The publishing industry has been widely criticized for its lack of BIPOC voices. At She Writes Press and SparkPress, we are well aware of the need for more and broader representation of BIPOC authors on our lists.

In an effort to address this issue head-on we launched the She Writes Press and SparkPress Toward Equality in Publishing (STEP) contest in 2018 to offer two female authors of color publishing package (plus a 500-book print run) to publish on either She Writes Press or SparkPress.

This year marks the fifth annual contest launch, with submissions open August 15, 2022 through October 15, 2022.

“The purpose of this contest is to support inclusivity across our own lists, and to fortify our own mission to give voice to women writers,” says Lauren Wise, associate publisher of She Writes Press and SparkPress. “Each contest sees double the contestants of the year before, and we can’t wait to dig in, narrow it down to five top contest finalists, and finally, two winners.”

Visit our STEP contest landing page for details on how to submit your manuscript, the contest parameters, and more!