Welcome to The Writing Pool’s Weekly Writing PostTM! We provide you with a free weekly newsletter filled with notices about contests, events, conferences, and other information that might be useful or of great interest to writers of all leanings. Meanwhile, calls for submission to literary publications as well as information about publishers can be found at The Writing PoolTM, your bottomless pool for great writing resources.
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“If the stories come, you get them written, you’re on the right track. Eventually everyone learns his or her own best way. The real mystery to crack is you.” |
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Writing is a continuous journey that never ends and writers learn constantly from their writing. No one writer can claim to be such if they think they already know everything about writing, everything about what and how to write. If you know anyone who claims that, that person is a total sham.
In reality, writers need to dig deep inside themselves to write. They need to find out how long they can sit at a desk or wherever they like to write. If they can’t sit for an hour at a time and devote that single hour to pure writing, they won’t be able to sit for days on end, writing the stories that haunt their dreams in their sleep or their thoughts when they are awake. They need to know what motivates them to write. If they don’t know why they want to write—nay, if they don’t know what they need to write, they won’t be motivated to finish anything. They need to understand what makes them want to live, because that could be the reason their characters want to live. They need to know what makes others live, because that will be what motivates other characters. They need to know what moves them to act, to do things, to behave in certain and specific ways, because that knowledge is what will move their characters as well. Imagine how boring and limited a writer’s works would be if they only knew one person. All their characters would think, feel, act, and react like that person. Imagine how egotistic that character would be if the writer thought he or she knew everything. Every story you write is based on something you learn about yourself, about people. Your story started long before you were born and will, most likely, continue long after you die. Your job, as a writer, is to understand the minutest details of your story, how it evolved and unfolded throughout the generations that resulted in everything your are, which means you need to understand everything and everyone involved in your story. Your writing will continue at least (hopefully) until you shed your corporeal being, thus you need to keep up with your life, with everything that evolves and unfolds inside and around you until the words no longer flow from you, because that will keep your stories going.
Every story you write is based on something you learn about yourself, about people. Your story started long before you were born and will, most likely, continue long after you die. Your job, as a writer, is to understand the minutest details of your story, how it evolved and unfolded throughout the generations that resulted in everything your are, which means you need to understand everything and everyone involved in your story. Your writing will continue at least (hopefully) until you shed your corporeal being, thus you need to keep up with your life, with everything that evolves and unfolds inside and around you until the words no longer flow from you, because that will keep your stories going.
Need tips on writing? Ask us in The Writing Pool™! You can also read about other aspects of writing at Creativity Unlimited.
Happy writing!
~cpl
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NEWS
PEI LOCAL/ATLANTIC
New Memoir Workshop for Women
If you feel called to write memoir, aka life writing or writing from life, whether your motivation is personal growth, posterity, or artistic expression, I invite you to sign up for A Deeper Truth, a workshop I’m offering this fall to give your writing the forward momentum it deserves.
Dates: Saturday afternoons 2:30 to 5:30 pm.
October 14th to December 16th (starts the Saturday after Thanksgiving)
Location in Charlottetown TBA. (suggestions welcome)
A Deeper Truth is for you if you want to
- be guided to write new work in a safe, supportive environment
- reflect deeply on your past
- apply the key elements of great literary memoir
- explore yourself as a character
- transform your life into story
- write masterfully in your own voice
- gain skills needed to express your truth, shape your story, and connect deeply with readers.
- be mentored by an expert who holds space for your brilliance share in a community of like-minded women (if you have a rich inner life or a complicated history, you’ll fit right in!)
harvest 10-weeks-worth of powerful new writing by you!
How to sign up today: send an e-transfer
Options
Two installments of 299
(1st due now; 2nd due October 7th)
or
Save almost 100 with Early Bird/Pay-in-Full of only 499
(Early Bird offer expires September 15th)
For more information, email KathleenHamilton@eastlink.ca
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Cargo Lit Submissions
Hey all you lovers of travel and passion and adventure, Cargo’s reading period is open for Issue 6, due out next month. Whether it’s a photo you took, an experience you want to share, or a piece of art you created inspired by your place in a new world, we at Cargo Lit want to hear about it.
Don’t forget we are always looking for portrait shots for our covers – your photo or art could make the next cover of Cargo.
To drop your submission in our box, follow the links here through Submittable: http://cargoliterary.com/submit/
We are waiting for you!
the cargo team
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Open Invitation
The poetry engine awaits you at www.poetrypei.com!
New poets are always welcome to submit a poem to this site, especially if they have never have done so before. The submission form —with complete guidelines and formatting tips—is at www.poetrypei.com/submit.
Poets already on the site: remember that you are welcome to replace your existing poem with a new one at any time, provided at least three months have passed since your last update.
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CONTESTS AND CALLS
See more at www.thewritingpool.com
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Glimmer Train 2015 SUBMISSION CALENDAR AND CATEGORIES
We have five submission categories from which to choose, including our standard category (no reading fees and payment for accepted pieces is $700), and four contests (reading fees allow for 1st place prizes from $1,500 to $2,500). Contests vs. standards. Click on the names of the categories for details.
NOTE: There is always a one-week grace period after the deadline (last day of the month).
Very Short Fiction (1st place – $1,500): Welcome in January, April, July, and October.
Short Story Award for New Writers (1st place – $1,500): Welcome in February, May, August, November.
Fiction Open (1st place – $2,500): Welcome in June and December.
Family Matters (1st place – $1,500): Welcome in March and September.
Standard Category ($700): Welcome in January, May, September.
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The Monthly Writing Contest
Here at Writing Maps we believe good writing should be encouraged, cherished, shared, and most importantly, published.
We hold a monthly Writing Maps Writing Contest to coincide with the launch each month of a new Writing Map product. We challenge you to write and share a 150-word piece in response to our Prompt of the Month.
Each month’s two winning entries will be published in The A3 Review, the new Writing Maps Journal, a fold-out literary magazine to be published every six months. The first issue appeared in September 2014. Winning entries will also receive free Writing Maps and contributor copies of The A3 Review.
To make sure you don’t miss future contests, you can sign up to our newsletter by clicking on this link. Follow us on Twitter for conversation, updates and inspiration.
The Rules:
- Entry is $5 (approx £3). Multiple entries accepted.
- Enter online through Submittable. Click here to enter.
- The contest closes at midnight (GMT) on the fourth Saturday of the month.
- Any entries submitted after the deadline will not be eligible.
- The Writing Maps Writing Contest is open to all writers over 16.
- There is no restriction on theme or style. We encourage prose, poems, prose poems, graphic stories and hybrid forms.
- Maximum number of words is 150.
For more details, please visit http://www.writingmaps.com/pages/contest
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Flash Fiction Competition
This quarterly open-themed competition for fiction up to 500 words has closing dates of 31st March, 30th June, 30th September, and 31st December.
Entry fee: £5 for one story, £8 for two stories
Prizes: £300 plus publication in Words with JAM, £200 and £100
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2017 Publishizer Book Proposal Contests
Reading is food for the heart, mind and soul. Here at Publishizer, we’re passionate about finding and helping more authors get their books published. We strongly believe that there is an urgent need for more book diversity, so we’re proud to be hosting bi-monthly themed book proposal contests in 2017.
