportunity for emerging writers. It’s also a bit cheaper than the other contests on the list ($10 entry) and the winner gets a $250 prize along with publication and author copies.

The Florida Review

(Via the Leiby Chapbook Contest)
Florida Review on Duotrope
What they publish: Prose and graphic narrative manuscripts up to 45 pages

The Florida Reivew is the literary journal of the University of Central Florida, but they also put out a prose or graphic chapbook every year through the contest linked above. Word of warning from personal experience that this one does take a little while to get back to you, but they consider simultaneous submissions so you don’t need to just wait around until they reply.

Interstellar Flight Press

See their submission guidelines
Interstellar Flight Press on Duotrope
What they publish: Speculative poetry, novellas, novelettes, and short fiction collections

Interstellar Flight Press is a relatively young indie publisher dedicated to sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. Their current call (as of September 2022) is for horror novellas and nonfiction, but check back with them if that doesn’t describe your manuscript since they rotate genres and formats across submission calls.

The Master’s Review

(Via their Chapbook Contest)
The Master’s Review on Duotrope
What they publish: Print and digital versions of prose manuscripts from 25-45 pages

Winners get a pretty sizeable prize for this one—$3,000 and 75 copies of the published chapbook. It’s also only open to writers who don’t have a book-length publication, so it’s another contest that can be a career-launcher for emerging writers. The bad news is its $25 reading fee, high enough you want to really make sure your manuscript fits the press’ vibe before you submit.

New Michigan Press/The Diagram

(Via the Diagram Chapbook Contest)
New Michigan Press on Duotrope 
What they publish: Print and PDF chapbooks

New Michigan Press is mostly a chapbook publisher, which sets them apart from a lot of the presses listed here. They take unagented manuscripts primarily through their annual chapbook contest, run by their partner journal DIAGRAM. They don’t only publish work that includes diagrams, but if you do work in hybrid forms with a visual element, this is a great place to send your stuff.

Omnidawn

(via their Fabulist Fiction Chapbook/Novellette contest)
Omnidawn on Duotrope
What they publish: Fabulist fiction, magical realism, and other genres on the borders between speculative and literary

Omnidawn is one of the top publishers out there for speculative chaps. Their published chapbooks range from retold myths to modern twists on fairy tales and urban magical realism. This is another fairly competitive contest with a historically high prize for the winner, though they haven’t yet announced the details of their 2022 contest (opening in October).

Red Hen Press

See their submission guidelines
Red Hen Press on Duotrope
What they publish: Literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry in all lengths

Red Hen Press almost doesn’t count as a small press anymore at this point, but their size can be an advantage for authors. They put out more books a year than most of the presses on this list, and have the resources to offer authors more publicity and support than smaller indie presses. Along with their general list, they have a number of imprints focused on specific demographics and styles, such as Crooked Hearts Press focused on female writers over 55 or their Quill imprint for literary prose from LGBTQ+ writers.

Rose Metal Press

(for their Short Short Chapbook series)
Rose Metal Press on Duotrope
What they publish: Flash fiction and hybrid collections

Rose Metal Press is an indie publisher of innovative hybrid poetry and prose. This includes things like novellas-in-flash, novels in verse, and collections that use both text and images—basically anything that isn’t easy to fit into the big-picture genre divisions of poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. Their open reading periods are sporadic, but they do have one planned for 2023 so it’s a good time to check them out if you think your manuscript is ideal for their list.

Split/Lip Press

(via their Fiction Chapbook contest)
Split/Lip Press on Duotrope
What they publish: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid work, with a penchant for the boundary-blurring, experimental, and bizarre

Split/Lip Press publishes all of their books through their open reading periods. They work collaboratively with their authors to design and publicize each book, and that supportive community they provide for authors is a big plus. This is another mostly-literary publisher, though it may be a good fit for manuscripts that play on the borders of genre, especially if they also experiment with form and narrative in other ways.

Steel Toe Books

(during their chapbook open reading period)
Steel Toe Books on Duotrope
What they publish: 1-3 chapbooks a year along with full-length poetry and prose books

Steel Toe Books started as a poetry-only publisher and has recently added fiction and non-fiction to their catalog. While that does make it trickier to scope out what kind of stuff they like from their back titles, it also could be an opportunity for prose writers to have a voice in shaping that aesthetic. All work submitted for contests is considered for publication, not just the winner, so if your work is  a good fit you’re less likely to be rejected just because someone else did things a smidge better.

Tarpaulin Sky Press

See their submission guidelines
Tarpaulin Sky Press on Duotrope
What they publish: Mostly trade paperbacks with some hand-made books, with a focus on hybrid and cross-genre manuscripts

Tarpaulin Sky Press started publishing authors from the Tarpaulin Sky Literary Journal, but they’ve since expanded to accept manuscript submissions. Their catalog is mostly realistic fiction with a smattering of genre influence, so while it’s not a market for hard genre it’s one to check out if you write along the edges of realism.

Thirty West Publishing House

See their submission guidelines
Thirty West on Duotrope
What they publish: Hand-made chapbooks largely in the literary vein

Thirty West Publishing House puts out books that are artifacts, making them with a mix of familiar and unique materials and giving each a distinctive look to match the words inside. They’re currently on a short submission hiatus but, when they’re open, their reading fee is voluntary. This is mostly a market for realistic, literary writing, though they’re open to a bit of weird and genre-blurring around the literary periphery.

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