2025 Great Southwest Book Festival - Call for Entries

The 2025 Great Southwest Book Festival has issued a call for entries for its annual competition honoring the best books of the late winter/spring.

The Great Southwest Book Festival will consider published and unpublished works in fiction, non-fiction, biography/autobiography, how-to, compilations/anthologies, photography/art, children’s, cookbooks, poetry, spiritual, young adult, business/technology, unpublished manuscripts, wild card (anything goes!), history, memoir and regional lit. There is no date of publication restriction, but all entries must be in English.

In addition to honoring the top selections in the above categories, The Great Southwest Book Festival will award the following chosen from submissions:

1. General excellence and the author's passion for telling a good story.
2. The potential of the work to reach a wider audience.

FESTIVAL RULES: Book submissions cannot be returned. Each entry must contain the official entry form, including your e-mail address and contact telephone number. All shipping and handling costs must be borne by entrants.

NOTIFICATION AND DEADLINES: Submissions in each category must be received by the close of business on February 25, 2025 to be eligible for the competition. Winners in each category will be notified by e-mail and on the web site. Please note that judges read and consider submissions on an ongoing basis, comparing early entries with later submissions at our meetings.

Winners in each category will be notified by e-mail and on the web site. Please note that judges read and consider submissions on an ongoing basis, comparing early entries with later submissions at our meetings.

TO ENTER: Entry forms are available online here or may be faxed/e-mailed to you. Please contact our office at 323-665-8080 for fax requests. Applications must be accompanied by a non-refundable entry fee of $50 in the form of a check, money order or PayPal online payment in U.S. dollars for each submission. Multiple submissions are permitted but each entry must be accompanied by a separate form and entry fee.

Entry fee checks should be made payable to JM Northern Media LLC. We're sorry, but entries must be mailed and cannot be delivered in person or by messenger services to the JM Northern Media offices.

Entry packages should include:

1. One copy of the book
2. A copy of your official entry form or a reasonable facsimile
3. The entry fee or receipt for online payment
4. Any marketing materials you wish to send. Marketing is used as a tie-breaking consideration by our judges.

Entries should be mailed to:

JM Northern Media LLC
attn: The Great Southwest Book Festival
7095 Hollywood Boulevard Suite 864
Hollywood, CA 90028-0893
Phone: 323-665-8080
Email:  Bruce@regionalfestivals.com
 

E-book entries are welcome. You can enter an e-book in four ways:

1.  Send your book as a .pdf file to our email address labeled as "2025 E-Book Entry" in the subject line. Please attach copies of your PayPal receipt and entry form.
2. Send us a Kindle copy as a gift to our email address. Then send an e-mail to us indicating that you've sent the book, attaching your PayPal receipt and entry form.
3. Upload the book to the Cloud (using DropBox, iCloud or similar services) and share the file using our email as reference. Then send  us an email stating that you've shared the book, attaching your PayPal receipt and entry form.
4. Use our “Book Uploader” in the "Enter the Competition" page or the button below  to send a copy of your work. Max size is limited to 28 Mb. We accept most e-book formats.  IMPORTANT: After uploading your book, you MUST send an e-mail  with "2025 E-Book Entry" in the subject line and the title of your book. Please attach a copy of your PayPal receipt and entry form.

Failure to follow these steps on e-book submissions may disqualify you.