Celebrating the Best of Independently Published Literature

The CLMP Firecracker Awards for Independently Published Literature are given annually to celebrate the books and magazines that make a significant contribution to our literary culture and the publishers that strive to introduce important voices to readers far and wide. Prizes are awarded in the categories of Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, Magazines/General Excellence, and Magazines/Best Debut. Each year, CLMP also awards the Lord Nose Award, given to a publisher or editor in recognition of a lifetime of work in literary publishing.

Each winner in the book categories will receive $2,000 ($1,000 for the press and $1,000 for the author or translator). Each winner in the magazine categories will receive $1,000. In addition, a national publicity campaign spotlights and promotes our winning titles each year. In partnership with the American Booksellers Association, promotional materials—including a press release and shelf talkers featuring the winning titles—are distributed to over 500 independent booksellers across the country. Winners are also promoted in CLMP’s newsletters, on our website, and through a dedicated social media campaign. The publishers of winning titles receive a free one-year membership to CLMP, and magazine winners receive a one-year CLMP Member subscription to Submittable. To read press coverage about the 2024 Firecracker Award winners, visit our Press Center.

Finalists will be announced in spring 2025; the winners will be announced in June 2025.

Submission Guidelines

• There is no limit to the number of unique entries publishers may submit.
• The entry fee is $65 ($55 for CLMP Members) for the first submission and $45 ($35 for CLMP Members) for each additional entry. Interested in becoming a CLMP Member? Join now.

Book Categories

• Books must be published by an independent publisher during the 2024 calendar year.
• Books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction for adults are eligible. This includes English-language books from international publishers, books in translation, and graphic novels.
• Self-published books, including books published with “hybrid” publishers in which authors pay for part or all of publication costs, are not eligible.
• Children’s and young adult books are not eligible.
• Anthologies are not eligible.
• Posthumous submissions are not eligible. The author or translator must be living at the time of submission.
• Entries should be submitted by the publisher. However, authors may submit their own books if the publisher consents to the entry of the book. If an author submits their book themselves, they must provide contact information for the publisher in the application.

Magazine Categories

• Magazines must be independent and literary in nature (primarily publishing fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and/or literary reviews).
• Magazines submitting in the General Excellence category must have published regularly for at least the past two years.
• Magazines submitting in the Best Debut category must have launched in the 2023 or 2024 calendar years.
• Both print and digital magazines are eligible.
• Magazines may only be submitted in one category.

CLMP reserves the right to determine all submissions’ eligibility, and its decision will be final.

2025 Firecracker Awards Judges

Fiction

Luis Alberto Correa, general manager at White Whale Bookstore
Juliana Lamy, author of You Were Watching from the Sand, published by Red Hen Press
Alejandro Varela, author of The Town of Babylon, published by Astra House

Creative Nonfiction

Sean Enfield, author of Holy American Burnout!, published by Split/Lip Press
Rosa Hernandez, marketing manager at Third Place Books
Alejandra Oliva, author of Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith, and Migration, published by Astra House

Poetry

Rob Arnold, executive director of Poets House
Truong Tran, author of book of the other: small in comparison, published by Kaya Press
Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, author of Kaan & Her Sisters, published by Trio House Press

Magazines

Amy Brady, former executive director and publisher of Orion Magazine
Alexandra Watson, executive editor of Apogee Journal
Oscar Villalon, editor of ZYZZYVA

The Firecracker Awards are sponsored by