Hot or cold, sunny or dry, no matter the seasons, there's aways time for writing that works out our story muscles. Here's a sampling of contests and submission openings hitting my inbox.
July 11: As mentioned in a previous post, this is the deadline for entries for the Writer's League of Texas manuscript contest. See the online form to submit approximately the first 10 pages (not more than 2,750 words) of a fiction or nonfiction manuscript in any of several genres. Writers do not need a completed manuscript but should also attach a synopsis describing the rest of the planned book.
Winners in all categories will meet virtually with a top literary agent (the final judge in their category) via Zoom. All entrants, winners or not, have the option of written feedback from an experienced editor.
Fees: For writers who request the written critique -- $75 for Writer's League members, $95 for nonmembers. For those not requesting a critique the fee is $35 for members, $75 for nonmembers.
See the site for online submission forms and additional information.
July 15-August 5: Wattpad's Watty Awards opens to stories in a variety of genres, written in either English, Spanish, Filipino or Portuguese. Stories must be complete, with word count of at least 50,000 (for English language entries) or 40,000 and marked "complete" for Spanish, Filipino and Portuguese entries.
Entrants must have a Wattpad account but there are no fees either for setting up the account or submitting stories. In fact, if a story posted at Wattpad meets the Watty requirements, it will automatically receive a designating banner.
The contest offers a variety of prizes, including $5,000 (USD) for grand prize winners in each of the four language categories. See the site for full details.
Now-July 31: Quarterly ezine New Myths is open to submissions. Editors try to balance issues between science fiction and fantasy, dark and light, serious and humorous, hard and soft science fiction, and longer and shorter works.
Submissions should be 10,000 words or less and previously unpublished. Pay for accepted stories: 3 cents/word with minimum of $50. See the site for details.
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| Image: Jill Wellington from Pixabay |
August 6: Also as mentioned previously, this is the deadline to submit manuscript entries for the horror/fantasy/sci-fi writing workshop of Austin's ArmadilloCon. Dates for the convention itself are September 12-14, but workshop participants need time to read their fellow writers' stories! As always, at Austin's Southpark Hotel, 4140 Governors Row.
See the general site for basics, then follow the link for entry fees for the entire event, including workshop, as well as detailed instructions for writers.
Now-December 14: Minotaur Books and Mystery Writers of America announce their Best First Crime Novel competitions. Open to writers who have never published a book-length work (although check special rules for self-published authors). The winner will be offered a publishing contract by Minotaur Books with a $10,000 advance.
Manuscripts should be original books not less than approximately 65,000 words. And of course, a murder or other serious crime should be at the heart of the story!
At the contest site, readers may notice that Minotaur's Malice Domestic award for best first traditional mystery went unclaimed in 2025. Wouldn't it be a shame for that prize to go unawarded again? See the contest site for specifics, which include mysteries on the cozy-ish side.
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Is there more? Of course!
Check out hundreds of possibilities at Reedsy and Contest Lists
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Happy writing!
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