There are no entry fees or purchases required to join. For a chance to land a publisher for your book and a shot at the US$2000 cash prize for each contest:
- Write a compelling 1000-word book proposal based on an unpublished book idea
- Submit the proposal within the appropriate contest category for approval
- Launch your campaign within the contest month to be entered into the 45-day book proposal contest
The campaign with the highest number of pre-orders for each contest wins US$2000, though every author that successfully launches a campaign on Publishizer has a chance to get published! Needless to say, the more pre-orders you get, the more publishers will express an interested in acquiring your book.
For details, please visit https://publishizer.com/contests/
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FALL 2017 FLASH FICTION CONTEST
WOW! hosts a (quarterly) writing contest every three months, and has done so since 2006. The mission of this contest is to inspire creativity, great writing, and provide well-rewarded recognition to contestants. The contest is open globally; age is of no matter; and entries must be in English. We are open to all styles and genres of flash fiction, although we do encourage you to take a close look at our guest judge for the season (upper righ-hand corner) if you are serious about winning. Please make sure you download our Contest Terms & Conditions PDF below for complete guidelines. Get creative, and let’s have some fun! We look forward to reading your work!
WORD COUNT:
Maximum: 750
Minimum: 250
The title is not to be counted in your word count. We use MS Word’s word count to determine the submitted entry’s word count.
PROMPT:
OPEN PROMPT!
That’s right, this is your chance to shine, and get creative. You can write about anything, as long as it’s within the word count and fiction. If you’re feeling inspired, write something new, or dig out those stories you started way back when and tailor them to the word count.
We’re open to any style and genre. From horror to romance. So, get creative, and most of all, have fun.
Click to Download the FALL 2017 FLASH FICTION Contest Terms & Conditions PDF
CONTEST DEADLINES:
FALL: September – November 30th 11:59 PM (Pacific Time) – NOW OPEN!
WINTER: December – February 28th, 11:59 PM (Pacific Time) – CLOSED
SPRING: March – May 31st, 11:59 PM (Pacific Time) – CLOSED
SUMMER: June – August 31st, 11:59 PM (Pacific Time) – CLOSED
ENTRY FEE: $10.00
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Drama Script Contest
Opens for entries: June 9
Early Deadline: July 15
Final Deadline: September 12
For details, please visit https://screencraft.org/drama/
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Pilot Launch TV Script Contest
Opens for entries: June 19
Early Deadline: July 13
Final Deadline: September 13
For details, please visit https://screencraft.org/pilot/
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SLO Nightwriters Golden Quill Writing Contest
This year’s contest brings new judges, new categories and a whole new writing challenge.
Call for entries begins June 15, 2017 and the deadline is September 15, 2017.
The theme for this year’s contest is LIBERATION.
Enter in one or more of the three categories:
Flash/Short Fiction Up to 1,500 words
Poetry Up to 40 lines
Creative Non-Fiction Up to 1,500 words
The entry fee is only $15.00.
Prizes will be awarded as follows for each category:
First Place $500
Second Place $250
Third Place $100
Finalists: All top finalists will receive Finalist Certificates.
For more details, please visit http://slonightwritersgoldenquill.blogspot.ca/2017/05/slo-nightwriters-golden-quill-writing.html
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2017 Mslexia Women’s Novel Competition
1st Prize: £5,000
Entry Fee: £25 per novel extract
Closing date: 18 September 2017
We are excited to launch the 2017 Mslexia Women’s Novel Competition for unpublished women writers.
The competition is open to women of any nationality from any country, and welcomes 5,000 word extracts of completed, unpublished novels of at least 50,000 words in length (not including the title).
As well as the top prize of £5,000, the winner and four finalists will receive manuscript feedback, and introductions to agents and editors, at a special event held in London.
Novels must be for adult or young adult readers; non-fiction or fiction for children under 13 is not eligible.
Each £25 entry fee allows you to submit one novel extract. For more details, please visit http://bit.ly/2qvhCcM
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The Locked Door Writing Competition
1st Prize: £200
2nd Prize: £150
3rd Prize: £100
Closing date: September 20th 2017
Entry fee: £2.50
Want to enter for free? Sign up for our Write, Learn and Publish membership
This writing competition is all about a door and our opening line:
The door was locked. Now what was she going to do?
This must form the first sentence and it’s your job to continue the story through to completion. Take a look at the photo of the door above or, write about a completely different door and building. What happens in your story is entirely up to you – it can be mysterious, romantic, dangerous or, in fact, anything you like but you only have a maximum of 600 words including the open line and the title The Locked Door.
Find out more HERE
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2017 Tall Tales Flash Fiction Competition
1st Prize: £50
2nd Prize: £25
3rd Prize: £10
4th & 5th Prize: Free Critical Overview by our Editorial Team on a piece of writing of your choice.
Entry Fee: £2.50
Closing Date: 11:59 PM (GMT) – 28/09/2017
Winners announced: 01/12/2017
Word Limit: 250
Brief: Everyone loves a tall tale. As kids, we found ourselves hanging on the words of our teachers, friends and parents, desperate for the next one. But big or small, we’re looking for a whole story. We love fast paced, big ideas crammed into little packages. We want the start, middle and end of a story that’s going to take us to a different place, time, world or state of mind. Do you have a fantastic yarn to weave? And what’s more, can you do it 250 words less?
For more details, please visit https://www.grindstoneliterary.com/competitions
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Picture Book Prize
You could win a valuable consultation with literary agent Julia Churchill or a critique from children’s author Amy Sparkes in our exclusive new Picture Book Prize.
The award is open to all unpublished and unagented writers and is an opportunity for you to submit your picture book texts. We are not looking for illustrated stories or accompanying sample illustrations – please just send the story text.
Entries need to reflect traditional published picture book texts which do not rely on pop-ups, tabs or touch to help deliver the story. The story should be fiction and can be rhyming or non-rhyming. The word count should be no more than 800 words. Your story can be split up into spreads (usually 12-14 spreads) or be one continuous piece of writing.
The first prize winner will be offered a lunch consultation with top children’s fiction agent Julia Churchill, a year’s subscription to Writing Magazine and £200.
The second prize winner will be offered a picture book critique by Amy Sparkes through Writing Magazine Writing Courses, a year’s subscription to WM and £50.
The third prize winner will win a year’s subscription to WM.
For more details, please visit http://bit.ly/2toqiSp
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The Geist Erasure Poetry Contest Extended Deadline
We have extended the deadline for the Geist Erasure Poetry Contest! You now have until September 30, 2017 to omit your way to the winners’ circle!
Erasure poetry begins with an existing piece of text. Letters, words and punctuation are removed and what’s left behind is a new stand-alone poem. The erasure text for the 2017 Geist Erasure Poetry Contest is an excerpt from Wacousta by John Richardson, one of the oldest Canadian novels.
Get all the details, including the full erasure text, here.
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Lilith Magazine Annual Fiction Contest
Deadline: September 30
Lilith Magazine invites submissions of quality short fiction, 3,000 words or under, for our Annual Fiction Contest. When selecting what you’ll submit, please remember our tagline—independent, Jewish and frankly feminist. The magazine proudly spotlights both emerging and established writers. Winner receives $250 + publication. Put “Fiction Contest Submission” as subject line and send to info@Lilith.org.
