Finishing Line Press is an award-winning, small press publisher
Finishing Line Press is the home of the New Women's Voices Chapbook Series, the New Women's Voices Prize in Poetry, the Finishing Line Press Prize in Poetry, The Donna Wolf-Palacio Poetry Prize, and the PADDOCK REVIEW.
We are now accepting submissions for
- Open Chapbook Competition: ANNUAL DEADLINE: Feb. 15
- General submissions for manuscripts. (We read general submissions year round for a small fee.) We have no reading fee in November.
- New Women's Voices Chapbook Competition: ANNUAL DEADLINE: Oct. 15
- Ritzenhein Emerging Poet Award Winner (awarded by committee)
- One Last Word Program (awarded by committee)
- The Donna Wolf-Palacio Poetry Prize: ANNUAL DEADLINE: June 2
FLP is a traditional publisher. FLP pays in royalty payments. There is no fee for the author.
Christen Kincaid, Sr. Editor/Director
Leah Huete de Maines, Publisher
FLP is a proud member of the Community of Literary Magazines & Presses [ c l m p ]
FINISHING LINE PRESS, Since 1998
FLP Media, Inc.
ONE LAST WORD helps to bring the last works of gifted poets and writers to the world.
Submit a manuscript of poetry 16-30 pages in length. Any genre. Please include cover letter, title page, and author biographical statement.
The manuscript must be written by a poet who is terminally ill and in hospice, or deceased. If the poet is deceased, the submitter must hold the rights to publish the poems.
Publication of manuscripts is made possible in part by donations to the ONE LAST WORD Program, and FLP.
At this time we only have the funds for publishing chapbook-length manuscripts for this program.
Donations are welcomed. There is no reading fee.
Finishing Line Press is accepting submissions for our online journal THE PADDOCK REVIEW. At this time we are upgrading our website. We are still accepting submissions but we will not be publishing anything new for a bit. Please submit 1 - 3 quality poems.
OR
1 essay
OR
1 short story
OR
1 book review. Book reviews should be for poetry book, or other literary works. Previously published poems are okay--please let us know where so we can give first credit to the publisher. If your poems are from your book (any publisher), please let us know and we will give a shout out for that too. Simultaneous submissions are okay. Please include a short bio with your submission. Visit us at https://paddockreview.com/.
Finishing Line Press
OPEN CHAPBOOK COMPETITION
A prize of $1,500 and publication by Finishing Line Press is given annually for a poetry chapbook. Manuscripts written in a language other than English are accepted when accompanied by an English translation. Submit a manuscript of 16 to 34 pages, a brief bio, acknowledgments, and a cover letter with a $20 entry fee. Please do not include your name on the manuscript. The bio should be included on the cover letter only.
We do allow hybrid manuscripts in addition to traditional poetry manuscripts: prose poetry or formal verse.
We do allow art to be included with the manuscript. Please follow page count guidelines. One page of art is equal to one page of poetry.
All entries are considered for publication.
Deadline: February 15, 2026
Leah Huete de Maines will judge.
FLP strongly encourages submission via our submittable page: http://finishinglinepress.submittable.com/submit
These are the complete guidelines.
Finishing Line Press, Open Chapbook Competition, P.O. Box 1626, Georgetown, KY 40324.
Chris Kincaid, Director and Senior Editor. finishingbooks@aol.com finishinglinepress.com
This submissions portal is open only to our Finishing Line Press authors (those with forthcoming or previously published titles published by FLP). If you are not a Finishing Line Press author, please do not submit using this link--please exit out of this category and submit through the relevant category. Finishing Line Press authors: FLP would love to see your new manuscript! Please submit it here. There is no reading fee for FLP authors submitting for our general consideration. If you are submitting to a contest, please exit out of this category and submit through the relevant contest. We must charge entry fees for contests to support the prize. However, we have no reading for general chapbook or book submissions made by FLP authors.
We have no reading fee for all others in November. November is our open reading period for all.
We are always open to publishing a good chapbook of any genre: poetry, flash fiction, essays, short stories.
CHAPBOOKS: Submit up to 34 pages of poetry, PLUS bio, acknowledgments, SASE and cover letter.
POETRY BOOKS: Submit up to 48-100 pages of poetry, PLUS bio, acknowledgments, SASE and cover letter.
There is no limit for other genres. We welcome submissions of fiction, essays, memoir, graphic novels, flash fiction, short stories, children's books, and non fiction of any genre. There is no page limit but we prefer works under 200 pages.
Please send what you like but only one manuscript per submission. Please include bio, acknowledgments, SASE and cover letter.
To submit online click on button below:
For mailed submissions Send to Finishing Line Press P O Box 1626 Georgetown, KY 40324 USA A self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with the correct postage must accompany all mailed manuscripts. A SASE is needed for any kind of response, even if the writer does not want the material returned. A good photocopy of the manuscript or a computer printout, rather than the original, should be sent. Finishing Line Press is not responsible for lost manuscripts.
FLP has no reading fee during the month of November.
November is our annual open reading period for all genres, for all other months there is a small reading fee.