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Submit your contest for possible posting. But first, please read what we DON'T post. Then if your contest appears to meet our guidelines, submit your contest.
Most recently added contest(s) noted in pink -- Contests posted by deadline date.
Read "Writing Contest Cautions" by Dana K Cassell - click here.
Poetry: Taking Its Course - improve your poetry in 7 lessons -
Annual Writers-Editors International Writing Competition. Nonfiction (Previously Published and Unpublished); Fiction (Short Story and Novel Chapter); Children's Literature; Poetry. Awards: $100, $75, $50. Entry fee: $3–$20. Deadline: March 15, 2010. Click for Guidelines and Entry form
2010 Apex Awards for Publication Excellence. Communicators can choose from 127 different categories under 11 headings: newsletters; magazines and journals; magapapers and newspapers; annual reports; brochures, manuals and reports; electronic media and video; Web and intranet sites; campaigns, programs and plans; writing; design and illustration; and one-of-a-kind publications. Deadline: March 17, 2010. Info: www.ApexAwards.com.
Sentinel Literary Quarterly Poetry Competition - Poems on any subject, in English, 40 lines maximum. Awards: £100, £60, £40; publication in Sentinel Literary Quarterly. 15 poems from competition published in The Sentinel Champions Magazine in August. Entry fees: £3 per poem; £12 for 5 poems. Cheques in GB£ payable to Sentinel Poetry Movement. Deadline: March 25, 2010. Info: Unit 136, 113-115 George Lane, London E18 1AB; sentinelpoetry@gmail.com; www.sentinelpoetry.org.uk/slq/competitions/.
Sentinel Literary Quarterly Short Story Competition - Stories on any subject, in English, 1,500 words maximum. Awards: £100, £60, £40; publication in Sentinel Literary Quarterly. 4 stories from competition published in The Sentinel Champions Magazine in August. Entry fees: £5 per story, £9 for 2 stories; £12 for 3 stories. Cheques in GB£ payable to Sentinel Poetry Movement. Deadline: March 25, 2010. Info: Unit 136, 113-115 George Lane, London E18 1AB; sentinelpoetry@gmail.com; www.sentinelpoetry.org.uk/slq/competitions/.
Writecorner Press Annual Poetry Award. Poetry may be on any subject and in any style. Maximum lines: 40. Entry fee: $5 first poem, $3 each additional poem. Awards: $500, $100. Winners published on Web site. Deadline: postmark March 31, 2009. Info: www.writecorner.com/poetry_guidelines.asp.
Meridian Writing Spring Short Story Competition. Maximum 3,000 words, any theme/genre. Awards: £100, £50 & £25 plus firstwriter.com vouchers. Entry fee: £5 per story; extra for basic critique. Entries accepted online and via post. Deadline: March 31, 2010. Info: www.meridian-writing.co.uk.
Gemini Magazine Short Story Contest; no restrictions on content, style, genre or length. Awards: grand prize of $1,000; second place wins $100; plus three honorable mentions. All five finalists will be published in the May or June 2010 issue. Entry fee: $4. Deadline: March 31, 2010. Info: Contest, Gemini Magazine, PO Box 1485, Onset MA 02558; www.gemini-magazine.com/contest.html.
Writing Contest: How I Changed My Mindset Not My Man. Must be true. Length: Between 750 and 1500 words. Awards: $100, $75, $50. No entry fee stated. Deadline: March 31, 2010. Info: www.sallywatkins.net/contest.html; sally@sallywatkins.net; Sally Watkins, Contest, PO Box 1417, Orangevale CA 95662.
Sixth Borough Entertainment screenwriting competition - genre for the script is open. Awards: $1,000 and a $10,000+ offer for their script to be made into a 1 to 2 million dollar feature film. Entry fee: $40. Deadline: April 1, 2010. Info: www.sixthboroughscreenplay.com/index.php.
TreasureBoxTales Spring 2010 contest for short stories up to 1300 words describing your treasure and experience. Open to all ages. Awards: $500, $100, plus online publication. All entries will be considered for future print publication. Entry fee: $10. Deadline: April 13, 2010. Info: www.treasureboxtales.com.
