Writing contest roundup – spring into a new season

How long as it been since I posted about writing contests? Well, that’s too long! In the press of other business, I’ve let some of these nearly get away. So, get a move on – I’m listing this potpourri of spring contests in order of urgency.

Now-April 14: WRiTE CLUB. I've posted before about this fun, free and totally anonymous writing contest from the brain of MG/YA writer DL Hammons but the deadline is coming up. It's a readers' choice contest, pitting pairs of writers – their work, that is – against each other. Each writer submits a sample – 500-word maximum. Or two. Slushpile readers (like me!) pick 30 starting contestants who advance round by round until a panel of publishing pros determine the final winner, to be announced at the DFW Writers Conference June 22-23. All genres of fiction, memoir, and poetry included. See DL's site for how-tos. 

Also, note – WRiTE CLUB’s final official Twitter party will be held tonight (April 11) from 6-7 p.m. CDT. Hear what slush pile readers (including me!) have to say, including, possibly answers to your most burning questions.

Now-April 15: Book Pipeline Fiction Competition . This contest seeks new works with potential for TV and film adaptation. Open to published or unpublished books, graphic novels or comics, short stories, and plays. No genre restrictions and judging is weighted between concept originality, marketability, and overall talent. Prizes include $5,000 to the winner, $500 to the runner-up, long-term circulation and promotion to producers, and more. Fee: $35. See the site for details. 

artist: Frederick Remington

Now – April 30: Glimmer Train New Writer & Family Matters contests. These are the final contests for this great story magazine whose last issue comes out this fall. If you've always wanted to add publication in this family-run journal to your resume, time is running out. As always, the rewards are tempting – $2,500 for first place winners in each category, lesser cash or possibility of publication for second and third place winners. The New Writer contest is limited to emerging writers. Family Matters contest welcomes stories about families of all configurations. Word count in each contest is 400-12,000. Reading fee: $18. See the site for details. Stories will also be accepted for publication outside the contests through May 15.

Now – May 6: Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Contest. Lots of categories for short writing, including genre and literary fiction, memoirs/personal essays, articles, inspirational and poetry, theatrical and movie/TV scripts, and children’s/young adult fiction. Grand prize winner receives $5,000 cash plus promotional aids. First place winners in each category take home $1,000, second place winners $500. May 6 is the early-bird deadline, with discounted fees of $20 for first poetry entry ($15 for additional poetry entries), and $30 for first prose entry ($25 for additional prose entries). After May 6 through the final deadline June Final deadline: June 3, fees in each category increase by $5. 

Now – May 15: Raymond Carver Short Story Contest. The annual competition of Carve magazine (www.carvezine.com) seeks literary short stories (up to 10,000-word maximum). This year’s guest judge is prize-winning author Clair Fuller. The contest offers $2,500 in total prizes, publication in Carve’s October issue, and readings by three literary agents. Fee: $17/entry for online submissions, $15 for mailed submissions. 

Now – June 30: Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest. And now for something completely different – a contest inspired by the notorious opening sentence of Victorian novelist George Edward Bulwer-Lytton, "It was a dark and stormy night. . ." and continuing for some 50 additional words and almost every conceivable punctual mark. No cost and virtually no prize except "bragging rights," the site proudly proclaims. Entries in a multitude of categories must be an original, previously unpublished single sentence of any length (although judges who beg for mercy strongly suggest not exceeding 50-60 words). See the site for additional rules, inspiring examples from past winners, and entry form.

June 6: #PitMad (https://pitchwars.org). The pitch party on Twitter where writers tweet 280-character pitches for their completed, polished but unpublished manuscripts to agents and editors. (Subsequent #PitMads on September 5 and December 5 this year).  

Still crazy for contests? As always, check out the listings in New Pages and Ralan.com, which may be perused at no cost.

Trick or treat! A long fall of autumn writing contests

Writing contests are piling up like the leaves of a long, slow Texas autumn, which may linger into December. Or it may be blasted by a blue norther, which can roar through as early as Halloween, so don’t wait too long. I’m listing a sampling of opportunities by order of urgency. Some readers complain about contest fees, but please note that these help fund cash awards to winners as well as administrative costs of the contests.

image: pixabay

Now – October 22: Feed Your Monster’s Halloween Writing Contest challenges writers to a terrifying 1,000-word or less trick. Sweeten it with humor that leaves a sour aftertaste, and you would be treated to a £10 prize, publication in the site’s 2017 Halloween podcast, and more. Your first entry is free, the second costs you £0.5 pound. Limit, two entries per person. (Remember, Paypal is always happy to convert your currency.) See the site for details. 

