Nicholas Schaffner Award for Music in Literature

About

The Nicholas Schaffner Award for Music in Literature celebrates the life of the publisher’s brother Nicholas Schaffner, poet, musician, biographer and esteemed music critic, author of several books, including The Beatles Forever, the British Invasion, and Saucerful of Secrets: the Pink Floyd Odyssey. Nicholas, who devoted his life to music and literature about music, died at the age of thirty-eight. We have created this award to celebrate his legacy in order to encourage emerging writers whose lives and writing have been profoundly influenced by music.

Fees Notice: This project charges fees (or requires purchases) for all submissions.
The fee is USD $25 (above average for contests).

Country of Publication

United States

Publication Medium & Contest Frequency

Print Publication Print Publication: Awarded 1 x per year

AI Policy

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9 members set this contest as a Favorite.

Collapse section Fiction Temp Closed

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:

General

Lengths:

Fiction Collection: 50,000 - 80,000 words.
Novel: 75,000 - 100,000 words.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary.

Topics:

Music: General, See guidelines.

Winner's Prize:

Semi-pro advance (US$200-1999) + Unknown royalties Semi-pro advance. Unknown royalties. Details: USD $1,000.

Submissions:

Methods: Online form. Postal.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Multiple entries: Unknown.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Nonfiction Temp Closed

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Lengths:

Nonfiction Collection: 75,000 - 100,000 words.
Book: 75,000 - 100,000 words.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary, Personal.

Topics:

Memoir: See guidelines.
Music: General, See guidelines.

Winner's Prize:

Semi-pro advance (US$200-1999) + Unknown royalties Semi-pro advance. Unknown royalties. Details: USD $1,000.

Submissions:

Methods: Online form. Postal.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Multiple entries: Unknown.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Poetry Temp Closed

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:

General

Lengths:

Poetry Collection: 60 pages or more.

Poetry Forms:

Open to all/most Forms.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary.

Topics:

Music: General, See guidelines.

Winner's Prize:

Semi-pro advance (US$200-1999) + Unknown royalties Semi-pro advance. Unknown royalties. Details: USD $1,000.

Submissions:

Methods: Online form. Postal.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Multiple entries: Unknown.
Media: Text.

Always check guidelines for details and restrictions. If you aren't familiar with these terms, see our glossary.

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Nicholas Schaffner Award for Music in Literature Submission Statistics

The statistics in this section are compiled from submission reports sent to us through our submission tracker. They are not provided by the publication's editors/staff or by Duotrope's admins. Information in this section is updated a few times per day. Learn more about the statistics.

We have not received any submission reports for this listing in the past 12 months.

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Dates

Last Updated: 05 Aug 2026

We check their guidelines for changes every four weeks, and we audit the listing twice a year.