Submit up to ten poems (in one document!) for consideration. Please submit poems single-spaced in standard Times New Roman, Garamond, or something similar.
Please no "fun" fonts.

Press Pause Press publishes essays of all kinds, but we tend to lean more towards memoir and personal style essays. Please note that we do not publish academic or research essays at this time.

In your submission, attach a word doc, docx, or pdf. Please stay away from weird, hard to read fonts—we're big fans of plain ole Times New Roman and Garamond. Don't fret about length, but know that we don't typically publish over 20 pages.

Press Pause Press publishes short stories, flash, and novel/novella excerpts. We do not publish full-length works at this time.

In your submission, attach a word doc, docx, or pdf. Please stay away from weird, hard to read fonts—we're big fans of plain ole Times New Roman and Garamond. Don't fret about length, but know that we don't typically publish over 20 pages.

word count range from flash to 9,999k (saying 9,999 because we rarely accept anything over 8k but there are some gems we don't want to pass up) 

The Beautiful Pause Prize…

is a yearly prize of $1,000 and the print publication of a full-length manuscript awarded to a writer of exceptional talent and heart. 

One runner-up will receive $500 and publication of an excerpt in one of our biannual print volumes.

Contest Timeline

Submissions are open November 15th, 2025 - May 1st, 2026 for NONFICTION manuscripts. Collections and full-lengths and pitches are welcome.

• Winning and shortlisted manuscripts/pitches announced in August/September 2026
• Publication and release of the winning manuscript in early 2027.
• The prize will reopen for fiction on November 15, 2026.

Guidelines

18 and older to submit.

This contest is judged by Press Pause editors, and submissions are anonymized. Remove any identifying information from your manuscript. If there is identifying information anywhere on your manuscript, it will not be considered. 

Only one attachment/manuscript/pitch per submission. A single author may submit multiple manuscripts/pitches but must pay the $25 reading fee for each submission. 

• Re: Essay collections: It is okay if some essays are published elsewhere separately, but not if they have been published as a collection before. Nonfiction collections should be cohesive. 
• Re: Full manuscripts: Anything goes here. However, we should say that we tend to lean away from fully academic works.
• Re: Pitches: Pitch us ideas that wake you up in a frenetic haze in the mornings or keep you up at night. Give us an outline of what you plan to write, why it matters to you, why it should matter to readers, and an introductory 25-50 pages. If a pitch is accepted as the prize-winner, publication timeline may vary. If winning on a pitch, you will receive $300 upon winning, then the remaining $700 when the first draft is complete. 

What Makes a Beautiful Pause?

We are looking for original, honest, beautiful nonfiction from humans. We have no gates to keep. Haunt us from every corner of every place. Send us full manuscripts/collections/pitches that make us pause, slow down, think, laugh, cry, and feel more connected to our fellow humans. As we always say: Send us whatever is in your hearts.