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The Phone Call Writing Competition
1st Prize: £200.00
2nd Prize: £175.00
3rd Prize: £100.00
Entry fee: £3.00 or FREE to Write, Learn and Publish members
Closing date: September 30, 2017
In this competition, you have just 600 words or less. Take a look at the photo and create a short story around a phone conversation. Use the character depicted in the photo but the phone call or the resulting plot can lead you in any direction you so choose. You only have up to 600 words in which to impress us so, jump straight into the story, there’s no time for a build-up. We welcome creative interpretations of the theme.
For details, please visit http://bit.ly/2wrPSIc
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Flash Fiction Competition 2017
Most of the stories we publish in The Fiction Desk anthologies are significantly longer than 1,000 words, but we do sometimes see great writing that’s much shorter than that. In order to accommodate some of these miniature stories, and to provide more variety for our readers, we’re pleased to announce the 2017 edition of our flash fiction competition.
The 2017 Flash Fiction Competition is now open for entries. Please use this form to send one story, or this form to send us two stories together.
- Prizes: There is a first prize of £300 and two runner-up prizes of £100 each.
- Entry fee: Entry to the competition costs £5 for a single story, with a special rate of £8 for two stories submitted together.
- Word count: Stories must be between 250 and 1,000 words in length.
- Deadline: Midnight (UK time) on Friday, 29th September.
For more details, please visit http://www.thefictiondesk.com/submissions/flash-fiction-competition.php
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13th Mudfish Poetry Prize
Submit 3 poems for $20 + $3 for each additional poem.
Prize: $1200
Each entry should include a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope), a cover page with the poet’s name, address, and titles of poems. The author’s name should not appear on the poems. You may submit 3 poems for a $20 fee. Each additional poem is $3. Checks should be made out to Box Turtle Press. Postmark your entry by September 30 and mail it to:
Mudfish Poetry Prize
184 Franklin Street
Ground Floor
New York, NY 10013
For more details, please visit http://www.mudfish.org/13th-poetry-prize/
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The Journal/Charles B. Wheeler Poetry Prize
Each year, manuscripts by emerging and established poets are screened, in accordance with CLMP guidelines, by volunteer readers associated with The Journal and The Ohio State University English Department. Associate Poetry Editor of The Ohio State University Press, Pablo Tanguay, selects semi-finalists and Kathy Fagan, Series Poetry Editor, selects one full-length manuscript for publication by Mad River Books, the trade imprint of The Ohio State University Press. In addition to publication under a standard book contract, the winning author receives the Charles B. Wheeler prize of $2,500.
Submissions open September 1st for the annual The Journal/Charles B. Wheeler Poetry Prize. Deadline: September 30.
For more details, please visit http://thejournalmag.org/book-prizes/wheeler-prize
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Hammond House 2017 International Short Story Prize
2000-7000 words
Theme – ETERNAL
Winner £500
2nd £100 3rd £50
Entry fee £10 Members £5
Feedback option £5
Worldwide publication for 25 shortlisted entries
Submission deadline: 3oth September 2017
Publication and award ceremony: December 2017
Please read Submission Guidelines and Terms and Conditions before submitting your entry
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Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest
Welcome to the 15th annual Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest. Submit published or unpublished work. $4,000 in prizes.
Please submit during April 15-September 30, 2017. We will award the Tom Howard Prize of $1,500 for a poem in any style or genre, and the Margaret Reid Prize of $1,500 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style. Ten Honorable Mentions will receive $100 each (any style). The top 12 entries will be published online. Length limit: 250 lines per poem. No restrictions on age or country. The results of the 15th contest will be announced on April 15, 2018. Fee: $12 per poem
For more details, please visit http://bit.ly/2uQKR7F
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300-Word Fiction Competition
1st Prize: £100
2nd Prize: £75
3rd Prize: £50
Closing date: October 1st 2017
Entry fee: £2.00 or FREE to Write, Learn and Publish members
No time to write? Think again, with our new 300-word fiction competition. This is flash fiction with a difference and all you need to do is to continue the story….
Last night, my world turned grey…..
Click HERE
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Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize
Wheelbarrow Books, established in 2016, is an imprint of the RCAH Center for Poetry at MSU, published and distributed by the MSU Press.
The Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize is a biannual poetry contest, awarding $1,000 and book publication to one established poet, and one new poet annually.
Submissions are now open for the 2018 prize, open to authors of at least one full-length collection of poetry. Deadline: October 1.
For more information, please visit http://poetry.rcah.msu.edu/wheelbarrow-books-poetry-prize.html
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27th Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize
$5,000 Fiction | $5,000 Nonfiction | $5,000 Poetry
DEADLINE: October 2, 2017
Winners receive publication, invitation to a reception and reading in their honor, and a cash prize.
Entry fee: $22
For details, please visit https://www.missourireview.com/contests/jeffrey-e-smith-editors-prize/
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10th Annual Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards
Deadline: October 2, 2017
Calling all poets! We’re on the lookout for poems of all styles–rhyming, free verse, haiku, and more–for the 10th Annual Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards! This is the only Writer’s Digest competition exclusively for poets. Enter any poem 32 lines or less for your chance to win $1,000 in cash.
For more details, please visit http://bit.ly/2vMWxtg
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19th Annual Scriptapalooza Television Writing Competition
Our intention is to help open doors for the aspiring television writer. We are accepting: one hour dramas, sitcoms, original pilots, and reality shows.
Whether you are already an aspiring television writer or a writer interested in exploring other avenues, Scriptapalooza TV is here to promote careers in television and provide exposure for the undiscovered writer.
Deadline: October 2, 2017
For details, please visit http://www.scriptapaloozatv.com/
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SAS Fiction Contest
Deadline: October 3, 2017
Fee: $20.00
The winner will be selected from this year’s submissions of original, unpublished short stories between 3,000 and 7,000 words with LGBT content on the broad theme of “Saints and Sinners.” This contest would not be possible without a generous grant from The John Burton Harter Foundation. Radclyffe is an eight-time Lambda Literary Award finalist in romance, mystery, and erotica—winning in both romance (Distant Shores, Silent Thunder) and erotica (Erotica Interludes 2: Stolen Moments). She is the president of Bold Strokes Books, one of the world’s largest LGBTQ publishing companies.
Prize:
One grand prize of $500 and two second place prizes of $100 will be awarded. In addition, the top stories will be published in an anthology from Bold Strokes Books. There will also be a book release party and reading held during the 15th annual Saints and Sinners Literary Conference in New Orleans in 2018. A list of the top ten finalists will be posted on our website and in our e-newsletter. Have a question about our writing contest? Please send questions to: pjwillisnola@aol.com.
For details, please visit https://tennesseewilliamsfestival.submittable.com/submit
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Action & Thriller Script Contest
Opens for entries: July 17
Early Deadline: August 9
Final Deadline: October 11
For details, please visit https://screencraft.org/action/
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Write your story, change the world
FutureScapes is an annual writing competition that asks writers to envision a particular future, and tell us its story. We could run projections and publish reports, but there’s a reason why Oscar Wilde didn’t say, “Life imitates empirical studies.” We want to help writers of excellent potential find their voice while shaping tomorrow.
For 2017, the Futurescapes Contest theme is “Blue Sky Cities.” We’re seeking stories set in a near-future city where significant strides have been made toward improving air quality, climate adaptation, or even net positive impacts on climate and air quality.
