Two Presses, Two Prizes, Up to Four Winners Selected
To make things easier for submitting authors, the editors at Wandering Aengus Press and its imprint, Trail to Table Press, have combined submissions. We will publish up to two winners for the Wandering Aengus Book Award and up to two for the Trail to Table Book Award--up to four winners total. The editors seek full-length book manuscripts of literary prose or poetry. Submission period is December 1 to January 31, closing at 11:59 pm Pacific time. Our contest submission fee is $30 US dollars.
Manuscripts must be the original work of one author—no AI-generated work. Excerpts may have been published, but not the manuscript in its entirety. Please use standard formatting with at least 1” margins, double-spaced for prose manuscripts, and with a serif font such as Times New Roman.
Our submissions are read anonymously, so please remove any identifying information such as the author name, contact information, bio, and acknowledgments from your manuscript.
The Wandering Aengus editors select the winning manuscript(s). We reserve the right to publish fewer than four books, depending on the manuscripts received. Up to four winning manuscripts may be selected. The winning manuscripts are published as perfect-bound books. Authors receive 50 copies.
Notifications will be sent and contest results announced in the spring. Questions may be directed to info@trailtotable.net.
Wandering Aengus Press and its imprint Trail to Table Press are dedicated to publishing works to enrich lives and make the world a better place. Although both publish fine literary works in poetry and prose, the Trail to Table imprint publishes works that highlight our connections to nature and each other. Winners receive publication and fifty copies of their book.
Manuscripts must be the original work of one author—no AI-generated work. Excerpts may have been published, but not the manuscript in its entirety. Please use standard formatting with at least 1” margins, double-spaced for prose manuscripts, and with a serif font such as Times New Roman.
Our submissions are read anonymously, so please remove any identifying information such as the author name, contact information, bio, and acknowledgments from your manuscript.
The Wandering Aengus editors select the winning manuscript(s). We reserve the right to publish fewer than four books, depending on the manuscripts received. Up to four winning manuscripts may be selected. The winning manuscripts are published as perfect-bound books. Authors receive 50 copies.
Notifications will be sent and contest results announced in the spring. Questions may be directed to info@trailtotable.net.
Wandering Aengus Press and its imprint Trail to Table Press are dedicated to publishing works to enrich lives and make the world a better place. Although both publish fine literary works in poetry and prose, the Trail to Table imprint publishes works that highlight our connections to nature and each other. Winners receive publication and fifty copies of their book.
Contest Results
Guidelines

Contest submissions are open December 1 to January 31 via Duosuma.
Please follow these guidelines for all manuscripts.
1. Remove all identifying information from your manuscript.
2. Submit your manuscript in Word or PDF format.
3. Although we don't have word or page limits, we seek full-length book manuscripts of literary fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.
4. DO NOT SUBMIT MANUSCRIPTS THAT ARE NOT YOUR ORIGINAL WORK OR WERE COMPOSED IN ANY WAY BY AI. We are not interested in works that have plagiarized others or used Artificial Intelligence in their composition.
5. Use a standard 12-point serif typeface, such as Times New Roman or Garamond.
6. Double-space prose submissions.
7. Do not submit manuscripts with gratuitous sex or violence. There are other presses better suited for those works.
8. Number your pages.
9. Include a table of contents for collections of poetry, essays, or short fiction, or prose works with multiple, titled sections or chapters. If your sections or chapters are numbered and not titled, there is no need for a table of contents.
10. Do not include acknowledgments within the manuscript. If your book is selected, you will have an opportunity to add them later.
11. Under the title, indicate the genre, i.e., Poems or Short Stories or Novel or Essays or Memoir or Hybrid
Please follow these guidelines for all manuscripts.
1. Remove all identifying information from your manuscript.
2. Submit your manuscript in Word or PDF format.
3. Although we don't have word or page limits, we seek full-length book manuscripts of literary fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.
4. DO NOT SUBMIT MANUSCRIPTS THAT ARE NOT YOUR ORIGINAL WORK OR WERE COMPOSED IN ANY WAY BY AI. We are not interested in works that have plagiarized others or used Artificial Intelligence in their composition.
5. Use a standard 12-point serif typeface, such as Times New Roman or Garamond.
6. Double-space prose submissions.
7. Do not submit manuscripts with gratuitous sex or violence. There are other presses better suited for those works.
8. Number your pages.
9. Include a table of contents for collections of poetry, essays, or short fiction, or prose works with multiple, titled sections or chapters. If your sections or chapters are numbered and not titled, there is no need for a table of contents.
10. Do not include acknowledgments within the manuscript. If your book is selected, you will have an opportunity to add them later.
11. Under the title, indicate the genre, i.e., Poems or Short Stories or Novel or Essays or Memoir or Hybrid
Our Editorial Values
Trail to Table seeks to publish literary works that transform our thinking about how we engage with the earth and each other as thoughtful, generous stewards in our actions and interactions, whether on the trail, as consumers and makers, or around the table through genuine connection and respect for life. We wish to share lyric and narrative works that serve both to entertain and enrich others' lives through insight, compassion, and a pure and beautiful expression of experience.