Award-winning independent publisher of poetry, short fiction, and essay. 

Sarabande Books is an award-winning, internationally-distributed, nonprofit, independent literary publishing house founded in 1994 in Louisville, Kentucky. 

With nearly three hundred titles in print, we have earned a dedicated readership and a national reputation as a publisher of diverse forms and innovative voices. Through our free arts programming, we are proud to invest in emerging writers and serve as an educational resource locally and nationally. 

Sarabande authors are Nobel laureates, Pulitzer winners, Guggenheim recipients, and winners of the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and many other awards, honors, and distinctions. 

Our Mission

Sarabande Books champions innovative voices in poetry, short fiction, essay, and literature in translation. We’re create lasting editions that honor exceptional writing.

Sarabande Books

The Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction

The Sarabande Prize in the Essay

The Kathryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry

Manuscript must be at least 14 pages of prose or poetry, excluding title page and optional table of contents

The Sarabande Chapbook Prize (Spring)

Each year during the month of July, Sarabande offers writers and translators the opportunity to get their manuscripts in front of our editors without the mediating factors of agents or judges. Providing direct access to writers is a core Sarabande value, rooted in our long-held belief that you, writers, know best what kind of work we're going to love.
We can’t wait to read your full-length manuscripts of poetry, fiction, hybrid work, literary nonfiction, and literature in translation!
The Sarabande Open is open to manuscripts in English. Employees and board members of Sarabande are not eligible. Agented manuscripts are not eligible. Works that have previously appeared in magazines or in anthologies may be included.
It is highly recommended that those who intend to submit a manuscript familiarize themselves with Sarabande’s catalog. You can find some of our recent titles below.This submission period is open to manuscripts in English. We recommended all those who intend to submit a manuscript familiarize themselves with Sarabande’s catalog.
If your manuscript does not fall within traditional genre categories, you may submit it here OR in the category (poetry, fiction, nonfiction) with which it most closely aligns. No manuscript will be disqualified for miscategorizing—we keep a very open mind!
Submission form must include a cover letter with a brief author bio and acknowledgements of past publications.
Manuscript must be anonymous.
Manuscript must be typed, standard font, 12 pt., and between 48 and 240 pages. (Note: minimum poetry length is 48; maximum prose length is 240.)
Manuscript should be paginated consecutively with a table of contents.
Submission must be submitted electronically through Submittable, accompanied by a $30 submission fee.

The Sarabande Open — Hybrid Works - Hybrid

The Sarabande Chapbook Prize

The Sarabande Open: Open to All

Each year during the month of July, Sarabande offers writers and translators the opportunity to get their manuscripts in front of our editors without the mediating factors of agents or judges. Providing direct access to writers is a core Sarabande value, rooted in our long-held belief that you, writers, know best what kind of work we're going to love. 

We can’t wait to read your full-length manuscripts of poetry, fiction, hybrid work, literary nonfiction, and literature in translation! 

Sarabande Books

Highlights

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Featured Call

The Sarabande Chapbook Prize