Deadline: October 13, 2017
For details, please visit http://www.futurescapescontest.com/#rules
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Fabula Press’ Aestas Short Story Competition 2017
Dates: Contest opened on 15 Jul 2017, and submissions will be accepted till 14 Oct 2017. The results will tentatively be declared in Dec 2017.
Prizes: The contest carries the following prizes:
- First Prize: US$250
- Second Prize: US$150
- Third Prize: US$100
All longlisted entries (top 15-20) get published in an anthology, and non-prize winning published entries will be paid US$50 each. Also, at the sponsors’ discretion, additional prizes may be declared for ‘Editors’ Pick’ category (in the last edition of the contest three such prizes of US$75 each were declared).
Theme: None. There is no restriction on genre either, and apart from literary fiction we are also happy to read historical fiction, mystery/suspense, and horror. However, for consistency of presentation we cannot accept children’s stories, young adult or chick lit; likewise, hardcore science fiction or fantasy is not something we are looking for, but are open to science / alternative history / fantasy based works if they have standalone literary merit. In case of doubt, it is best to query the editorial team.
Word count: Minimum 1500, maximum 7000. At the editors’ discretion, some latitude may be allowed on both minimum and maximum word counts for stories of exceptional merit.
Entry fee: US$10.
Detailed guidelines are available at www.fabulapress.com
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2017 New Writer Awards at Sequestrum
Deadline: October 15
The 2017 New Writer Awards at Sequestrum award over $500 in prizes and publication to writers of short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry who have yet to publish a book-length manuscript. Two first-prize winners (one fiction/nonfiction, one poetry) will receive $200 each. A minimum of one runner-up per genre will receive publication and a cash prize.
Finalists last year included many new, emerging, and even first-time writers. All finalists are listed on the website. Enter online. No length (short story/essay) or theme restrictions. Complete guidelines here: https://www.sequestrum.org/contests
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River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Book Contest
River Teeth‘s editors and editorial board conduct a yearly national contest to identify the best book-length manuscript of literary nonfiction. All manuscripts are screened by the co-editors of River Teeth. The winner will receive $1,000 and publication by The University of New Mexico Press. Submissions open July 1, 2017.
All entrants receive a one-year subscription to River Teeth with their submission fees.
Deadline for Submissions: October 15, 2017
For more details, please visit http://www.riverteethjournal.com/contests
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The Writer’s Digest POPULAR FICTION AWARDS
Early-Bird Deadline: October 16, 2017
- All entries—$20
Deadline: November 15, 2017
- First entry—$25
- Each additional entry—$20
All deadlines are at 11:59 PM EST, on the specified date. The deadline at which time you are entering, is also the date that all related materials (when applicable) must be shipped. Mailed in payments must deliver within 5 days of the current posted entry deadline, as listed on the website at the time of your submission. For proof of delivery, please track your package with your shipper – we are not able to confirm individual deliveries.
For more details, please visit http://www.writersdigest.com/writers-digest-competitions
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Contest 2017: TW Prize for Personal Essay on Writing and Faith
$15.00 USD
The Talking Writing Prize is an annual contest that celebrates the diversity online of original, personally driven writing.
This year’s Talking Writing Prize for Personal Essay will spotlight our annual holiday theme. We’re looking for honest, unsentimental nonfiction about soul searching through words. How do you tackle life’s Big Questions? Writers are invited to address mortality, belief, culture of origin, atheism, or any other issues connected to making meaning in a complicated world.
Length: Up to 2,000 words. Include only the story title (not your name or affiliation) on the first page and in the page headers.
Deadline: October 16, 2017
Prize: $500 and publication in Talking Writing.
For more information, see http://talkingwriting.com/tw-contests
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Psychological Thriller Writing Competition
1st Prize: £400
2nd Prize: £250
3rd Prize: £100
Closing date: October 20th
Entry fee: £4.00 or FREE to Write, Learn and Publish Members
Want FEEDBACK on your submission? You can request this for an additional £5.00 using the specific PayPal button below.
Are you up for the challenge? Can you tap into the dark realms of your mind and craft a psychological thriller? We are hoping you can. For this writing competition, we are open to creative interpretation and you can make it as dark and as sinister as you like. Stretch the boundaries of this competition and you could be one of our winners. To give you a chance of winning, think about your starting point very carefully, you need to build up the tension and make us think deeply about the plot and any in-built layers.
For details, please visit http://bit.ly/2vSxfuL
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Musicworks SONIC GEOGRAPHY Writing Contest
The Musicworks Sonic Geography Contest is now open. Deadline: October 27, 2017.
Describe your soundworld in 500 words and enter the 7th annual juried writing contest. Choose any location—urban or rural, indoors or outside, cacophonous or silent.
First prize: $500 cash, publication of your work in Musicworks and on musicworks.ca.
Second prize: $200 cash and publication of your work on musicworks.ca.
Third prize: $100 cash and publication of your work on musicworks.ca.
Get all the details including submission information here.
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The Family Narrative Project Writing Contest
The Family Narrative Project invites entries to our 2017 essay contest on the theme of family. At FNP, we know that family means many things to many different people. Feel free to define family broadly. We also know that family relationships can be complicated and wonderful and frustrating and supportive and destructive and confusing and breathtakingly loving. We know, in other words, that they have the power both to harm and to heal. We are open to essays that reflect the full range of family life.
Deadline: October 31, 2017 (11:59 p.m.)
Word limit: 1000 words
Entry fee: $10/entry
Prize: $500 for winner plus an interview with the author that will be featured on our website.
Winner will be announced on our website on January 4, 2018.
For details, please visit https://www.familynarrativeproject.com/contest
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Tupelo Press Sunken Garden Chapbook Poetry Prize
Deadline: October 31
The Sunken Garden Poetry Prize is a prestigious national poetry prize for adult writers. Established in 2002, the Prize has drawn submissions from around the country that have been judged by renowned poets such as Martha Collins, Patricia Smith, and Tony Hoagland. The winner receives a cash prize, an introductory reading at the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, and publication of a chapbook. Hill-Stead began partnering with Tupelo Press for the publication of the chapbook in 2013.
The Tupelo Press Sunken Garden Poetry Prize includes a cash award of $1,000, publication by Tupelo Press, a book launch, and national distribution with energetic publicity and promotion. Results announced in winter 2018.
For more details, please visit https://www.tupelopress.org/sunken-garden-poetry-prize/
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Larry Brown Short Story Award
We’re pleased to announce the second annual Larry Brown Short Story Award. The winners will receive the following prizes: 1st place $250, 2nd place $75, and 3rd place $25. Each prize winner will be published in the January 2018 issue of Pithead Chapel.
Please read the guidelines carefully before submitting
- The contest is open from August 1st to October 31st of each year
- The submitted story must be less than 4,000 words
- No previously published work will be considered
- There’s a $10 entry fee for each story submission
For more details, please visit https://pitheadchapel.com/the-larry-brown-short-story-award/
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Literary Awards Competition is now open
Submissions to the sixth annual Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards Writing Competition are being accepted through October 31, 2017. Entries are accepted in three categories: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Winners will be honored at the 2018 Tucson Festival of Books on Saturday, March 10 and Sunday, March 11.
First-place winners in each category will receive $1,000. Second-place winners receive $500, and third-place winners $250. All winners will be awarded scholarships (a $300 value) to the 2018 Tucson Festival of Books Masters Writing Workshop, on both Monday, March 12 and Tuesday, March 13. The top 50 entrants will be invited to attend the workshop ($300).
