1000 Copies Poetry Chapbook Contest!!
You read that right: 1000 copies of a chapbook!!! We wanted to introduce a contest like no other. A lot of poetry contests offer free copies, prize money or publication but one thing very few of them offer is proper distribution.
Did you know?
Did you know that your average poetry chapbook moves 200 copies or less, more realistically 100 or less. 500-800 copies sold is considered a NYT best-seller for contemporary poetry!!
At Local Gems we have spent 15 years building a distribution system and a network of thousands of people interested in poetry, and we have the built-in pipeline to introduce new poets to a large audience, so we crafted this contest with that idea in mind!!
At Local Gems we have spent 15 years building a distribution system and a network of thousands of people interested in poetry, and we have the built-in pipeline to introduce new poets to a large audience, so we crafted this contest with that idea in mind!!
First Prize:
1000 Copies of Your Chapbook Printed
Not Just Copies: Distribution
You Get 100 Copies
The remaining 900 Copies are distributed!!
How The Book Will Be Distributed:
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A lot of chapbook contests offer printing and publication for the winner, but not a lot of them offer built in distribution!!
During our anthology touring season we regularly ship 40-100 packages a week. We will be adding copies of the winning chapbook to orders going out from us to distribute the other 900 copies!! |
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Live Events:
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We host regional anthology events up and down the East Coast of the USA and beyond.
In addition to sending out the copies of the winning chapbook in packages ordered from us, we will also hand them out to people who purchase anthologies on live tours! We will be giving them out until all 900 are distributed! |
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Cities Where We Do Events:
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Dover DE, Annapolis MD, Baltimore MD, Philidelphia PA, Scranton PA, Pittsburgh PA, Columbus OH, Parsippany NJ, Mt Laurel NJ, NYC, Long Island, NY, Centreville VA, Marlborough MA, Warwick RI, Raleigh NC, Charlotte NC, Tampa FL, and many more...
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The Winning eBook Will Also Be Distributed
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Did we mention our email list?
That is our current contact number on the right. In addition to printing the 1000 copies of the chapbook and distributing 900 in print, we will also send the eBook version to our entire email list!! How often can a poet instantly get their work in front of 40,000 interested readers? |
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How To Enter:What You Need:
~ 10 Poems ~ 35 Lines or Less Each ~ 3rd Person Bio 3-5 Lines Does the chapbook need a theme? A theme is welcome, but not necessary. The title of the book can be a title poem. Submission Due Date: September 5th Attach poems as a word document or PDF and paste them in the body of the email. |
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These chapbooks will be small: booklet size. A sampling of your poetry to a wide audience. A quick read that gives the viewer an insight into your work, and one that is easy to insert into outgoing packages for distribution!
Limited Slots Available:
We are anticipating this contest to be extremely popular and as such, (to save our judge's sanity) we are limiting the entrants to the first 200 people to sign up. (Which means registration could close long before the submission due-date.) So don't hesitate to join!
Contest Registration: FULL
Two Ways To Register:
Deadline: Sept 1st (Or When Full)
Email your receipt with your submission to:
[email protected]
Include:
"1000 Copy Contest 2026"
in your subject line
[email protected]
Include:
"1000 Copy Contest 2026"
in your subject line