A Call for Entries: Travel Writing, Illustration & Cover Art

Harvard Book Store wants to go Around the World, but we need your help.

Summer is a great time to travel, to get away and discover someplace new. It’s hard for a bookstore to get away (all that brick and mortar), but we think reading about travel is a close second to the real thing. Somewhere new and different. Or somewhere familiar, but seen through your eyes. We want you to take us away, if only for a few pages.

This summer, Harvard Book Store is producing Around the World: An Anthology of Travel Writing Collected by Harvard Book Store. It will be a collection of travel writing and art about the places and experiences that have changed you, excited you, inspired you, become a part of who you are. We’ll print the book in-store with our print-on-demand machine, Paige.

We’re accepting submissions of original, previously unpublished travel writing. Submissions will be accepted between June 12, 2015, and July 12, 2015. Submissions can be of any style and almost any length: we want your essays, vignettes, sketches, anecdotes, and all.

We will also accept submissions for original full color cover designs, as well as black-and-white interior illustrations. Please see details below.

Writers, designers, and illustrators whose work is selected for publication will receive a contributor’s copy of the book and a waived “Advanced Set-Up Fee” ($50 value) for a future Paige print-on-demand project of their own.

Winners will be notified in late July. We will host a publication party, featuring readings by contributing writers, on August 8, 2015, and we’ll be printing copies of the book on our in-store print-on-demand machine, Paige.

Submit your work at https://harvardbookstore.submittable.com/submit.

Send us your work, and take us someplace great!

Submission Guidelines

Writing:

Written submissions must be original and previously unpublished. All styles and most lengths (no book-length submissions; somewhere between 50 and 5,000 words will work best) will be considered.

Writers may submit up to three essays. Each essay must be uploaded separately to Submittable at https://harvardbookstore.submittable.com/submit (i.e. do not include multiple submissions in one document). Essays must be submitted as doc, docx, or pdf files.

Include a brief (30 words or less) publication-ready, professional bio to be included in the contributor notes if your work is selected for publication.

Cover art:

Front cover art designs must be original. If your concept is selected for publication, we will contact you with additional specifications for back cover and spine designs.

Submissions for cover art must include the exact text “Around the World: An Anthology of Travel Writing Collected by Harvard Book Store” in the design. Artwork should not contain copyrighted images or images you do not own.

Cover art designs must be 4.5” x 6.5” with a 0.25” bleed, submitted as a 300 dpi pdf file. Artists may submit up to three designs. Designs must be uploaded separately to Submittable at https://harvardbookstore.submittable.com/submit (i.e. do not include multiple attachments in one submission).

Illustrations:

We will accept submissions of one-page illustrations, maps, or cartoons. Illustrations must be original and previously unpublished.

Illustrations must be black-and-white only and may not exceed 3.5” x 5.5”. Illustrations must be submitted as a 300 dpi pdf file. Artists may submit up to three illustrations. Illustrations must be uploaded separately to Submittable at https://harvardbookstore.submittable.com/submit (i.e. do not include multiple attachments in one submission).

Additional Guidelines:

The deadline for submissions is 11:59 pm on Friday, July 10th. Update: The deadline for submissions has been extended to 11:59 pm on Sunday, July 12th.

Submit work via Submittable at https://harvardbookstore.submittable.com/submit.

Contributors must be current residents of the United States or Canada.

By submitting written work or artwork to Harvard Book Store, you acknowledge that such work is original and that you have ownership of the submitted material. You grant to Harvard Book Store the first publication rights for submitted material and the right to edit, reuse, reproduce, or otherwise utilize the physical or electronic materials including use in print and on the internet for an indefinite period of time. You retain complete ownership and copyright of the submitted text or images, although any use of the name or logo of Harvard Book Store requires our explicit written permission. You acknowledge that the only compensation you will receive from Harvard Book Store are the awards announced for this competition.