Submissions
Button Poetry publishes poetry by our contest winners and groundbreaking artists from around the world. Please read about our contests below so you can prepare for your next submission! Button Poetry is not open to any unsolicited submissions outside of our contest periods. We announce our contest submission periods on our social media, and you can get announcements right in your inbox by subscribing to our newsletter.
If you entered any of our previous contests, you can check the status of your submission by logging into your Submittable account.
- Fiction Contest
The 2025 Fiction Contest will open February 15, 2025 – April 1, 2025
Prize: $500, Publication & 25 author copies
We want to see what you see. Join us for our first foray into fiction.
We are open to manuscripts of any length in any style of fiction.
- Fiction Contest
- Button Poetry First Book Contest
The 2025 First Book Contest will open April 15, 2025 – May 30, 2025
Prize: $1,000, Publication & 25 author copiesWe are looking for an energetic, first full-length poetry collection.
What we like: voice and force, work that crosses borders or effaces them completely, work that enters into larger social conversations, work that lives in the world, work with calloused hands and a half-empty stomach.
- Button Poetry First Book Contest
The 2024 Chapbook Contest is now closed.
Each year Button accepts full-length manuscripts from aspiring and accomplished poets from all over. Winning manuscripts become beautiful chapbooks, published by Button Poetry. In addition, winners receive 50 free author copies, and a $500 honorarium.
More questions? View the Chapbook contest FAQ.
- Video contest
The 2024 Video Contest is now closed.
Button Poetry accepts videos of original poetry once a year. Winner’s of Button’s annual video contest win an honorarium in addition to being featured alongside runners-up across Button’s social media.
More questions? View the Video contest FAQ.
- Short Form contest
Fall 2024 Short Form Contest is now closed.
Button Poetry’s Short Form contest invites original, short poems or excerpts of 250 characters to be featured on the official Button Poetry Instagram! Anyone, ANYWHERE is eligible to enter with no entry fee. Winning entries are made into a graphic that will be posted along with the author’s Instagram handle in the months after the contest.
More questions? View the Short Form contest FAQ. - Poem Cover contest
The 2022 poem cover contest is now closed.
In honor of both National Poetry Month and the 10-Year Anniversary of our first ever poetry video posted on YouTube, we want to invite all of our fans to participate in celebrating some of the poems that we’ve all come to know and love over the last decade. Unlike the Chapbook, Video, and Short Form contests, this Poem Cover contest is for the fans!
We’d like you to record yourself performing a version of your favorite poem from our channel, and challenge you to put your own spin on the piece. The winner’s video along with multiple runners-up will be featured on the Button Poetry YouTube channel. The winner will receive admission to a calendar year of Button Poetry Workshops. Each workshop is $150 (total value of $900). That’s our biggest prize to date!
More questions? View our Poem Cover Contest FAQ page!