For more details, please visit http://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org/?id=436
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Flash 500’s 5th Novel Opening Chapter & Synopsis Competition
Have you started, or completed, a novel with strong, credible characters and a page turning plot? Have you honed the first chapter? Can you put together a compelling one page synopsis of the balance of the story? Yes? Then why not enter our Novel Opening Chapter competition and have your work judged by the senior editors at Crooked Cat Publishing? We welcome published, self-published and unpublished novelists. The only stipulation is that the entry must be unpublished.
We are looking for an opening chapter up to 3,000 words, plus a one page synopsis outlining the balance of the story. If your chapter is longer than 3,000 words, DO NOT SUBMIT A LONGER MANUSCRIPT. Simply close the entry within the 3,000-word limit and make a note at the end (which will not be included in the word count) stating the chapter continues beyond this point.
This is an annual competition: entries close on 31st October 2017.
Entry fee: £10/€13
Optional Critique of Chapter and Synopsis: £25/€32.50
Prizes will be awarded as follows:
First: £500
Runner up: £200
For more details, please visit http://www.flash500.com/index_files/novel.html
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The Malahat Review Open Season Awards
***New this year: we’ve increased the prize money from $1500 CAD per genre to $2000, for a total of $6000 to be given away!
The Malahat Review, Canada’s premier literary magazine, invites entries from Canadian, American, and overseas authors for our annual Open Season Awards. An exciting spring showcase of literary excellence, Open Season bestows a grand prize of $6000 CAD to be divided evenly over three categories: poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction.
Entry fee required for all categories:
- $35 CAD for Canadian entries;
- $40 US for American entries;
- $45 US for entries from Mexico and outside North America.
- ***new this year: additional entries cost just $10 CAD each (from anywhere)
Deadline: November 1, 2017
For details, please visit http://www.malahatreview.ca/contests/open_season/info.html
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Tennessee Williams Festival One-Act Play Contest
Deadline: November 1, 2017
Fee: $25.00
Grand Prize
- $1,500
- Professional Staged Reading at the next Festival
- VIP All-Access Festival pass ($600 value)
- Publication in Bayou Magazine
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Young Adult Fiction Writing Competition
1st Prize: £200.00
2nd Prize: £100.00
3rd Prize: £75.00
Entry fee: £3.00 FREE to Write Learn and Publish Members
Closing date: November 3, 2017
Have you ever fancied trying to write for the young adult market? The teenage market is very popular and if you can adapt your writing to connect with today’s teenagers then, you could develop a whole new writing skill and, it can be more than a little lucrative too. If this sounds fun, then have a go with this new writing competition. Create an adventure story, a mystery or just draw on the issues of life but aim for those younger minds and deal with these issues in a way that is relative. Note, you do not have to use the photo above.
You have a maximum of 1500 words (including your choice of title) so consider your story and starting point carefully. We love the YA genre so grip us from the opening paragraph. Do read the rules though.
For details, please visit http://bit.ly/2fU6BxI
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POETRY AWARDS
Early-Bird Deadline: October 2, 2017
- First entry—$15
- Each additional entry—$10
Deadline: November 6, 2017
- First entry—$20
- Each additional entry—$15
Additional entry discounts only apply to for each additional entry submitted during the same transaction/checkout. No matter the entry method, all deadlines are at 11:59 PM EST, on the specified date. The deadline at which time you are entering, is also the date that all related materials (when applicable) must be shipped. Mailed in payments must deliver within 5 days of the current posted entry deadline, at listed on the website at the time of your submission. For proof of delivery, please track your package with your shipper – we are not able to confirm individual deliveries. Mailed in payments can take up to 60 days (after the entry deadline) to process.
For more details, please visit http://www.writersdigest.com/writers-digest-competitions/poetry-awards
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2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Open for entry 1 September – 1 November 2017
Awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000–5,000 words) in English. Regional winners receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives £5,000. Translated entries are also eligible, as are stories written in the original Bengali, Kiswahili, Malay, Mandarin, Portuguese, Samoan and Tamil.
The competition is free to enter.
Full entry and eligibility rules are available to download in Word format or PDF.
For more details, please visit http://www.commonwealthwriters.org/our-projects/the-short-story/
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The Caledonia Novel Award
- Our 2018 novel competition is open for entries from 01 May 2017 until 01 November 2017
- Longlisted novels will be announced on 30 November 2017, with longlistees invited to submit their full novel manuscript by 6 December 2017
- Shortlisted novels will be announced on 25 January 2018, with the overall competition winner announced in February 2018 and awarded £1,000
- The entry fee is £25 per novel
- Novels can be in any genre for adults or young adults
- Novels must be the entrant’s original work and at least 50,000 words in length
- The competition is open to writers over the age of eighteen of any nationality and resident in any country
- The Caledonia Novel Award is open to unpublished or self-published novelists only
For more details, please visit http://thecaledonianovelaward.com/rules-entry/
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Risk
Deadline: Monday, November 6, 2017
There is a $20 reading fee, waived for current subscribers.
Every decision we make, whether as individuals or as a society, involves some risk—whether physical or emotional, economic or legal, social or spiritual. Our comfort level with uncertainty defines not only our choices in any given situation, but how we live.
For a special issue of Creative Nonfiction magazine, we’re seeking true stories illustrating the ways we balance the threat of loss against the promise of gain.
Above all, we are looking for vivid narratives—true stories, rich with scene, character, detail, and a distinctive voice—with unique insights into these questions.
Creative Nonfiction editors will award $1,000 for best essay and $500 for runner-up, and all essays submitted will be considered for publication.
For more details, please visit https://www.creativenonfiction.org/submissions/risk
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TWF Very Short Fiction Contest
Deadline: November 8, 2017
Fee: $10.00
Grand Prize
- $500
- Passes to Panels and Master Classes ($200 Value)
- Public reading at a literary panel at the next Festival
- Publication in New Orleans Review Web Features
For more details, please visit https://tennesseewilliamsfestival.submittable.com/submit
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Introducing Amazon KDP Pen to Publish Contest
We are excited to announce the launch of Amazon KDP Pen to Publish Contest. The contest is open to all authors* who publish their book through Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon.in between 25th July and 10th November 2017.
This contest recognizes literary excellence for newly published work in English language in any genre. The grand winner will be awarded a prize of ₹ 10 lakh (INR 1 Million), print publishing deal with Westland and mentorship by India’s best-selling English author Chetan Bhagat.
Further details can be found on the contest page at www.amazon.in/pentopublish
*Authors who are residents of Australia, Canada, India, the United Kingdom or the United States.
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Perugia Press Prize
for a First or Second Book by a Woman
Deadline: November 15
Prize: $1000 and publication
- Poets must have no more than one previously published full-length book. You are still eligible if you have published a poetry chapbook/s or books in other genres.
- Poets must be women, which is inclusive of transgender women and female-identified individuals. Because gender inequality still occurs in publishing, we consider it part of our explicit feminist mission to support and promote women’s voices in print.
- Perugia Press seeks to promote diversity and highlight marginalized and underrepresented voices in our publications, and to that end we encourage submissions written by poets of all abilities, ages, and sexual orientations, and from across all cultural, socio-economic, ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds. We welcome submissions from across the globe, though they must be written in English.
