It’s that time of year again! The Masters Review’s long-running anthology series returns for the fourteenth year. If you’re a writer of fiction or creative nonfiction who has not yet published a novel or memoir with a major press, this is the contest for you. Best Emerging Writers 2025 will showcase a collection of prose from ten writers who are on their way to greatness. Selecting this year’s best emerging writers is the terrific Andrew Porter, author of The Disappeared, the forthcoming novel The Imagined Life, and more. Each of our ten winners will receive a $700 award and a print copy of the book.
What Andrew Porter is looking for: “As a reader, I’m interested in writing that convinces me of its characters, whether it’s realism or speculative fiction or something wildly experimental. I’m interested in that genuine emotional connection between reader and character, and I’m interested in writing that feels honest. In a really good short story, you can always sense the presence of another soul on the other side of the words, and that’s the type of story I’m interested in, one that excites me, moves me, haunts me.”
This year, our winners will be published both in print and online! Our anthology has been at the heart of our mission to provide a platform for emerging writers since day one, and we’re excited to share these stories and essays in a variety of forms, to meet our audience wherever they are. The book will be available for purchase at Bookshop.org and other online distributors. Submissions will be open April 10 and close June 8, 2025. As always, we don’t have any preferences topically or in terms of style. We’re simply looking for the best.
Ten winners will receive:
ANDREW PORTER is the author of the story collections The Disappeared (Knopf) and The Theory of Light and Matter (Vintage) and the novels In Between Days (Knopf) and The Imagined Life (Knopf). A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he has received a Pushcart Prize, a James Michener/Copernicus Fellowship, and the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. His work has appeared in One Story, Ploughshares, American Short Fiction, Best American Short Stories, and on Public Radio’s Selected Shorts. Currently, he teaches fiction writing and directs the creative writing program at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.
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.
Returning for the fourth year, The Masters Review’s Novel Workshop is here to help writers looking for direct, actionable feedback on the opening of their novel in progress. Whether you’re just getting started on your manuscript or are polishing up the fifteenth draft, this program is the perfect opportunity to get your novel on the path toward publication.
Our workshop will pair you with an experienced small press editor who will offer detailed, personalized feedback on the first fifty pages of your novel. Along with your feedback, you’ll receive self-guided learning materials on fiction and novel writing curated by The Masters Review team, an opportunity to join a writing group with fellow participants, and a free entry to an upcoming TMR contest. This asynchronous, remote workshop is an excellent way for writers to reinvest in their novel writing. Enrollment is open until May 1, 2025.
Writers are invited to submit the first fifty pages of their novels. In their cover letters, writers should also plan to include a brief synopsis of the novel, any challenges they may be facing, and any specific feedback they are seeking.
After registration, writers will receive their assigned editor, along with instructional materials compiled by The Masters Review. Manuscripts will be processed in the order they are received. All participants will receive feedback no later than August 31, 2025.
Registration is $497.
Participants will receive:
Colleen Alles is an award-winning writer living in West Michigan. The author of three novels (Skinny Vanilla Crisis, Atmosphere Books; Master of Arts, Scantic Press; and The Hound of Thornfield High, Conquest Publishing) and two poetry collections, Colleen works as a developmental editor. She is also a co-editor for fiction at Barren Magazine. Colleen is a graduate of Michigan State University (BA) and Wayne State University (MLIS). When she isn’t reading or writing, Colleen enjoys distance running and spending time with her family, including a well-loved beagle, Charlie. You can find her online on Instagram @ColleenAlles_author, and on Twitter (X) at @ColleenAlles.
Yvonne C. Garrett holds an MFA-Fiction (The New School), an MLIS (Palmer), two MAs (NYU), and a PhD with a dissertation focused on women in Punk. Former senior fiction editor at Black Lawrence Press, she’s been published in a wide array of journals and magazines.
Laura Hart is an associate editor for Bellevue Literary Press, a nonprofit publisher at the intersection of the arts and sciences. She earned a BA from Auburn University and an MFA from Columbia University. Her passion lies in cultivating and empowering diverse stories so that the publishing world better represents our modern society. She previously worked at Writers House and Columbia Journal.
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).
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.
New Voices submissions can be uploaded to Submittable by clicking the button below:
For questions about submissions or to query an existing submission please use the following email: contact [at] mastersreview [dot] com.
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
Interviews
Craft Essays
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.