WOMEN & WORDS 2026
Your Story
Has a Home Here.

Women & Words is an annual gathering hosted by Storehouse Voices -- a Crown imprint of Penguin Random House -- for writers at every stage of their journey. What started as a day for writers to connect has grown into a full program: craft sessions, roundtable discussions, one-on-one meetings with literary agents, and a community that stays connected long after the event ends.

The 2026 event will be held in October at Penguin Random House in New York City. Up to 70 writers will be invited. This is a free event.

Register for the Webinar

Wednesday, May 13, 2026
6:30 p.m. EDT

Program Highlights

  • Craft sessions led by PRH staff
  • Roundtable discussions with publishing professionals
  • Speed dating with literary agents (up to 30 selected attendees)
  • AMA with the Storehouse Voices editorial team
  • Networking and community time

How to Apply

Submissions are open May 1 through June 15. The application takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. Only one submission per applicant will be considered.


What We Need From You

Fiction

If you are submitting a novel or novella, you must include:

  • Book synopsis (1-2 pages)
  • Partial manuscript (up to 50 pages)

Please note: We will only consider fiction projects that are complete at time of submission.

Nonfiction

If you are submitting a memoir, narrative nonfiction, or prescriptive nonfiction, you must include a complete book proposal with all of the following:

  • Project overview: What is this project and why are you the best person to write it?
  • Comparative titles: Recent publications in conversation with your work (3-5 titles)
  • Target audience: Who is this book for?
  • Author bio and background
  • Media connections and author platform: What direct connections do you have for visibility? What have you done to build your brand?
  • Promotional plan: What key partnerships do you envision and how will your platform reach them?
  • Book outline: Chapter titles with a 3-5 sentence summary of each chapter
  • Sample chapters: A minimum of 2 fully written chapters

What We're Looking For

FICTION

Storehouse Voices is drawn to fiction rooted in a specific world, culture, and/or experience that engages readers from the first page to the last. If your novel makes us feel like we've lived somewhere we've never been, we want to hear from you.

  • Black life and culture -- Multigenerational sagas, coming-of-age that doesn't end at 25, fiction that takes Black male interiority seriously
  • Immigrant and diasporic experience -- What it means to belong nowhere and everywhere at once
  • Upmarket and satirical fiction -- Work with a point of view that isn't afraid to use it. Novels that poke at love, status, and the stories we tell about ourselves
  • Speculative and magical realist fiction -- High concept, propulsive plot, a world we haven't been in before
  • Domestic suspense and thriller -- Family, secrets, moral complexity
  • Genre fiction -- Rom-com, satirical horror, and beyond. Voice and stakes are imperative
  • Later-in-life coming-of-age -- Characters 40+ still figuring it out
  • Suburban underbellies -- The facade of respectability cracked open. Moral gray areas, women behaving badly for understandable reasons

NONFICTION

Storehouse Voices seeks nonfiction that informs and trusts readers to handle complexity. If your book has clarity of vision and distinction in storytelling, we want to hear from you.

  • Wellness and medical narratives -- Everyday prevention, hormonal health, parenting. Practical and accessible
  • Black history through unexpected formats -- Graphic narratives and visual storytelling that surfaces lesser-known stories
  • Cultural and movement history -- The institutions, individuals, and collectives that changed things and what we carry forward from them
  • Liberatory and forward-looking nonfiction -- Context for where we are and tools for what comes next
  • Humor in memoir and essays -- Dating, relationships, the absurdity of being a person
  • Practical self-help -- Finance, parenting, business. Credentialed authors with an existing audience. Platform matters here

Key Dates

May 1

Submissions open

June 15

Submissions close

August

All applicants notified by email

October 2026

Women & Words at Penguin Random House, New York City

Stay in the Loop

Not ready to submit this cycle? Sign up to be notified when the next Women & Words cohort opens.