For more details, please visit http://www.perugiapress.com/contest/
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THE WRITER’S DIGEST SHORT SHORT STORY COMPETITION
Early-Bird Deadline: November 15, 2017
- First entry—$25
- Each additional entry—$20
Deadline: December 15, 2017
- First entry—$30
- Each additional entry—$25
All deadlines are at 11:59 PM EST, on the specified date.The deadline at which time you are entering, is also the date that all related materials (when applicable) must be shipped. Mailed in payments must deliver within 5 days of the current posted entry deadline, at listed on the website at the time of your submission. For proof of delivery, please track your package with your shipper – we are not able to confirm individual deliveries. Mailed in payments can take up to 60 days (after the entry deadline) to process.
For more details, please visit http://www.writersdigest.com/writers-digest-competitions/short-short-story-competition
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Tennessee Williams Festival Poetry Contest
Deadline: November 15, 2017
Fee: $15.00
Grand Prize
- $1,000
- VIP All-Access Pass ($600 value) for the Festival
- Publication in Louisiana Cultural Vistas Magazine
- Public reading at the next Festival
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2017 Autumn Poetry Competition
1st Prize: £100
2nd Prize: £50
3rd Prize: £25
4th & 5th Prize: Free Critical Overview by our Editorial Team on a piece of writing of your choice.
Entry Fee: £4.00
Closing Date: 11:59 PM (GMT) – 28/11/2017
Winners announced: 01/02/2018
Line Limit: 40
Brief: We want up to forty lines, embodying the theme of change. Autumn is a season of complex and dynamic change, and that what we’re looking for here. Tell us about change, and what it means to you. The end of something, the beginning of something, or the evolution of something. Take the theme and do something inspired with it. Or, just writing something amazing about Autumn.
For details, please visit https://www.grindstoneliterary.com/competitions
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THE TWO SYLVIAS PRESS 2017 WILDER SERIES POETRY BOOK PRIZE
Now Open for Submissions: Sept. 1st – Nov. 30th
2017 Wilder Series Poetry Book Prize: A Poetry Contest for Women Over Age 50
Submission Dates: Sept. 1, 2017 – Nov. 30, 2017.
Prize: $1000 and publication by Two Sylvias Press
(print book and eBook publication, and a vintage art nouveau pendant).
The Wilder Series Book Prize is open to women over 50 years of age (established or emerging poets) and includes a $1000 prize, publication by Two Sylvias Press, 20 copies of the winning book, and a vintage, art nouveau pendant. Women submitting manuscripts may be poets with one or more previously published chapbooks/books or poets without any prior chapbook/book publications. (We use an inclusive definition of “woman” and “female” and we welcome trans women, genderqueer women, and non-binary people who are significantly female-identified.)
For details, please visit http://www.twosylviaspress.com/wilder-series-poetry-book-prize.html
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45th New Millennium Writing Awards
POETRY • FICTION • FLASH FICTION • NONFICTION
$4,000 IN AWARDS + PUBLICATION (in print and online)
First Place in each category receives a $1000 cash prize, a certificate to document the success, publication online and in print, in New Millennium Writings, and two complimentary copies.
- Select Finalists, and all Poetry Finalists, will be published in New Millennium Writings and receive two complimentary copies.
- Fiction – 6,000 words or less
- Nonfiction (all types welcome) – 6,000 words or less
- Flash Fiction (aka: Short-Short Fiction) – 1,000 words or less
- Poetry – each entry may include three poems, up to five pages total.
- Submissions must be received by the November 30, 2017 deadline.
ENTRY FEES AND MULTIPLE ENTRY SUPPORT
For any category or combination of categories:
- 1 Entry – $20
- 2 Entries – $40
- 3 Entries – $45 (reg $60)
- 4 Entries – $60 (reg $80)
- 5 Entries – $75 (reg $100)
Note: Poetry may include up to three poems per Entry.
For more details, please visit https://newmillenniumwritings.org/submit/
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Tennessee Williams Festival Fiction Contest
Deadline: November 30, 2017
Fee: $25.00
Grand Prize:
$1,500
Domestic airfare (up to $500) and French Quarter accommodations to attend the Festival in New Orleans
VIP All-Access Festival pass for the next Festival ($600 value)
Public reading at a literary panel at the next Festival
Publication in Louisiana Literature
For more details, please visit https://tennesseewilliamsfestival.submittable.com/submit
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The Strokestown International Prize 2018
1st Prize € 2,000
Plus: A week-long residency at Anam Cara Writer’s and Artist’s Retreat
2nd Prize € 700
3rd Prize € 500
Reading fees of € 300 for 5 shortlisted poets
The 8 shortlisted poems will be printed in the Strokestown Anthology 2018,
Competition opens 1st September 2017
Competition closes 1st December 2017
Judges Moya Cannon & Harry Clifton
Prize winner announced in Strokestown, 6th May 2018
Judges Moya Cannon and Harry Clifton will read and consider all entries for this prestigious prize. Shortlisted poets will also be published in the forthcoming festival anthology, alongside the work of the judges and other featured readers at the festival.
Strokestown is Ireland’s longest-running poetry festival, and has established a reputation for friendly informality twinned with deep respect for poetry, poets and poetry lovers. Here’s your chance to take part in it. Entries will be accepted from Friday 1st September 2017, and will be until 1st December 2017. You may enter as early and as often as you choose for an entry fee of €6.00 per poem.
For details, please visit http://bit.ly/2wPgKCy
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2017 Ernest Hemingway Flash Fiction Prize
Entries for the Ernest Hemingway Flash Fiction Prize should be approximately 1500 words or less. Submissions should be unpublished and in .rtf, .doc, or .pdf format. Feel free to submit multiple stories, but please DO NOT submit multiple Word documents as one submission or one text document containing multiple stories. Instead, please submit each story as a SEPARATE entry (so that you complete an individual submission process for each story). Entries should be unpublished. Simultaneously submissions ARE welcome. Contest deadline is December 1st. Entry fee is $10. All entries will be considered for publication in Fiction Southeast.
- Winner – $200 and publication in Fiction Southeast
- Runners-up – publication in Fiction Southeast
For more details, please visit https://fictionsoutheast.submittable.com/submit
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St. Martin’s Minotaur/ Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition Contests for Writers
Sponsored by Minotaur Books and Mystery Writers of America (MWA)
The Competition is open to any writer, regardless of nationality, aged 18 or older, who has never been the author of any Published Novel (in any genre), as defined by the guidelines below, (except that authors of self-published works only may enter, as long as the manuscript submitted is not the self-published work) and is not under contract with a publisher for publication of a novel.
Deadline for 2018 is December 2017. Please check the official website for details at http://mysterywriters.org/about-mwa/st-martins/
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Tongues&Grooves Prose Poem Prize 2018
Deadline: Midnight on 1 January 2018
First Poem: £5; each additional poem £4
Prizes: First £600, Second £200, Third £100, with seven commendations £25
Judge: Michael Loveday
Prize Awards: Sunday 25th March 2018 at the Square Tower, Old Portsmouth
Winners will be invited to read at the Square Tower, Portsmouth in March 2018 as part of Bookfest 2018
Further details, including competition rules and a postal submission form, can be downloaded here.
