Texas Tech University Press and Iron Horse Literary Review are pleased to accept submissions for the Iron Horse/TTU Press First Book of Prose Prize, awarded annually to a first book of collected prose. The author of the winning entry will receive $1000, and their collection will be published in 2026 by Texas Tech University Press.

We are looking for emerging writers who have yet to publish a first book in any genre. We are seeking collections of prose, either short fiction or nonfiction, especially stories and essays from and about places and people that are often overlooked and underrepresented in contemporary letters, but we have no preferences as to subjects or themes. Entries may come from writers who have published individual essays or stories--including works collected in the submitted manuscript--but it is not required. We are simply interested in strong voices, diverse perspectives, and fresh takes on what it means to be human.

The winner will be chosen by Katie Cortese, director of Texas Tech University Press, an associate professor in the Creative Writing Program at Texas Tech University, and author of Make Way for Her and Other Stories.


GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:
 

1. Entries must be either a collection of short fiction or essays. We are not accepting novels or memoirs, although we welcome story cycles, novellas with other stories, and linked essays. 
2. We prefer book manuscripts between 150-250 pages, with each story or essay starting on a new page.
3. Manuscripts must be typed, with one-inch margins and using a standard typeface like Times New Roman or Garamond, in 12-point font.
4. Pages must be numbered.
5. Individual portions of the manuscript may have been published elsewhere, but the manuscript as a whole must be previously unpublished.
6. The author’s name and contact information should appear on the Submittable form and in the cover letter, but it must NOT appear anywhere on the  manuscript. There should be no footers or headers containing the  author's identity. No bio page. 
7. In your cover letter, and only in your cover letter, you are required to include acknowledgment of any portion of the manuscript that has been previously published. But do NOT include an acknowledgments page inside the manuscript.
8. We only accept electronic manuscripts, submitted as ONE pdf, doc, or docx file, with the entire manuscript in that single file using continuous pagination. Do NOT submit multiple stories or essays in individual files.
9. Entries failing to meet formatting instructions will be automatically disqualified.

ENTRY FEE: $15, which directly supports the series.

SUBMISSION DATES: June 15 to August 15

FREE SUBMISSION DATE: July 15. On this day, we will accept a limited number of submissions free of charge to ensure the inclusion of as many authors as possible. If you can afford to pay the fee, we ask that you reserve the free slots for others who may not be able to submit otherwise. If you miss the July 15th free submission day and would like to submit your work but cannot pay the fee, please feel welcome to contact Travis Snyder at Texas Tech University Press (travis.snyder@ttu.edu), but not before July 15th.

TIMELINE: Prize finalists will be announced in November 2025, and the winner will be named in January/February 2026. Though only one book is guaranteed to receive the $1,000 honorarium and publication, all submissions will be considered for publication.

For more information on Texas Tech University Press, visit their website.
For more information on Iron Horse Literary Review, visit their website.





 

Use this link to purchase any of our winning chapbooks:

• Doug Emory's The Topography of Isolation--our most recent chapbook, a collection of stories about mountaineers and climbing.
• Maxwell Suzuki's Bust of an Athlete--a collection of poems.
• Shuly Xóchitl Cawood's What The Fortune Tell Would Have Said--a collection of flash essays about love and second chances.
• Roseanna Alice Boswell's Imitating Light--a collection of poems.
• Brigitte Lewis's Origin Stories--a collection of stories that reconsider the domestic lives of Biblical couples: Adam and Eve, Lot and Edith, David and Bathsheba, Samson and Delilah, and Adam and Lilith (Adam's second wife).
• Freda Epum's Entryways into Memories That Might Assemble Me--a collection of flash essays on popular culture, depression, identity, and racism in America.
• Jed Myers's Dark Channels, a collection of poems.
• Christopher Lowe's A Guest of the Program, a collection of linked stories about college football and recruiting programs and coaches.
• Robin Carstensen's In the Temple of Shining Mercy, a collection of poems.
• Kirk Wisland's Melancholy of Falling Men, a collection of essays on masculinity in America.
• Joe Wilkins's Leviathan, a collection of poems.
• Michael Hemmingson's Still Life with Iguana. Published posthumously, this is a novella about white hat operatives, assassins, and espionage.
• Brandon Davis Jennings's Waiting for the Enemy, a collection of linked stories about American servicemen in the Middle East.
• Hastings Hensel's Control Burn, a collection of poems.
• Eric Neuenfeldt's Fall Ends Tomorrow, a collection of short stories surroundings the lives of cylcists.
• Meagan Ciesla's Me, Them, Us, a novella.

Each chapbook costs $10. Be sure to tell us which one(s) you are ordering. 

Due to budget cuts after Covid-19, we can no longer support international postage costs. Readers outside the United States will receive electronic copies only.