NFB Partners with
Coffee Inclusive for a New Short Story Contest!
This contest is regional and is open to writers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Maryland. Winners of this contest will be published in an upcoming anthology to be released in early 2026. Please see below for the prompt and rules for submission.
Coffee Inclusive is a coffee shop located in Pittston, Pennsylvania, that offers a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for employees with diverse abilities that serves as a gathering place and event site for the community. Proceeds from this anthology will be donated to Coffee Inclusive to aid in continuing their training and employment of individuals with diverse abilities, including those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and Autism, fostering a collaborative environment where baristas with and without disabilities work side by side. To find out more about Coffee Inclusive, visit their website at coffeeinclusive.org.
Coffee is Our Love Language.
The stories in this collection should all feature a warm (or iced!) beverage, but they don’t all necessarily have to take place in a coffee shop (though they can!).
Your main characters may be baristas or latte artists, writers or regular customers. They may be strangers sharing a table and first‑glances over steaming espresso in a crowded cafe, coworkers from very different backgrounds finding common ground while crafting lattes and cappuccinos, or a couple celebrating a new milestone with a stop at their favorite coffee cart.
Through the ritual of brewing, sipping, and sharing, characters should discover more than just comfort in coffee—they should find vulnerability, hope, belonging, and love in its many forms with one another.
Rules
Deadline to submit: Saturday, December 6, 2025
No prior publishing experience necessary. However, submit as close to ready-to-pub as possible. If chosen for publication, edits will be performed as needed, but please don’t submit your first draft.
Open to writers 18 and older located in the following states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Maryland.
Specs
Word Count: 3k to 8k
Target audience: age 18+
What we’re looking for: Contemporary romance, ranging from sweet/closed door to open and slightly steamy. Light fantasy/a touch of magic will be considered.
This is an inclusive anthology: all couples welcome.
Submission fee: $10 per story
You CAN submit more than one story, but only one may appear in the anthology.
All who submit will receive professional feedback. This may include line-level comments within the manuscript and written critique via email.
Stories written using AI or suspected of being written using AI will be rejected.
If chosen for publication, contributors will be asked to be an active participant in the book’s promotion via social media. Existing social media accounts should be public, or contributors should be willing to create a bookish page before publication to assist in getting the word out about our book! Preferred platform is Instagram. Assistance will be provided, if needed.
Why am I paying a fee?
This is a super-small press, and your fee will go toward the publication and marketing of these anthologies. To show my appreciation, you will receive professional feedback on your submission, even if you are not selected for the anthology.
Other FAQs (Updated 10/13/25)
Do you have a short story or novella but it doesn’t quite work for this anthology’s theme? Don’t forget that Attic Ebooks is open to submissions right now! Check it out!