Online submissions, including payment, can be made by clicking this link: Prose Poem Competition 2017
Visit the website at https://tonguesandgrooves.com/2017/03/08/international-prose-poem-2017/
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The 2017 Exeter Novel Prize
The competition is for the first ten thousand words including synopsis of a novel that has not been accepted for publication by a traditional publishing house. It is open to all authors who are currently without representation by a literary agent, whether or not they have been published. Self-published novels are eligible.
We are delighted that London literary agent Broo Doherty of DHH Agency has agreed to undertake the final judging again. You can read about the previous award ceremonies and the judge’s reports.
First Prize – £500 plus trophy
Five finalists will each receive £75 plus a trophy.
Closing date: 1st January 2018
Fee: £18 or £80 to include a one page appraisal.
For more details, please visit http://www.creativewritingmatters.co.uk/2017-exeter-novel-prize.html
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Flash 500 Short Story Competition
This is an open-themed competition and we accept all genres, including those written by or for children. Adult material is also acceptable providing the content fits the story and is not gratuitous.
We are looking for stories ranging between 1,000 and 3,000 words, with strong characters, a well-crafted plot and realistic dialogue (where used). Make us laugh, make us cry, but most of all, make us feel!
This is an annual competition: entries close on the last day of February 2018.
Prizes
First: £500
Second: £200
Third: £100
Entry fees
£7/€9 for one
£12/€15.50 for two
£16/€21 for three
£20/€26 for four
For more details, please visit http://www.flash500.com/index_files/ss.html
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The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing
- For an outstanding debut literary work by a first-generation immigrant
- Winner receives $10,000 and publication by Restless Books
- To be awarded for fiction and nonfiction in alternating years
- Fiction submissions for the 2018 Prize open from September 1, 2017 to February 28, 2018
- The winner will receive a $10,000 advance and publication by Restless Books in print and digital editions. We expect to work closely with the winner and provide editorial guidance.
For more details, please visit http://www.restlessbooks.com/prize-for-new-immigrant-writing
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Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest (no fee)
Now in its 17th year, this contest seeks today’s best humor poems. No fee to enter. Submit published or unpublished work. $2,250 in prizes.
Please submit one humor poem during August 15, 2017-April 1, 2018. No fee to enter. We will award a first prize of $1,000 and a second prize of $250. Ten Honorable Mentions will receive $100 each. The top 12 entries will be published online. Judge: Jendi Reiter, assisted by Lauren Singer. Length limit: 250 lines. No restrictions on age or country. The results of our 17th annual contest will be announced on August 15, 2018.
For more details, please visit https://winningwriters.com/our-contests/wergle-flomp-humor-poetry-contest-free
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Gover Story Prize
Best New Writing accepts unpublished fiction and creative nonfiction under 10,000 words for publication and consideration for the Gover Story Prize ($250). The story must be new and unpublished, including on-line publication. Submissions are read quarterly following the last day of March, June, September, and December. You will receive a response within two weeks of those dates. Simultaneous submissions cannot be considered. Please, no more than one submission per quarter, and STRIP YOUR NAME from the story pages. If your story was previously published, including on-line publications, please do not submit it.
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Free Novel Contest
- Inkitt Invests A Minimum $6,000 in Your Book Marketing
- Proven Amazon Top 100 Strategy
- A Dedicated Marketing Team
- Professional Editing & Cover
- 25% Royalties
Inkitt is a new boutique publishing house. Our first novel launched mid 2016, and since then we’ve published 18 books, 17 of which became Amazon Bestsellers in their categories and ranked Top 100 among the four million books on Amazon. In the months to come we will be publishing one book every week.
For more details, please visit http://bit.ly/2qLFPb8
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Metamorphose Short Story Publication
We are currently accepting short stories in the fantasy and science fiction genres ranging from 1,000 to 7,500 words for publication on our website. Each year the top 3-5 stories will be published as the featured short story in Metamorphose’s Anthology in the fall. All accepted submissions receive free professional edits on their submission. International submissions welcome.
Open: Always
Pay: Stories published in the anthology are eligible for royalty sales.
Submission Fee: $5
URL: http://www.metamorphoselit.com/submit/
Contact Info: Tammy Davies, contact@metamorphoselit.com
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New England Poetry Club Contests
New England Poetry Club has always recognized the outstanding work of poets with its annual awards and contests. Some awards, such as The Golden Rose and the May Sarton Award, are given in recognition of career excellence, while others are run as contests. This page is a complete listing of annual awards and contests. If you choose to enter a contest, please be sure to read the guidelines before entering, as they may have changed from previous years. The link to submit entries online can be found in the guidelines tab.
Submissions accepted only in May and June each year.
For more details, please visit http://www.nepoetryclub.org/contests/
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Neil Postman Award for Metaphor
Rolling Deadline
(no fee)
Although primarily known as an educationist and a media critic, Neil Postman was, at his core, a “noticer”—and he particularly noticed what we do with metaphor and how metaphor shapes and creates our cognitive world. Postman maintained that words (and words, in truth, are metaphors) are as much the driver of reality as they are the vehicle. Consequently, metaphor was not a subject to be relegated and limited to high school poetry units wherein a teacher drones on about the difference between “like” and “as” and considers the job finished. For Postman, the study of metaphor was unending and metaphors were as crucial as they were omnipresent; they served to give form to and dictate experience.
In honor and remembrance of Neil Postman, who died on October 5, 2003, we have established the Neil Postman Award for Metaphor. The motivation for the award is simple and two-fold: To reward a given writer for his or her use of metaphor, and to celebrate (and hopefully propagate) Postman’s work and the typographical mind.
Each spring the editors will choose one poem from all of the submissions received by Rattle during the previous year. The author of the chosen poem will receive $500. There are no entry fees or special submission guidelines. Send up to 5 unpublished poems plus a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) to: Rattle, 12411 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, CA 91604. To browse previous winners, and for information on how to submit electronically, visit our website: http://www.rattle.com/poetry/extras/postman/
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Nonfiction Book Awards
Welcome to the NEW Nonfiction Book Awards! As an extension of the Nonfiction Authors Association, we are committed to honoring excellence in nonfiction books and welcome submissions by self-published and traditionally published authors alike, in both print and ebook formats. Publishers are also welcome to submit books for award consideration.
– See more at: http://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/nonfiction-book-awards/#sthash.H0SVcAFl.dpuf
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The Thistle Dew Theatre & KTDT Dramady seeks plays for Stage and Radio
http://thistledewtheatre.blogspot.com/
Call for play submissions: monologues, short plays, one act or full-length plays for stage and radio.
Monthly themed monologues and short plays needed. On-going, no submission fee, no deadline. This is a competition with one winner per production: $25.00.
Continuing call: No fees… no deadlines….
