Weekly Writing Competitions Sept 13th 2024

A list of writing competitions to submit your work to

Hello fellow writers.

We have 3 new paid writing competitions, 2 new FREE manuscript submissions, 2 new paid manuscript submissions, and 4 new FREE publication submissions.

Good luck writing!

Craig

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Please note: We are not endorsing every publication or company listed here. Engaging with a publication or company is entirely up to the reader.

Competitions

Deadline This Month

Free

Ink of Ages - Start Date: Aug 1st | Closing Date: Sept 15th | Prize: None | Word Count: 2000

Wordrunner eChapbooks Micro-Submission - Closing Date: Sept 30th, 2024 | Prize: $25 for Editor's Choice | Word Count: 50 to 200 words

Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction - Start Date: July 15th | Closing Date: Sept 22nd | Prize: 1st £500 | Word Count: 2000 - 7500 | Note: UK Only

Story Street Writers - Start Date: Sept 15th | Closing Date: Sept 30 | Prize: 1st $100, 2nd $25 , 3rd $25 | Word Count: 100

4th Write Short Story - Closing Date: Sept 22nd | Prize: 1st £1000 | Word Count: Up to 6000 | Notes: A competition open to Black, Asian and minority ethnic writers living in the UK or Ireland who are 18 and above.

Scottish Book Trust - Closing Date: Sept 24th | Word Count: Up to 50

Writers of the Future - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Sept 30th | Prize: 1st $1000 , 2nd $750 , 3rd $500 | Word Count: Up to 17,000

Short Story Contest - Closing Date: Sept 30th | Prize: General Publication ($25 paid upon publication) | Word Count: 3,500 words maximum

Globe Soup - Closing Date: Sept 16th | Early Entry Price: £12 | Prize: 1st £1000 | Word Count: Up to 4000

Dark Holme Publishing - Closing Date: Sept 25th | Entry Price: Donation | Prize: 1st £25 | Word Count: 250 - 500

The Allingham Festival - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Sept 29th | Entry Price: €7 | Prize: 1st €300 | Word Count: Up to 700

Stringybark Times Past Awards - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Sept 29th | Entry Price: $15 | Prize: 1st $350 , 2nd $250 , 3rd $125 | Word Count: Up to 1500

The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award - Closing Date: Sept 30th | Entry Price: $20 per entry | Prize: $1,500 and publication for the winner, $300 and publication for two Honorable Mentions | Word Count: 1,500 - 10,000 words.

The River Styx Prize 2025 - Closing Date: Sept 30th, 2024 | Entry Price: $20 per entry | Prize: $1,000 and publication for the winner in each genre (fiction and poetry) | Word Count: Up to 5,000 words for fiction, up to three poems per entry.

Hammond House - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Sept 30th | Entry Price: £10 | Prize: 1st £3000 | Word Count: 1000 - 5000

The Moth Nature Writing - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Sept 30th | Entry Price: €15 | Prize: 1st €1000 , 2nd €500 , 3rd €250 | Word Count: Up to 4000

The Hendshaw Press - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Sept 30th | Entry Price: £6 | Prize: 1st £200 , 2nd £100 , 3rd £50 | Word Count: Up to 2000

Anthology - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Sept 30th | Entry Price: €12 | Prize: 1st €12 | Word Count: 250

Flash Fiction 101 Oct - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Sept 30th | Entry Price: £1.50 | Prize: Depends on number of entries | Word Count: Exactly 101 | Note: Theme - Horror/Ghost/The Gothic 

October

Free

Letter Review - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Oct 1st | Prize: 1st $1000 | Word Count: 5000

Scribendi Submissions - Deadline: Oct 11th, 2024 | Prize: $250 | Word Count: Up to 5000

The Solstice Prize - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Oct 31st | Prize: 1st £100 , 2nd , 3rd | Word Count: 500 | Note: For people under 25 years old, Living in the UK

NEW Saints and Sinners Short Fiction Contest 2024-2025 - Closing Date: Oct 1st | Entry Price: $20 per story | Prize: $500 grand prize, $100 for two runners-up, publication in anthology, and a reading at the Saints and Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival in New Orleans | Word Count: 3,000 to 7,000 words

Bath Flash Fiction - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Oct 6th | Entry Price: £7.50 | Prize: 1st £1000 , 2nd £300 , 3rd £100 | Word Count: 300

The Galley Beggar Press - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Oct 13th | Entry Price: £11 | Prize: 1st £2500 | Word Count: Up to 6000

The Caledonia Novel Award - Start Date: May 15th | Closing Date: Oct 15th | Entry Price: £28 | Prize: 1st £1500 | Word Count: 50,000

Marlowe and Christie - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Oct 15th | Early Entry Price: £19 | Prize: 1st £1100 | Word Count: Opening 3000 words of novel

The Raven Short Story Contest - Start Date: Sept 1st | Closing Date: Oct 15th | Early Entry Price: $25 | Prize: 1st $300 | Word Count: Up to 2500

Shrewsbury Halloween Fair - | Closing Date: Oct 19th | Entry Price: £3 | Prize: Unknown | Word Count: Up to 2000

NEW QuietManDave Prize - Closing Date: Oct 25th | Entry Price: £5 (free for qualifying sponsored entries) | Prize: £1,000, with additional runner-up prizes | Word Count: Up to 500 words.

