Race to win with these spring writing contests

 As promised, here's a slew of new contests to get our writerly juices flowing!

Now--February 28: From across the pond, Flash 500 supports a number of writing contests. Its annual short story competition closes the last day of February -- remember the time difference if you enter this. The site also hosts a flash fiction contest which repeats quarterly, beginning March 31, and an annual novel writing contest which closes October 31. Cash prizes for winners. See the site for details, entry fees and optional critiques. 

Now--March 3: At least, that's the early pricing deadline for the Book Pipeline Unpublished and Adaptation contests in several fiction and nonfiction categories. Cash prizes for winners in each category, chances for industry circulation, and more. Fee: $45 for early entries (March 3); additional deadlines are May 20, September 22, and October 15, with increasing fees. Winners announced December 1, 2026.

March 1--March 15 (early bird): Fees for the Pulp Literature Magpie Awards are $25 for first entry, $10 for each subsequent entry. Fees for entries after March 15 through the drop-dead deadline of April 15 are $35 for first entry, $25 for each subsequent entry. But note, the number of allowed entries is limited to 500. So, the early bird . . . you know. Cash prizes for winner and two runners-up. All entrants gain a one-year digital subscription to Pulp Fiction. See the site for details.

 Now--April 1 (early bird): The early bird fee for entry in Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Competition is $100 for first entry, $85 for each additional entry. Fees increase for entries up to the final deadline of May 1. See the site for details and formatting.

Now--May 4 (early bird): And now for the most popular of Writer's Digest contests, the Annual Writing Competition, including poetry and several other writing genres. For poetry: early bird fee is $20 for first entry, $15 for each additional entry, with fees increasing slightly through the final deadline of June 1. Fees for manuscript entries are $30 for first entry, $25 for each additional for early birds, increasing until the June 1 entry deadline. Again, see the site for full details.

Image by Oleksandr Pyrohov for Pixabay

Want more contests? Of course we do! Their deadlines keep us on our writing toes. Check out offerings from the likes of Reedsy,  New Pages, and Erica Verrillo's blog, Publishing And Other Forms of Insanity

Did some old favorites seem left out? The Writer's League of Texas manuscript contest isn't available yet--it normally opens in March. I'll update here as new information becomes available or check the site for details.

Dallas-based Carve Magazine is currently on hiatus. 

And one of my favorite contest sites, the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest has closed permanently after more than 40 years of delighting us with its takes on what was possibly the worst opening sentence in all of English literature. Farewell, dark and stormy nights!

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Still to come--a set of new posts I'm calling Texas Writer Smackdowns, pitting classic Texas writers against modern contenders in the same genres. Some of these will surprise you!

First things first – our story’s opening sentence

An email about Thrillerfest’s “best first sentence” contest reminded me it’s been way too long since I posted about opening sentences. Fortunately, Reedsy’s “First Line Frenzy” event with editor Rebecca Heyman was coming up. I sent in one of my opening sentences. So did more than 2,000 other writers worldwide, over a range of genres. Although Heyman had time to deal with fewer than 30, the results were instructive.

What did she like?

n  Pertinent details. (But see the caution below about getting to the heart of the character.)

n  Short and punchy (although she made exceptions).

n  Funny and intriguing. (For which she could forgive a writer whose sentence otherwise got a little “weird.”)

n  Something out of the ordinary. Regarding a sentence that basically started with a character opening his mail – “find something more interesting that’s going on here.”

n  Solid analogies.

What didn’t she like?

n  Starting with the word “it.”

n  Too many questions, not enough details.

n  Grammar problems. Watch the order of clauses. And mind the punctuation. Opening sentences probably don’t have enough going on to warrant the use of semi-colons. (Also see Heyman’s warning about run-on sentences below.)

n  Word use. Watch out for articles such as “the” and “a” which Heyman called “pointing” words.  and “a” Also word endings – a sentence full of verbs ending in “-ing” got a knock.

n  Run-on sentences. (By which she meant “run-on” in the traditional sense of splicing multiple sentences together without punctuation. Not exactly the “just too long” sense in which some of us use the term, which also veers into dangerous territory.) “Way too many ideas” packed into a single (more or less) sentence – “just tell us the one important thing. You have to get our attention with a unified notion.”

n   Info dumps. “It’s not necessary to teach with a heavy hand. . . Show us the danger, don’t tell us it exists.”

n  Outward description that doesn’t get to the heart of the character. “I’d like to be more inside (the character’s experience instead of surface details.”

What was iffy?

n  Starting with dialogue. But there were exceptions. “I usually discourage starting with dialogue without context but (one can be) an interesting enough snippet that I’m not bored with it.” (Proceed with caution!)

n  Word repetition, such as the “week/weekly” in one example.

