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- Weekly Writing Competitions Sept 20th 2024
Weekly Writing Competitions Sept 20th 2024
A list of writing competitions to submit your work to
Craig D
September 20, 2024
Hello fellow writers.
We have 3 new FREE writing competitions, 4 new paid writing competitions, and 3 new FREE publication submissions.
Good luck writing!
Craig
Do you run or know a writing competition you want to include in our newsletter?
Fill out the form to get it added.
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
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
NEW Halloween 50 Word Horror Story Contest - Closing Date: Sept 29th, 2024 (Midnight) | Entry Price: Free | Prize: $100 + Feature in Halloween Issue | Word Count: 50 words or less
NEW Writers College Short Story Competition - Closing Date: Sept 30th, 2024 | Entry Price: Free | Prize: 1st Prize: NZ$1,000, 2nd Prize: NZ$500, 3rd Prize: NZ$250 + Publication in an Anthology | Word Count: 1,400 - 2,000 words
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
Paid
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
Ongoing
Free
NEW Short Story Stack Contest - Closing Date: End of the Month | Entry Price: Free | Prize: $100 + 50% of subscription revenue | Word Count: 6 - 10,000 words
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
NEW ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award 2025 - Closing Date: Oct 31st, 2024 | Prize: £2,000 for the winner, £1,000 for the runner-up, £500 for each shortlisted author (up to four) | Word Count: Up to 5,000 words.
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
Paid
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
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
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
Free
Commonwealth Short Story - Start Date: Sept 1st | Closing Date: Nov 1st | Prize: 1st £5000 | Word Count: 2000 - 5000
Paid
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
NEW Fosseway Writers Short (Epistolary) Story Competition 2024 - Closing Date: Nov 16th, 2024 | Entry Price: £5 for the first entry, £3 for each additional entry (£1 discount for members) | Prize: 1st Prize: £50, 2nd Prize: £30, 3rd Prize: £20 + £10 for the best placed local writer (NG22/23/24/25) | Word Count: 1,500 - 2,500 words
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
Paid
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.
NEW Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay and Short Story Competition - Closing Date: December 31st, 2024 | Entry Price: $30-$40 for Short Story, varies for screenplays | Prize: $1,000 and various benefits for Short Story category winner, including publication on the Killer Shorts website, Scrivener Writing Software, a 1:1 30-minute Zoom meeting with screenwriter Chris Hicks, a skull-shaped typewriter trophy, and more | Word Count: Up to 6,000 words for Short Stories
January
Free
NEW Story of the Year Contest 2024 - Closing Date: Jan 13th, 2025 | Entry Price: Free | Prize: $15,000 in total cash prizes + publication | Word Count: Varies by category
Paid
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.
February
Free
NEW The Canterbury Tales Writing Competition 2024/25: Surprise, Surprise!
Closing Date: Feb 28th, 2025 | Entry Price: Free | Prize: Up to £300 for individual winners and up to £1,000 for their school libraries | Word Count: Maximum 500 words
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
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.
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
Paid
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
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
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)
NEW Reader Views Literary Awards - Closing Date: Dec 15th, 2024 | Entry Price: $89 per title (through Oct 31, 2024) / $99 per title (after Oct 31, 2024) | Prize: Awards based on categories, including a review from Reader Views | Word Count: Not specified
NEW Leiby Chapbook Award - Closing Date: Jan 7th, 2025 | Entry Price: $25 | Prize: Chapbook publication, 50 copies of the winning chapbook, and $1,000 upon publication | Word Count: Up to 45 pages (double-spaced)
NEW Xanadu Book Awards - Closing Date: August 31st, 2025 | Entry Price: $65 per category | Prize: $1,000 cash, a full consultation with an editor at Xanadu Press, and a one-year marketing package worth $3,000 for Grand Prize winners; gold medal, certificate, digital award badge, and three months of book marketing for category winners | Word Count: Not specified
Publications
Free
Split Lip Magazine - Pays $75 per Author | Type: Flash, Fiction | Free Subs in Jan, March, May, Aug, Sept, Nov
NEW Literary Fiction & Speculative Fiction Submissions - Closing Date: Open year-round | Entry Price: Free | Prize: Not specified for regular submissions | Word Count: Up to 8,000 words (fiction); up to 1,500 words for flash fiction (up to 3 pieces per submission)
NEW Driftwood Submissions - Closing Dates: February and August (Normal Submissions) | Entry Price: Not specified | Prize: Not specified | Word Count: Up to 5,000 words
NEW Dandelion Revolution Press Winter Journal - Closing Date: September 30th, 2024 | Entry Price: Free | Prize: Publication in the Winter issue themed 'Cocoon' | Word Count: 1,000-5,000 words
Loud Coffee Press - | Closing Date: Sept 30th | Word Count: 99 - 100
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
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 New Writing Scotland 43 - Closing Date: Oct 31st, 2024 | Entry Price: Free | Prize: £50 for the first published page and £25 for each subsequent published page | Word Count: Up to 3,500 words
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.
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
Paid
Spellweaver Magazine - | Genre: Fantasy | Word Count: Up to 3000 | Paid