(Did you like that monster contest? It’s new at Ralan.com, the free genre-friendly writing clearinghouse.)

Now – October 24: Writers Guild of Texas has announced its third annual Flash Fiction Contest for short stories from 300-1,000 words. Contestants may submit up to three entries at writersguildtexas@gmail.com/ (only one entry per email, please). Submissions are free for WGT members, $25/entry for nonmembers. But since WGT’s annual membership fee is only $25, why not join, effectively giving yourself additional contest entries free? Cash prizes and publication in the WGT newsletter and website for first, second, third and honorable mention winners. See the site for additional details.

Now – October 31: WOW! Women on Writing adds a new contest for creative nonfiction essays. Word count – 200-1,000. Cash prizes, publication and blog interview for first three winners, gift certificates and publication for seven runners-up, even publicity for 10 honorable mention winners. Fee: $12, or purchase a critique for an additional $13. You don’t have to be a woman to enter, but entries should be aimed at women readers. See the site for details and information about WOW’s short fiction contest. (Or check WOW!s listing below.)

Now – October 31: Glimmer Train magazine’s Short Story Award for Emerging Writers. All genre categories welcome, but this contest is limited to writers whose work has not been published in any print journal with a circulation of more than 5,000. (The entries themselves must never have appeared in any print publication. However, online publications don’t tell against the writer or the entry.) Cash prizes, publication for first place winner, and optional publication for second and third place winners. Fee: $18. Although October 31 is the “official” deadline, as always, Glimmer Train allows a one-week grace period. See the site for details.

Now – November 15: Writer’s Digest seeks high impact, low word-count genre stories for its Popular Fiction Awards program. Cash prizes plus perks for the winners. Fees are $20 for early-bird entries through October 16, $25 for first entry, $20 for additional entries through the drop-dead deadline of November 15. See the site or details.

Now – November 15: Carve Magazine’s Prose & Poetry Contest, for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. This highly-regarded (and Texas-based) literary magazine offers $1,000 cash prizes and publication in its Spring 2018 issue for winners in each of the genres. Fees: $17 for fiction and nonfiction, $12 for poetry entries. 

Now -- November 30: WOW! Women on Writing's flash fiction contest is limited to 300 entries, so don’t delay. (The site’s Paypal button will be disabled when the magic number is reached.) Fee: $10, or add another $10 to request a critique. As mentioned above, you don’t have to be female to enter. 

These WOW! contests were also gleaned from Ralan.com. If you’re stiff miffed (or even if you’re not) by Duotrope Digest’s move to paid subscriptions, check out Ralan’s always-free listings.

Stuff I’m keeping an eye on: By my calendar, it’s nearly time for the Writers League of Texas to announce its annual manuscript contests. And for the Historical Novel Society to announce the opening of its 2017 short story award and 2017/2018 new novel award. I’ll post as soon as information appears on any of these. 

Also, DL Hammons assures me that his wild-popular, readers’ choice WRiTE Club contest will reappear sometime in 2018. Again, stay tuned. 

***

UPDATE: As promised, the Writers' League of Texas 2018 manuscript contest is currently open, and even sweeter than ever. Ten winners receive free registration to the WLT's 2018 Agents & Editors Conference to meet an agent as well as the final judge in their category. See www.writersleague.org/109/Manuscript-Contest for details. And if you published a book this year, check out the book award contest.

Am still awaiting word about the Historical Novel Society's 2017/2018 manuscript and short story contests, and about DL Hammons' WRiTE Club readers' choice contest.

Wordcraft -- Year end writing contests

Just when we’re revving up for National Novel Writing Month craziness (November 1-30), I’ve found a way to make things even crazier: totally unrelated writing contests.

I first thought somebody was joking when a couple of contest blurbs showed up in my email recently. Contests? This late in the year? Which started me on a hunt to see how many more I could find. The answer was¾ a surprisingly large number, which I’m listing in order of urgency. Contests, NaNoWriMo¾ do try to get a little sleep and maybe a meal or two somewhere in between it all.

October 31, 2014: The Red Line magazine’s deadline for its current bimonthly short story on the theme, “Sex.” No reading fee. For details see http://overtheredline.com/.

