Submissions

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Submissions open through February 1!

When the temperature drops, our excitement peaks: It’s time for the Winter Short Story Award for New Writers! Since 2016, our Short Story Award has connected emerging writers with some of the industry’s top literary agents. Past winners include Nana Nkweti, Nick Fuller Googins, Sanjena Sathian, and more, several of whom earned representation from one of our partnered agents as a result of this contest. This award is your chance to take the next step in your writing career.

We’re looking for stellar stories that only you can tell, either fiction or narrative nonfiction, up to 6,000 words. Jim Shepard will serve as this year’s guest judge, selecting the top three finalists from a shortlist chosen by our editorial team. This year’s contest runs from December 1, 2025, to February 1, 2026, and is open to any writer who has not published a novel or memoir with a major press. The first-place winner will receive a $3,000 grand prize, while the second- and third-place winners will receive $300 and $200 respectively. We publish all winning pieces online.

All winners will also receive agency review from our six partnered agencies. Participating agents include Nat Sobel from Sobel Weber, Victoria Cappello from The Bent Agency, Andrea Morrison from Writers House, Sarah Fuentes from United Talent Agency, Heather Schroder from Compass Talent, and Marin Takikawa from The Friedrich Agency.

What am I looking for? A story with sufficient and urgent emotional and thematic stakes. A story that continually enlarges our understanding of its main situation and characters. A story that’s alert to the possibilities of language, as well as the way the personal is political. A story that reminds us why we love to hear stories.

— Jim Shepard, Guest Judge

Submission Guidelines:

The first-place winner receives $3,000, online publication, and agency review.
The second- and third-place finalists receive cash prizes ($300/$200), online publication, and agency review.
Submissions of fiction or creative nonfiction must be under 6,000 words.
Submitted work must be previously unpublished. This includes personal blogs, social media accounts, and other websites. Previously published work will be automatically disqualified.
The entry fee is $20.
Simultaneous and multiple submissions are allowed, though each submission requires a $20 entry fee.
Writers from historically marginalized or underrepresented groups are invited to submit for free until we reach fifty submissions in this category. No additional fee waivers will be granted.
If your submission is accepted elsewhere, please withdraw your submission on Submittable, or contact us otherwise to let us know the piece is no longer available.
We do not require anonymous submissions for this contest, but the guest judge will read the shortlist anonymously.
This contest is for emerging writers only. Writers with single-author book-length work published or under contract with a major press are ineligible. We are interested in providing a platform to new writers; authors with books published by indie presses are welcome to submit unpublished work, as are self-published authors.
International submissions are allowed, provided the work is written primarily in English.
No translations, please.
All submissions must be double-spaced with one-inch page margins and use 12pt Times New Roman or Garamond font.
The contest’s deadline is 11:59pm PDT on February 1, 2026.
All entries are also considered for publication in New Voices.
Every submission will receive a response by the end of May 2026. The winners will be announced by the end of June 2026.
AI-generated or -assisted submissions will be automatically disqualified.
Friends, family, and associates of the guest judge are not eligible for this award. Consider submitting to the summer contest instead!

About the Judge

Jim Shepard has written eight novels, including The Book of Aron, which won the Sophie Brody Medal for Jewish Literature, the PEN/New England Award for Fiction, The Ribalow Prize for Fiction, and the Clark Fiction Prize, as well as six story collections, including Like You’d Understand, Anyway, a finalist for the National Book Award and Story Prize winner, and the forthcoming The Queen of Bad Influences. Eight of his stories have been chosen for the Best American Short Stories, two for the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, and three for Pushcart Prizes. He’s been a recipient of the Rea Award for the Short Story, the ALEX Award for Fiction, the Library of Congress/Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. For seven years he was a columnist on film for the magazine The Believer, and his film essays have been collected in The Tunnel at the End of the Light. He’s also written screenplays for two films made from his fiction, And Then I Go (2017) and The World to Come (2020). He lives in Williamstown with his wife, Karen Shepard, and two beagles, and from 1983 to 2024 taught film and creative writing at Williams College.

