It's fine with us if individual works have been published elsewhere, but the manuscript can't have been published as a whole before. Please include specific acknowledgments if any of the works have appeared elsewhere: tell us where individual pieces appeared, as we do sometimes consider submitted and unpublished individual pieces for possible publication in DIAGRAM.

We recommend that your manuscript be as coherent--as much a project--as possible. Not to say everything needs to be thematic or narratively related, but most of our winning chapbooks have a feeling of aesthetic unity or connection or resonance: we think chapbooks should make sense as chapbooks, and be more than the sums of their parts. Chapbook manuscripts do not necessarily have to be diagrammatic (though the diagrammers among us do enjoy those).

Co-authored manuscripts are fine.

Manuscripts that engage algorithmic writing tactics (cut-ups, collage, erasure, large language models, AI chatbots, autotranslation softwares, etc) are fine as long as you're up front about their use.

Submitting multiple manuscripts is fine with entry fees for each.

Simultaneous submissions are fine as long as you let us know ASAP if a manuscript needs to be withdrawn.

Please don't put your name/identifying info on the piece itself. If you send electronically, it'll be in the submitter info only, and that doesn't get forward to our readers. If you send via the mail, include a detachable cover page.

Email contest--at--thediagram.com with further questions if you have them.

REQUIRED STEP ONE: click through and pay for whichever option you like below:

Pay contest fee through the DIAGRAM Merch Store. Then follow the instructions for REQUIRED STEP TWO below.

* You have three options for entering the chapbook contest: the contest entry fee is $28, but you may also choose to bundle that with a 2025 Chapbook Subscription to save some money.

1. [Enter the contest & I want the 2026 chapbook subscription (digital + hardcopy, shipping incl. in US): $62]
   
   
2. [Enter the contest & I want the 2026 chapbook subscription (digital only): $47]
   
   
3. [Just the contest entry, ma'am: $28]

*If you have a hard time with the checkout process for any reason, drop us a line. We can take credit cards directly if you'll send us the info via email (card #, CVV (3 digit code on back), expiration date, billing address w/zipcode) at nmp--at--thediagram--dot--com, or we can give you a phone # to leave it on voicemail if you'd rather.

REQUIRED STEP TWO: submit your manuscript through our Submissions Manager system [here]. You'll have to create an account with the system if you haven't submitted to us before. Make SURE, SURE, that when you enter the submission's genre, you choose CHAPBOOK CONTEST ENTRY ONLY. Do NOT select "fiction," "poetry," or anything else. That way it gets read, processed, and responded-to properly (our contest submissions go through a different reading process than regular submissions). If you submit under something else things will get munged (though we are happy to read your non-contest submissions whenever, of course) and you'll have to resubmit. Please give us some kind of cover letter if you like. Or not.

Note: only one file may be submitted through the submissions manager. PDF preferred, or Word format (.doc, .docx), or .rtf is fine if necessary (we cannot read any other word processing formats; sorry). If your submission is more than one file, copy and paste it into one file or otherwise attach it. A zipfile would be acceptable if that's easier.

If you'd like your complimentary copy of the winning chapbook (or another chapbook in our series—please specify which, if any, on the envelope), mail us a self-addressed 6" x 9" envelope with $3 of postage (in USA—$7 is a safe bet if you're sending from overseas). If you do not care, there is no need for this.

If you send electronically you'll be notified electronically by default. No SASE required unless you want a copy of the winning chapbook. If you'd like us to send you a hardcopy results letter, that's fine (then send us a SASE as specified below).

If you'd rather send via the mail, fine. Mail your manuscript and check (made out to New Michigan Press--or pay online above if you'd rather and include the receipt) for $24 to: NMP/DIAGRAM Chapbook Contest, English Department, P.O. Box 210067, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0067.

Make sure you send us a business-sized SASE with postage if you'd like notification of the results by mail in the USA. Manuscripts cannot be returned (sorry—please don't send your only copy).

Optional: enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard if you'd like confirmation that we received your manuscript.

Enclose a self-addressed 6" x 9" envelope with $5 of postage (in USA—$7 is a safe bet if you're sending from overseas; no IRCs please) if you would like a complimentary copy of the winning chapbook (or another chapbook in our series—please specify which, if any, on the envelope; we'll honor requests if we have the chapbook in stock). If you do not care, there is no need for this.

Please send your manuscripts via airmail. And please do not send submissions certified mail, express mail, or anything we have to sign for; it's a pain and if we're not at the office, we're not going to be able to make a trip to the post office to pick up your manuscript. If you want to overnight it, fine, just please check the "no signature req'd" box.

We don't have a rotating celebrity judge for our chapbook contest. Since we pick the majority of our chapbooks from the submissions to the contest, we judge everything internally. The final judge is our editor, Ander Monson, and the preliminary readers change year to year and usually include some members of our editorial staff. We read anonymously and try to vary our aesthetic year to year. Still, we like what we like. To find out what we like, you should probably check out our books if you haven't already.