GCWA's 22nd Annual "Let's Write" Literary & Photo Contest 2010. Maximum entry length: 36 lines (poetry), 2500 words (fiction and nonfiction). Two photography divisions: black and white, and color. All entries must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration for publication during this competition. Awards: $80, $50, $20 in each category. Entry fee: $8. Deadline: April 15, 2010. Info: Gulf Coast Writers Association, Let's Write Contest, PO Box 10294, Gulfport MS 39505; www.gcwriters.org/contest.html
Build Africa (Excel For Charity) Poetry Competition 2010 - Length: 40 lines. Awards: £150, £75, £35; publication in Excel for Charity Website. Associated anthology possible, subject to quality of entries. Entry fee: £3; £12 for 5 poem. Cheques in GB£ payable to Eastern Light EPM International. Deadline: April 25, 2010. Info: Unit 136, 113-115 George Lane, London E18 1AB; sentinelpoetry@gmail.com; www.sentinelpoetry.org.uk/slq/competitions/.
Aversion - Quarterly Horror and Speculative Fiction Writing Competition. Length: 1,500 to 5,000 words. Reprints accepted. Awards: £100, £50, £20, £5. Entry fee: £2.50. Deadlines: April 30, 2010; July 31, 2010; October 31, 2010; January 31, 2011. Info: http://aversion.serifweb.com.
The MAG Poetry Prize is a unique competition judged by the entrants themselves -- in three rounds. Participants may leave comments during the judging process. Awards: Prize fund is drawn from the entry fees and accumulates up to £10,000 maximum. All profits from the competition go to the humanitarian organization Mines Advisory Group to help with their work clearing minefields and other remnants of conflict. Entry fee £6. Deadline: April 30, 2010. Info: www.poeticrepublic.com.
Novel Beginnings 1st Chapter Contest. First chapter of a novel only. Limit 6,000 words or fewer. Free critique available upon request. Awards: $100, $50, $25. Entry fee: $10 per entry, limit 3 entries. Winner profiled, winning entry posted on Web site. Deadline: April 30, 2010. Info: www.thewritehelper.com.
The Motherhood Muse Spring and Fall contests - Two categories: Nonfiction essay and fiction short story; 500-1,200 words. Awards: $100, $50 each category and publication in our digital literary magazine. Entry fee: $10. Deadlines: May 1, 2010 and November 1, 2010. Info: www.themotherhoodmuse.com.
The Christmas Spirit book project (St. Martin's Press) seeks true stories that emphasize the significance of the Christmas season. Stories may run from 900 to 1,300 words. You may send an original or a reprint. Writers retain rights and those accepted will receive a $50 honorarium plus a copy of the book. Deadline: May 1, 2010. Info: www.christmasspiritbook.com.
28th annual writing contest sponsored by Southwest Writers (New Mexico) for original, unpublished manuscripts. Editors and agents select the top three entries in 14 categories including fiction and nonfiction books, articles, essays and poetry. Awards: Cash prizes of $150, $100, $50 in each category; plus a $1,000 storyteller award. Entry fees: $10-$20 Poetry; $20-$35 Other; additional for critiques. Postmark Deadline: May 1, 2010. Info: Categories, contest rules and entry form at http://southwestwriters.com/contestAnnual.php.
Leapfrog 2010 Fiction Contest – Adult fiction: literary novels, novellas, short story collections - minimum 22,000 words; Children's fiction: middle-grade and YA novels - minimum 20,000 words. No picture books. Award: A publication contract with advance for one book in each category. Finalists receive $150 plus a manuscript critique. Contest opens January 15, 2010. Entry fee: $30 for adult fiction; $20 for children's fiction. Deadline: May 1, 2010. Info: www.leapfrogpress.com.
79th Annual Writer's Digest Competition - 10 categories. Awards: Grand Prize is $3,000 cash and a trip to New York City to meet with editors or agents. Category prizes include $1,000, $500, $250, $100, $50, $25, books. Entry fee: Poems are $15 for the first entry; $10 for each additional poem submitted in the same online session. All other entries are $20 for the first manuscript; $15 for each additional manuscript submitted in the same online session. Deadline: May 14, 2010. Info: http://writersdigest.com/annual.