Editorial Letter Option

If you’re interested in getting feedback on your writing, utilize our editorial letter add-on option. Our response to your submission will be accompanied by a one- to two-page letter from an experienced guest editor, who will offer observations on the strengths of the piece as well as opportunities for revision. Your editor may also offer further submission and reading suggestions, or other comments on craft. A significant portion of the additional fee is paid directly to your feedback editor. See a sample editorial letter.

Our New Voices category is open year-round to any new or emerging author who has not published a novel-length work of fiction or narrative nonfiction with a major press. Authors with published short story collections are free to submit. We accept simultaneous and multiple submissions but ask that you inform us immediately if your story is accepted elsewhere.

The Masters Review pays a flat rate of $100 for flash-length stories (1,000 words or fewer) and $200 for longer stories (up to 7,000 words).

Guidelines:

This category is for emerging writers only. Writers with single-author novel-length work published or under contract with a major press are ineligible. We are interested in providing a platform to new writers; authors with books published by indie presses and self-published authors are welcome to submit unpublished work.
We accept fiction and narrative nonfiction. We do accept a variety of genres and styles; our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft. We want to be wowed. Bend genres, experiment with structure, and write your heart out. But please, send us polished work. Our aim is to showcase writers who we believe will continue to produce great work. Send us only your best.
We accept simultaneous submissions but please notify us if your work is picked up elsewhere.
All submissions must be under 7,000 words.
If you’re submitting flash, feel free to include up to three stories in a single document.
We do accept multiple submissions.
We cannot consider work that has been previously published in any form. This includes personal blogs.
Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history and a short bio.
We aim to respond to all submissions within twelve weeks. Please do not email before twelve weeks have passed.
For submissions that request an editorial letter, a significant portion of the editorial letter fees go to our feedback editor.

We don’t have any preferences topically or in terms of style. We’re simply looking for the best. We don’t define, nor are we interested in, stories identified by their genre. We do, however, consider ourselves a publication that focuses on literary fiction. Dazzle us, take chances, and be bold. Thanks for supporting our publication, and thank you for your work.

For questions about submissions or to query an existing submission please use the following email: contact [at] mastersreview [dot] com.

Book Reviews, Interviews & Craft Essays

The Masters Review is now accepting submissions of completed book reviews, interviews, and craft essays for publication on our blog. Please do not send pitches or queries to this category. Submissions must be previously unpublished. We do not consider reprints. At the moment, we are unable to pay for book reviews or interviews, but we can pay $50 for craft essays. If you have a pitch or query, please contact us at contact [at] mastersreview [dot] com.

Genre Guidelines

Book Reviews

Book Reviews must be of books scheduled for a 2025 release. We recommend submitting your review at least one month before the scheduled publication date. Earlier is better.
Book Reviews should be between 700-1,200 words.
Include in your review at least one sentence that conveys your overall stance on the book and embolden it. (e.g., The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley ruthlessly interrogates what it means to be successful as a Black woman, a Millennial, and a liberal living in an urban center.)
Our primary interest are debut authors and indie presses. Occasionally, we will consider and publish reviews from major presses or of notable authors.
Rarely, we will consider a review for a book with a past release date, but it must have been published within four months. If you have questions about this policy, please contact us at contact [at] mastersreview [dot] com.

Interviews

We are interested in interviews with authors, editors, agents, or other industry professionals, with a particular focus on recent publications or activity. Our mission is to bridge the gap between new and established writers, so any insight into the profession of writing is valuable (e.g., this interview with agent Miriam Atlshuler).
Interviews should be between 1,200-2,500 words.
Please include a bio of both the interviewee and the interviewer with your submission, as well as an introduction to the interview.

Craft Essays

Craft Essays should focus on a particular aspect of the craft of writing fiction or nonfiction.
Please do not send craft essays about poetry.
We are especially interested in craft essays which examine the craft of a particular story. Please see our Stories That Teach and From the Archives series on the blog for examples.
Craft Essays should be between 1,200-2,500 words.

Submission questions, concerns, and inquiries can be sent to a staff member at: contact [at] mastersreview [dot] com

Author’s Rights

The Masters Review holds first publication rights for three months after publication. Authors agree not to publish, nor authorize or permit the publication of, any part of the material for three months following The Masters Review’s first publication. For reprints we ask for acknowledgement of its publication in The Masters Review first.