October 31, 2014: Glimmer Train’s Very Short Fiction Award. (Although the magazine’s site, www.glimmertrain.com/, notes that there’s always a one-week grace period for submissions.) Reading fee is $15 in this contest for stories up to 3,000 words. Upcoming deadlines for other Glimmer Train contests are November 30, 2014; January 2, 2015; January 31, 2015; and March 15, 2015. See the site for rules and reading fees for each.

November 1, 2014: The First Line Literary Magazine’s winter contest using the first line, “We went as far as the car would take us.” No fees. See http://thefirstline.com/submission.htm/ for details.

November 15, 2014: Narrative 30 Below Contest. Open to writers, poets, and other artists between 18 and 30 years of age. $22 reading entry fee. See www.narrativemagazine.com/30-below-2014 for details.

December 20, 2014: ConDFW XIV short story contest. Open to amateur writers only. No fee for attendees at this Dallas science fiction/fantasy convention, $5 for non-attendees. See www.condfw.org/about-the-convention/short-story-contest/ for details.

January 31, 2015: The Writers League of Texas manuscript contest. You don’t have to
live in Texas to enter. You don’t even need a completed manuscript, only the first ten pages of your novel and a synopsis. It could be from those NaNoWriMo manuscripts we’re poised to start, or from nonfiction or memoir manuscripts. Fee is $55 for WLOT members, $65 for nonmembers. Submit using the online entry form, available November 1, at
www.writersleague.org/109/Manuscript-Contest/.

January 31, 2015: Historical Novel Society Indie Award. Any genre of historical novels (pre-1965 setting) from all formats of self-publishing. No entry fee. See http://historicalnovelsociety.org “Awards” for more information. (Details of additional contests for historical short stories and unpublished novels still to come at the HNS site.)

Want more contests? Check out listings at these additional sites: www.freelancewriting.com/, www.be-a-better-writer.com/, and www.writersviews.com/.

A late addition hit my inbox: Houston Writers House contests for novels, creative nonfiction manuscripts, short stories and poetry. Novel submissions are $10 per entry, and require only the first 10 pages of the manuscript. Deadline is November 30 (so maybe if we finish NaNoWriMo early?) See www.americansocietyfreelancers.com/contests for details.

Wordcraft -- Resolution 3: Get out there!

Okay, you’ve written a story. Maybe several stories. And you think you’re ready to publish. Well, here’s my experience. I tried writing a novel (actually, a few novels), sent them to agents and got -- nothing. In those pre-online days, it seemed as if literary agents could have made a living from re-selling the stamps off my SASE’s.

So when a friend from a university novel writing course confessed she’s writing short stories now and asked whether I’d heard of Glimmer Train, I told her what I’m telling you. I have heard of the big contests; I’ve entered them; and I’m not trying to discourage anyone from going out for them.

But big publications and big contests receive many more stories than they can handle. Most entries get a form rejection at best or nothing at. In the meantime, smaller publications, less prestigious sites, and sites that don’t pay as much may be eager for your stories, or at least willing to provide valuable feedback.

Finding them isn’t as hard as you may think. By following resolution #1, you know what kinds of stories you write, that is, what genres you do best. Your writing group from resolution #2 has helped you work through a lot of basic craft issues. But ultimately, the only person who can tell whether your stories are publishable is a publisher.

A lot of you link to Duotrope’s Digest. Good for you. Duotrope can also search for the most accessible sites in given genres. I ran such a search, then researched the results again, looking for sites with credibility, the ones I’d be proud to have my work seen at.

I found The Lorelei Signal. It looked good. It showcased stories I respected. And its guiding light, Carol Hightshoe, published my first story, “Gift Cards of an Ex-Goddess.” It’s still one of my favorite publications.  The next reading period begins January 15, at http://www.loreleisignal.com/

Other small publishers have printed my stories, or even when they haven’t, they’ve made comments that enabled me to sell stories elsewhere. Stories such as “Shaman,” (rejected by Heroic Fantasy Quarterly but published by Short-story.me) ; or “The Gates of Shaizar,” (rejected for a Ricasso Press anthology but since accepted by both Pulp Empire and Abandoned Towers).

Just don’t aim too low. Sites that will accept everything don’t give you credibility. And sites you’re embarrassed to be seen at -- not worth it.

(Next Wednesday -- Resolution number 4: pay back by paying forward.)