Ninth annual Lois Cranston Memorial Poetry Prize. Award: Publication plus $300. Entry Fee: $15 per entry (3 poems, 6 pages total). Deadline: Postmark May 31, 2010. Info: CALYX Inc., Lois Cranston Poetry Prize, PO Box B, Corvallis OR 97339; www.calyxpress.org.
Daily Bread Contest: Short Essays of Workplace Humor. We're looking for true-life tales about bizarre tasks, wacky work environments, and ludicrous predicaments you've gotten into while trying to earn a living. Original work only. Maximum length: 1,000 words. You may enter up to three essays. Awards: $200, $100, $50. Entry fee: $5 per essay. Deadine: June 1, 2010. Info: http://laughatlifebooks.blogspot.com.
Bellevue Literary Review's annual competition for Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry recognizes exceptional writing about health, healing, illness, the body, and the mind. Awards: $1000 each category. BLR acquires first-time North American rights. Entry fee: $15 ($20 includes subscription). Deadline: July 1, 2010. Info: www.BLReview.org; Bellevue Literary Review, NYU Department of Medicine, 550 First Avenue, OBV-A612, New York NY 10016.
Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest - Write a poem, 30 lines or fewer on any subject and/or Write a short story, 5 pages maximum on any theme, for a chance to win cash prizes. All works must be original. Awards: Poetry Contest: $250, $125, $50; Writing Contest: $500, $250, $100. Entry fees: $5 per poem, $10 per story. Postmark Deadline: July 31, 2010. Mail entries/fees to: Dream Quest One, PO Box 3141, Chicago IL 60654. Info: www.dreamquestone.com.
Second annual "Scare The Dickens Out of Us" ghost story contest sponsored by The Friends of the Dr. Eugene Clark Library in Lockhart, Texas. New, original ghost stories of any genre, any tone, any subject; 5,000 words or less. All publication rights remain with the author. Awards: $1,000, $500, $250. Entry fee: $20. Deadline: October 1, 2010. Info: www.clarklibraryfriends.org. Also, the Junior Scare The Dickens Out of Us ghost story contest shares identical rules except the entry fee is $5, the award is $250, and entrants must be age 12-18. Winners will have to provide proof of age.
Our Contest Posting Rules & Guidelines
We will NOT knowingly post or leave posted contests that retain all rights to either submitted or winning entries. Nor will we knowingly post contests that assume the right to publish all entries, either on the Web or in print, thereby costing the creators the ability to eventually sell first rights. Such contests are simply attempting to get free content or, even worse, are getting the writers to pay for their content. If winners only are posted or published, the writer can determine prior to entering whether or not the winning prize money is sufficient for transferring first or one-time rights.
Thus, we will not post contests where entries are posted for general judging by site visitors.
Similarly, we will not post contests where the entrants must post their entries on their own sites or blogs, or get them published on others' sites or blogs, with the intent of linking back to the sponsor's directed Web site or blog, and particularly using key words that will be of benefit to the sponsor. Our feeling is that if an author or Web site owner wishes to use others' material to drive traffic to them, or to rev up their ad click revenues, they should simply pay writers for their promotional or content writing.
Also, we do not post contests sponsored by book publishers that have entry or reading fees, with the reward being a published book and/or advance. Viable publishing houses treat manuscript reading and advances as costs of doing business, and do not charge authors for submissions.
We also do not knowingly post contests requesting material that is pornographic/erotic or promotes violence.
We do not post contests where the "prize money" is really a certificate or credit toward products or services that will cost the writer additional money in order to accept the prize.
We post literary contests that offer cash, publication, or book (or related) prizes, but not those where the prize is a house or other property. These contests are illegal in a number of locations.
We may post "Calls for Anthology Submissions" on our Contests page; however, we will not post anthology notices if (1) there is a submission fee required, (2) rights to *entries* are retained, or (3) rights to *winning entries* extend beyond one-time use in that anthology.
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