The Snapshot Press Book Awards
The Snapshot Press Book Awards are international annual prizes for unpublished book-length collections of haiku, tanka, short poetry and haibun.
The Award winners will have their collections published in paperback or hardback by Snapshot Press. There may be up to four Award winners each year.
Submissions are open from July 1–November 30. The winners will be announced on April 30 the following year and published six months later.
(See The Snapshot Press eChapbook Awards for details on how to submit unpublished short collections of haiku, tanka, short poetry and haibun for publication online and in an anthology.)
Entry Guidelines
and Terms and Conditions
- Entry Categories
- Regulations
- Preparation of Manuscripts
- Entry Fee
- Where to send manuscripts
- Submission Period
- Award Announcements
- Adjudication
- Correspondence
- Rights
- Checklist
These guidelines and terms and conditions are available in print-friendly PDF format here if required.
1. Entry Categories
Manuscripts may be submitted in any one of four categories:
A. Haiku
B. Tanka
C. Short Poetry
D. Haibun
2. Regulations
Manuscripts submitted in category A should comprise solely of 60–100 haiku. Haiku may be free-form or 5-7-5, and need not be written in 3 lines.
Manuscripts submitted in category B should comprise solely of 60–100 tanka. Tanka may be free-form or 5-7-5-7-7, but must be written in 5 lines.
Manuscripts submitted in category C should comprise of 60–100 short poems. These may be of any, or of mixed, genre, and may include free verse, prose poems, monostichs, sonnets, villanelles, haiku, tanka, senryu, sequences, etc., providing each individual poem does not exceed 25 lines. Poems may be titled or otherwise. The title does not count towards the 25-line limit. However, any blank line between stanzas (but not between the title and the poem) should be counted.
Manuscripts submitted in category D should comprise solely of haibun. Each haibun must include at least one haiku. Haiku may be free-form or 5-7-5, and need not be written in 3 lines. There is no length restriction for individual haibun, but manuscripts should not exceed 60 haibun or 25,000 words.
Each manuscript submitted must be entirely the original work, in English, of a single author. Translations and self-translations are not eligible. The entrant must be the author of the work. Any manuscript entered on behalf of someone else will be disqualified.
Individual poems or haibun may have been previously published in journals, anthologies, etc., or may be unpublished. However, each manuscript submitted must be unpublished as a collection and must not include any work from any collection, of any length, previously published by the entrant as a single author collection. This includes any appearances on the Internet (i.e. poems or haibun featuring in web journals and anthologies may be included, whereas any published in an individual eBook or titled online collection may not). For the purpose of the Awards, work appearing on personal websites or blogs, or posted to unedited mailing lists, is not considered to be published.
Individual poems or haibun in submitted manuscripts may continue to be submitted to journals and anthologies, or contests for single poems, throughout the adjudication period. However, the collection itself, or any constituent part, must not be under consideration by any other publisher as, or in, a collection.
There is no restriction as to whether or not entrants have previously published any other collection.
3. Preparation of Manuscripts
A cover sheet to the manuscript should include your name, address, email address (if available), the title of the collection and the category in which it is entered. Please also note the entry fee and how it has been paid.
A continuation sheet should include a short biographical note (not exceeding 200 words). Further continuation sheets should include a numbered table of contents and a list of acknowledgements for any poems or haibun that have been previously published or that have received awards. Please identify each poem or haibun by its title (if it has one) or by its first line. If all of the work is previously unpublished this should also be noted. Each continuation sheet should include your name and the title of the collection.
The collection title should appear on every page of the manuscript. Your name should not appear anywhere on the manuscript: submissions will be read and judged anonymously, as far as this is possible. (It is inevitable that editors might possibly be familiar with previously published work.) For the purpose of the entry only, each poem or haibun should be identified by a number (corresponding with that assigned to it in the table of contents) above its title (if it has one) or first line. Please help to save paper – work should be single-spaced, and it is not necessary to print each numbered poem on a new page.
No illustrations, photographs or images of any description should be included.
4. Entry Fee
The entry fee for the Snapshot Press Book Awards is £18 or US $30.
Any number of manuscripts may be entered provided each is accompanied by the entry fee.
The entry fee (for both email and postal entries) may be paid online below.
Payment in sterling (£18):
Payment in US dollars (US $30):
Alternatively it may be sent by post. Please note that we can only accept cheques, postal orders and money orders in sterling; US dollar checks drawn on US banks; and sterling and US dollar banknotes. No other forms of payment will be accepted. Payments must be made payable to Snapshot Press.
Entry fees are non-refundable.
5. Where to send manuscripts
Manuscripts may be sent by email or post. Email entries should be sent to submissions AT snapshotpress.co.uk with the subject line "Book Awards – Your Name" (e.g. Book Awards – Joanne Smith). Electronic manuscripts and cover sheets should be sent as MS Word or PDF files attached to the email, or everything may be sent in the body of the email. Postal entries should be mailed to Snapshot Press, Orchard House, High Lane, Ormskirk, L40 7SL, United Kingdom. Manuscripts sent by post should be printed, typed or written legibly on one side of the paper only and fastened securely.
6. Submission Period
Submissions to the Snapshot Press Book Awards are open from July 1 until November 30 (postmarked).
7. Award Announcements
The winners will be announced on April 30 and will have their collections published six months later in paperback or hardback by Snapshot Press. There may be up to four Award winners each year (though please note that there may be only one). These may be from any category. Winners will be issued with a standard publication contract from Snapshot Press.
No further awards will be made.
8. Adjudication
The final decision as to which manuscripts receive Awards will be made by John Barlow, editor of Snapshot Press. Other editors associated with the press may also assist in screening entries.
9. Correspondence
Confirmation of receipt will be sent to the email address provided on the cover sheet to your manuscript when both entry and entry fee have been received. If you do not have an email address and would like confirmation of receipt please enclose an SAE (with 2 IRCS or 2 $1 bills internationally) marked "Book Awards Receipt".
No correspondence regarding entries can be entered into once receipt has been confirmed. Any attempt to correspond with editors in relation to entered manuscripts will result in disqualification.
Manuscripts cannot be altered by the entrant after submission. Please ensure entries are complete and correct before submitting them.
No feedback on submitted manuscripts can be provided prior to, or following, announcement of the awards. Unfortunately we are unable to return manuscripts – please keep copies.
You should notify Snapshot Press as soon as possible should you wish to withdraw your submission for whatever reason.
Confirmation of the Award announcements will be sent to the email address provided on the cover sheet to your manuscript. If you do not have an email address and would like confirmation of the Award announcements please enclose an SAE (with 2 IRCS or 2 $1 bills internationally) marked "Book Awards Results ".
Winning authors may be invited, though not obligated, to submit further work for consideration for their book, and will also be consulted on various other matters regarding publication.
10. Rights
Copyright will remain with the individual authors.
Entry to the Snapshot Press Book Awards is deemed to be acceptance of these terms and conditions.
11. Checklist
- I have submitted my manuscript in accordance with the regulations and the guidelines on the preparation of manuscripts.
- I have paid my entry fee.
- I have read and accept the terms and conditions above.