THE 2025 JESSIE BRYCE NILES CHAPBOOK CONTEST 

Final Judge: Georgia A. Popoff, Poet Laureate of Onondaga County

First Prize: $1000 plus publication and 50 author’s copies

Entry Fee: $30 / manuscript (includes a copy of the winning chapbook) plus Submittable fees

Submissions accepted August 1 - October 31

Updated Submission Guidelines for 2025 - READ CAREFULLY: 

1. Previous first prize winners in a chapbook contest sponsored by The Comstock Review are ineligible. 

2. Submissions must not have been previously published as a collection. Individual poems may have been published. The manuscript must be the original work of the (single author) submitter. Do NOT include AI-generated poetry.  

3. Submit 25-34 pages of poetry, single-spaced. Single poems may be more than 1 page long. Consider the smaller chapbook page when calculating line lengths and page breaks. Maximum line length is generally about 70 characters

4. Manuscripts must be paginated.

5. Manuscript Title page should be title only. Table of Contents may also be included. These two items are not counted in the 25-34 pages of poetry.

6. The following information:  poet name, address, phone number, and e-mail address and acknowledgements should ONLY be included in the cover letter. 

7. All entries are screened by the editors of The Comstock Review before going to the final judge. To ensure impartiality, do not include author's name or identifying information anywhere in the submitted manuscript. 

8. Do not include the following in your manuscript: Title page with author’s name, acknowledgements, dedications, bio, graphics, illustrations, cover art etc. That information will be requested later in the publication process for the winner only. 

9. Any simultaneous submission must be withdrawn immediately if accepted elsewhere.  

These Guidelines are also available on our website: www.comstockreview.org

Additional guidelines for submitting a hard copy manuscript by US Postal Service if unable to use Submittable may be found on our website. 

Winners are notified in December. Winners and finalists will be announced on the website.

Winning chapbooks are available at $14 per copy.

Subscribe and support The Comstock Review.  You will receive two issues in the current volume (year).  Enjoy a year of intriguing poetry while supporting the printed word! 

Subscriptions are critical to our mission of continuing to support poets and poetry readers. In fact 

We have no broad institutional support and don't sell any advertising in our journal.  We cover the costs of publishing The Comstock Review through contest fees, sales of the journal and winning chapbooks, small donations 

- and subscriptions from supporters like you.

Poets and readers supporting poets together.  What could be better?

Of course, the cost of printing, binding and shipping the issue rises every year, and it has finally caught up with us. We had to increase the cost of each issue from $12.50 to $15.00 on April 1, 2025. 

A one-year subscription is now $30, and a two-year subscription is now $60. 

Thank you, on behalf of our contributing poets, volunteer editors and the poetry community for your support!. 

The Summer 2024 Issue of The Comstock Review     *featuring* 

• Pushcart Prize winning poem "Werner Herzog's Ecstasy" by Maura Stanton 

             (appearing in Pushcart Prize L Anthology in 2026)

Be sure we have your correct mailing address.
 The issue will be mailed within 2 weeks

If you don't want to order multiple copies online, you can purchase them by mail. 

Send a check or money order for the cost of the issue ($14.50) to: 

The Comstock Review, c/o P.O. Box 205, LaFayette, NY 13084.

 Winner of the most recent Comstock Writers' Group Chapbook Contest
    Enter your name and current mailing address in the form below.
   If you want to order multiple copies, consider sending a check or money order to Chapbook c/o P.O. Box 205, LaFayette NY 13084 to avoid extra Submittable fees. 

Help us fulfill our mission to support the poetry community by encouraging poets to publish their work and increasing readership by providing a home in our publications for good poetry.

Be sure we have your correct mailing address.
The issue will be mailed within 2 weeks

Note: if you don't select a back issue, you will receive the Winter 2024-2025 issue. 

If you select other issues, you will receive them AND the Winter 2024-2025 issue. 

If you want back issues only, 

please send a check or email for the cost of the issue to 

The Comstock Review, c/o P.O. Box 205, LaFayette, NY 13084.

Winner of the 2016 Comstock Writers' Group Chapbook Contest


Own your own copy of Ted Kooser's latest chapbook, AT HOME,  while supporting the Comstock Review as well.  $14 plus online fees.


If you need to order several copies, do it by mail.  You will save on internet costs!