Dark Holme Publishing - Closing Date: Oct 25th | Entry Price: Donation | Prize: 1st £25 | Word Count: 250 - 500

Writing Battle - Start Date: Oct 20th | Closing Date: Oct 27th | Early Entry Price: $22 | Prize: 1st $10,000 | Word Count: 2000

NEW Creative Excellence Submissions - Closing Date: Oct 31st | Entry Price: $3 (waived for subscribers) | Prize: $100 for prose | Word Count: Up to 8,000 words for fiction or nonfiction

Futurist Debut Book Award - Closing Date: Oct 31st | Entry Price: $18 per manuscript | Prize: $1,000 upon publication | Word Count: Any length in any genre. Note: Open to unpublished debut adult manuscripts. Authors must not have published a full-length book in the submitted genre.

Luminaire Prose Award - Closing Date: Oct 31st, 2024 | Entry Price: $4.99 per submission (up to 4 pieces) | Prize: $100 for first place, $25 for second and third place, publication in triennial anthology | Word Count: Up to 5,000 words| Note: Submissions must be individual standalone fiction pieces, including experimental, flash, short novelettes, long stories, short plays, or hybrid prose.

Bedford Writing Competition - Start Date: May 1st | Closing Date: Oct 31st | Entry Price: £8.50 | Prize: 1st £1500, 2nd £300, 3rd £200 |

Flash Fiction 101 Nov - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Oct 31st | Entry Price: £1.50 | Prize: Depends on number of entries | Word Count: Exactly 101

November

Commonwealth Short Story - Start Date: Sept 1st | Closing Date: Nov 1st | Prize: 1st £5000 | Word Count: 2000 - 5000

Sight For Wight - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Nov 1st | Entry Price: £8 | Prize: None | Word Count: 1500 - 2000

Colossus Press - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Nov 1st | Entry Price: $3 | Prize: None | Word Count: Up to 1700 | Note: Funds going to charity. Theme is water.

F(r)iction - Start Date: July 1st | Closing Date: Nov 1st | Entry Price: $15 | Prize: Short Story: $1000 | Word Count: 1001 - 7500

F(r)iction - Start Date: July 1st | Closing Date: Nov 1st | Entry Price: $10 | Prize: $300 | Word Count: up to 1000

The Smokelong Grand Micro Contest - Start Date: Aug 1st | Closing Date: Nov 14th | Early Entry Price: $11 | Prize: 1st $1000, 2nd $500, 3rd $300 | Word Count: Up To 250

Creative Writing Ink - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Nov 15th | Entry Price: £9 | Prize: 1st £1000 , 2nd £200 , 3rd £200 | Word Count: Up to 3000

Dark Holme Publishing - Closing Date: Nov 25th | Entry Price: Donation | Prize: 1st £25 | Word Count: 250 - 500

Tadpole Press - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Nov 30th | Entry Price: $15 | Prize: 1st $2000 | Word Count: 100

Flash Fiction 101 Dec - Start Date: Now | Closing Date: Nov 30th | Entry Price: £1.50 | Prize: Depends on number of entries | Word Count: Exactly 101 | Note: Theme - Winter Wonder

December

Front Range Book Prize - Closing Date: Dec 31st | Entry Price: $18 | Prize: $1,000 upon publication | Word Count: Any length | Note: Open to unpublished manuscripts in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, play script, or hybrid work by a Colorado author or on the theme of Colorado.

January

Charter Oak Award for Best Historical - Closing Date: Jan 31st, 2025 | Entry Price: $4.99 per submission (up to 5 pieces) | Prize: $100 for first place, $25 for second and third place | Word Count: Up to 10,000 words | Note: Submissions must be individual pieces of historical writing (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or hybrid) that fit a historical theme. Free submission periods in February, March, and November.