Tales/Lies for THE LIAR’S LAIR
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Zone 3 Nonfiction Award
Zone 3 is accepting submissions for its nonfiction contest. For online submissions, click here to complete the submission manager form, choose “Zone 3 Nonfiction Award” for your genre, and upload your essay. You will be directed to another webpage for secure payment. For paper submissions, submit one essay with SASE and $10 entry fee to: Zone 3, APSU, P.O. Box 4565, Clarksville, TN 37044. No deadline. All entrants will receive a one-year subscription. The winner will be announced on our website. Prize: $250 and publication. For details, visit http://www.apsu.edu/zone3/contests
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Zone 3 Fiction Award
Zone 3 is now accepting submissions for its twelfth annual fiction award. For online submissions, click here to complete the submission manager form, choose “Zone 3 Fiction Award” for your genre, and upload your story. You will be directed to another webpage for secure payment. For paper submissions, submit one story with SASE and $10 entry fee to: Zone 3, APSU, P.O. Box 4565, Clarksville, TN 37044. No deadline. All entrants will receive a one-year subscription to Zone 3. The winner will be announced on our website. Prize: $250 and publication. For details, visit http://www.apsu.edu/zone3/contests
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Zone 3 Poetry Award
Zone 3 is now accepting submissions for its annual poetry award. Submit up to three poems via our online submissions manager. Click here to log in and upload your poems; choose “Zone 3 Poetry Award” for your genre. You will be directed to another webpage for secure payment. No deadline. All entrants will receive a one-year subscription to Zone 3. The winner will be announced on our website. Prize: $250 and publication. For details, visit http://www.apsu.edu/zone3/contests
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Wielding Power Essay Writing Contests
Prizes
Winner- The winner will have their answer published, receive ten free copies of the issue (pdfs), and $1000. There will be one winner.
Finalists- The finalists will be published and receive ten free copies of the issue (pdfs). There will be two finalists.
Who May Submit
Submissions are open to all US and Canada residents (except Quebec) above the age of 18. Submission is free. You may submit up to 10 entries per question. Submissions cannot be the work of multiple authors.
How and What to Submit
IMPORTANT: failure to adhere to the following may result in disqualification. See Official Rules for complete details.
- All entries should be between 500 and 2000 words.
- To ease reading and ensure uniformity of entries- please format your answer in 12pt Times New Roman, double spaced.
- Please send your entries as a Microsoft Word or Google Document attachment to submit@wieldingpowerpublishing.com
For more information, visit http://www.wieldingpowerpublishing.com/submit/
Ongoing deadlines.
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The People’s Book Awards
Welcome to the people’s Book Awards where anyone can nominate or vote for titles available on the *Amazon sites worldwide, or support those important people who provide services to authors. Monthly winners.
The monthly and annual voting closes at 17:00 hours British Standard Time on the last day of each month and the votes of non-winning titles are carried forward, except in December. Monthly winning titles are taken out of the competition and will be returned in December if confirmed as a nomination for the Annual Awards by a direct message (DM) on Twitter or email to winner@thebookawards.com. Each year the voting closes on December 31st following the Annual Awards and all votes are returned to zero for the coming year.
To learn more, visit http://thebookawards.com/awards/
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Ekphrasis Prize for Poetry
Ekphrasis is a poetry journal looking for well-crafted poems, the main content of which addresses individual works from any artistic genre. Please identify the specific work that is the focus of your poem. Acceptable ekphrastic verse transcends mere description: it stands as transformative critical statement, an original gloss on the individual art piece it addresses.
All poems published in Ekphrasis within a given calendar year will be considered for the Ekphrasis Prize for Poetry.
The winning poem will be selected by the editors of Ekphrasis.
No entry fees are required and there is no self-nomination procedure for the prize.
For submission guidelines, visit http://www.ekphrasisjournal.com/home
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Diana Woods Memorial (DWM) Award
Creative nonfiction authors are invited to submit an essay of up to 5,000 words on the subject of their choice to be considered for the Diana Woods Memorial (DWM) Award in creative nonfiction. Winners will receive $250 and their work will be featured in the next issue of Lunch Ticket. Each award recipient must submit a 100-word biography, current photo, and send a brief note of thanks to the Woods’ family.
For more details and to submit, visit http://lunchticket.org/the-diana-woods-memorial-award/
The reading period for the award will be the month of February for the issue that publishes in June, and the month of August for the issue that publishes in December. Please note that previously published work will not be accepted.
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L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest
- Entrants retain all publication rights
- No entry fee is required
- All awards are adjudicated by professional writers only
- Prizes every three months: $1,000, $750, $500
- Annual grand prize: $5,000 additional!
- Opportunity for new and amateur writers of new short stories or novelettes of sf or fantasy
There shall be three cash prizes in each quarter: a First Prize of $1,000, a Second Prize of $750, and a Third Prize of $500, in US dollars. In addition, at the end of the year the winners will have their entries rejudged, and a Grand Prize winner shall be determined and receive an additional $5,000. All winners will also receive trophies.
The Contest has four quarters, beginning on October 1, January 1, April 1 and July 1. The year will end on September 30. To be eligible for judging in its quarter, an entry must be postmarked or received electronically no later than midnight on the last day of the quarter. (Deadlines: December 31, March 31, June 30, September 30). Late entries will be included in the following quarter and the Contest Administration will so notify the entrant.
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events & workshops
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The Script Lab Screenwriting Virtual Summit
August 26-27, 2017
The Script Lab is launching the first ever Screenwriting Virtual Summit – a FREE weekend of lectures and interviews with Oscar-winning filmmakers and Emmy-winning TV writers! And best of all, it’s FREE to register for two days of access to this amazing content!
For more details, please visit https://summit.thescriptlab.com/
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2017 San Francisco Writing for Change Conference
September 9th at the Unitarian Universalist Center, San Francisco, CA. This full-day event is for all writers who write to change the world.
Online registration is now open. http://sfwritingforchange.org/
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The 2017 Writer’s Digest Novel Writing Conference
3 days of learning. 4 tracks to explore.
Nearly 100 years of experience.
October 27-29, 2017 in Pasadena, CA
The Writer’s Digest Novel Writing Conference—the only conference focused solely on the novel—returns to the West Coast this fall!
Many of publishing’s most respected and knowledgeable writers, agents, and editors will be on hand to guide you. Hone your craft skills, refine your characters, explore the future of publishing, and get the tools you need to advance your career as a writer.
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The Independent Authors Conference
The 2017 BookBaby Independent Authors Conference is taking place November 3rd-5th, 2017 in the Sonesta hotel in the heart of downtown Philadelphia.
Registration is $149 – Register Now before rates rise in October!
The Independent Authors Conference is a skills-building educational weekend event for 500 independent authors. Our goal is to bring together bright minds to lead sessions that will improve skills, foster learning, and inspire creativity.
Our purpose is to give independent authors the practical skills they need to publish and market their books and manage careers as independent authors.
There will be two tracks – publishing and marketing, plus keynote presentations, panel discussions, and workshops.
For more details, please visit https://sites.grenadine.co/sites/rps/en/bookbaby
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Wild Writers Festival
Waterloo, Ontario
$135.00
The New Quarterly is proud to present the sixth annual Wild Writers Literary Festival on November 3-5th, 2017. Join us for a celebration of the savage and free and its expression in poetry, the short story, and everything in between. Create, learn, discover and share the art of ground-breaking writing.
INDIVIDUAL TICKET SALES WILL OPEN AT 12 NOON on SEPTEMBER 15, 2017. Tickets available at the door unless otherwise noted.
For more details, please visit https://tnq.ca/product/wild-writers-festival/
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The 15th SAN FRANCISCO WRITERS CONFERENCE
FEBRUARY 15-18, 2018 at the Mark Hopkins Hotel
The San Francisco Writers Conference is on President’s Day Weekend next year—February 15-18 on your calendar and register as soon as possible. As you know, the SFWC sells out every year so it is never too early to register and save your seat. CLICK HERE to register now.
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