2024 Exeter Novel Prize - Start Date: | Closing Date: Jan 1st | Entry Price: £20 | Prize: 1st £1000 | Word Count: Opening 10,000 of your novel

Electric Book Award - Opening Date: Jan 1st | Closing Date: Apr 30th, 2025 | Entry Price: $18 per manuscript | Prize: $1,000 upon publication, gold Electric Book Award digital medallion, certificate, 30 gold medallion seals, book publication on Alternating Current Press, 30% net royalties, and more | Word Count: Any length | Note: Manuscripts must be unpublished adult literary works, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, plays, or hybrid.

Manuscripts

Free

Modern Muse For Writers - Start Date: Oct | Closing Date: Dec | Prize: Developmental Critique and Line Edit of First Chapter | Word Count: First Five Pages

Louise Walter Books - Closing Date: Sept 30th | Entry Price: £10 | Prize: Feedback on First 10 Pages | Word Count: 20,000 words or More

NEW The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2025 - Closing Date: Oct 31st, 2024 | Entry Price: Free (but shortlisted books will incur a £1,200 + VAT fee for promotion) | Prize: £25,000 for the winner; £1,500 for shortlisted authors | Word Count: Not specified| Note: Eligible books must be published in 2024, set at least 60 years before the publication date (i.e., before 1964), and written in English. Only submissions from publishers are accepted, with a maximum of three titles per imprint. Self-published works are not eligible.

NEW The Book Edit Writers’ Prize 2024 - Closing Date: Oct 15th, 2024 (by 17:00) | Prize: Opportunity to read at a live Zoom showcase for literary agents, an anthology publication, feedback from a commissioning editor at Legend Press | Word Count: First 1,000 words of your novel

Miami University Press - Reading Fee: $25 | Prize: $1,000, a standard contract, publication and 20 copies of the book. | Word Count: 18000 - 40000

The Sarabande Chapbook Prize - Closing Date: Sept 30th | Entry Price: $25 | Prize: $1,000, Publication, and Standard Royalty Contract | Word Count: 20-30 pages (single spaced)

The George Garrett Fiction Prize - Closing Date: Sept 30th | Entry Price: $28 | Prize: $2000 + Publication | Word Count: 40,000 - 100,000

NEW Blue Pencil Agency Pitch Prize 2024 - Closing Date: Oct 25th | Entry Price: £12 | Prize: One-to-one pitch meetings with literary agent Katie Greenstreet (up to 10 winners) | Word Count: First 500 words + 300-word synopsis

NEW Helena Whitehill Book Award - Closing Date: Oct 31st | Entry Price: $30 | Prize: $1,000, publication by Tupelo Press, residency at Gentle House, and national distribution | Word Count: No page limit (poetry or creative nonfiction)

Publications

Free

Split Lip Magazine -  Pays $75 per Author | Type: Flash, Fiction | Free Subs in Jan, March, May, Aug, Sept, Nov

Loud Coffee Press - | Closing Date: Sept 30th | Word Count: 99 - 100

Halloweenthology 2024 Submissions - Closing Date: Sept 17th, 2024 | Prize: Complimentary digital copy | Word Count: 1,500 to 8,000 words

MockingOwl Roost Submissions - Closing Date: Sept 20th (or until full) | Prize: No payment currently; may change with future funding | Word Count: Flash fiction up to 250 words; Short fiction under 5,000 words | Note: Seeking HOLIDAY-themed content only for the current submission period.

NEW DreamForge Submissions - Closing Date: Sept 30th, 2024 | Entry Price: Free | Prize: $0.08/word for original fiction, paid on acceptance | Word Count: Up to 7,000 words

NEW Spillway Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 1 - Closing Date: Oct 15th, 2024 | Entry Price: $5 (includes a digital copy of the issue) | Prize: Accepted contributors receive a hard copy of the magazine

NEW Cicada Song Press: Breaking Through the Penumbra Anthology - Closing Date: Nov 30th, 2024 | Entry Price: Free | Prize: Free e-copy of the anthology | Word Count: 100 – 5,000 words

OKD Mag Submissions - Open Date: 1st of every month | Entry Price: Free (Tip Jar and Expedited Response options available) | Publication: One new piece every Friday (alternating between flash fiction and poetry)| Note: We accept either one flash fiction (up to 1,200 words) or one poem per author, per submission period.

NEW Exquisite Death Fiction Submission - Closing Date: Rolling | Entry Price: Free | Prize: No payment (may be offered in the future) | Word Count: Up to 3,000 words

Fictive Dream Submissions - Closing Date: Rolling | Prize: No payment; stories nominated for awards | Word Count: 500 to 2,500 words

The Hoolet’s Nook Submissions - Closing Date: 21st of Each Month | Prize: No payment currently; cash prizes planned for future | Word Count: Microfiction up to 300 words

Spellweaver Magazine -  | Genre: Fantasy | Word Count: Up to 3000 | Paid