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I also unearthed some basic no-nos for opening sentences, courtesy of North Texas science fiction/fantasy writer Alex Martinez, from a previous year’s Roanoke, Texas, writers’ conference. At that point, Martinez had nearly a dozen published books (probably many more by now!), and years of participating in writing critique groups. “I’ve heard a billion chapters, including plenty that make the same mistakes over and over.”

The easiest things to fix are the cliched openings, for which Martinez’s list of don’ts includes:

n  Don’t start with descriptions of weather (goodbye, dark and stormy nights!).

n  Don’t start with a character waking up.

n  Don’t start with a character looking in a mirror.

n  Don’t start with a dream sequence.

“Well, maybe you can have one of the dreaded cliché openings,” he admitted, “but they have to be really exciting.” On the other hand, he noted, “agents and editors know that first sentences are the easiest things to fix. . . Just try not to have typos in your first sentence.”

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I’ll conclude with some winners from Thrillerfest’s 2020 best first sentence contests for inspiration. I wonder which of these would have made editor Heyman’s thumbs-up list.

n  If there is a special place in hell for particularly heinous acts, I will be going there because I just bounced a blind man off my front bumper.

n  “Ten thousand bodies lie under the New Orleans sidewalks,” the tour guide told his group in a sepulchral tone, as he did every night below my Bourbon Street balcony.

n  She swore she’d never turn into her PI father. . . but that was before she ran over the body.

n  I wrote my first obituary when I was twelve.

And my personal favorite:

n  Dorie told the truth on the installment plan.

Happy writing! And if you should find yourself itching to try your luck with Thrillerfest’s contest, get a move on – it closes tomorrow, June 15!

Sharpen your pens for a new year of contests

So much stuff to write about for 2020 – writing classes, literary conferences, reading challenges – but most of all, writing contests! Here’s a sample, starting with the most urgent.

January 13: Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition is for writings of 1,500 words or fewer. Among the prizes – cash, a trip to New York City for the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference, and an interview for a feature article in the WD magazine. Fees: first entry, $30, additional entries $25 each. 

January 15 – February 29: From the indefatigable contest source, Arthur Klepchukov comes a list of winter writing contests he promises are worth our time! Some deadlines have passed, but for those of us still shaking off the holiday grog, Klepchukov extends his list through February. See the site for various contests, prizes and fees.

Yerson Retamal for Pixabay

January 31: Book Pipeline’s Unpublished Contest. Book Pipeline has added new contests to its lineup, including this for unpublished manuscripts in the genres of YA  (young adult), science fiction/fantasy, mystery/thriller, literary,  outsider/experimental and nonfiction. Cash prizes for winners plus possibilities for circulation to publishing professionals. I’ve received helpful feedback in the past from the Pipeline’s reviewers. Fee: $25. 

January 31: From New Pages comes The Screwturn  Supernatural Flash Fiction competition for stories up to 1,000 words. Cash prizes and anthology publication. Fee: $10. 

February 15: Also new to the Book Pipeline contest lineup is its Adaptation Contest. This one is for books, graphic novels and short stories previously published (including self-publication), and published or produced stage plays, suitable for adaptation to film or TV. Fee: $45. 

February 28: That’s the deadline for the current WOW! Women on Writing Quarterly Flash Fiction contest. 250-750 word limit. Fee: $10 (Or $20 for those who want a critique). This came from the genre-oriented site, Ralan.com. Follow the “contest” link for more options.

March 10: Yippee! The Writers’ League of Texas 2020 Manuscript Contest has a new and later deadline! Take a breather from earlier contests to polish manuscripts in a variety of fiction and nonfiction genres as well as middle grade and young adult manuscripts. Winners in each category receive free entry to the League’s June 26-28, 2020 Agents & Editors Conference (valued at $400) and a consultation with the literary agent who judged the category. Fee: $55 for WLT members, $65 for nonmembers (includes a written critique), $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers who choose to forego feedback. See the site for details.

Still crazy for contests? In addition to the sources already mentioned, try Reedsy and new-to-me site Published to Death by writer/PEN member Erica Verrillo.

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Still to come – classes to start or polish your writing craft, and of course, literary conferences.

Book reviews aren't scary! How to find & write them

A recent online writing critique session turned into a discussion of book reviews – how to get books reviewed as well as how to cope with reviewers when we do find them. It reminded me that I haven’t blogged about the how-tos of book reviewing recently, or mentioned one of the most helpful sites I’ve found for locating reviewers.

The most promising site by far for fiction -- Reedsy’s annually-updated list of book bloggers. Reedsy promises it to be a “vetted catalogue of active book blogs and thoughtful, quality book reviewers.” Search it by genre, by friendliness toward indie-published books, by average traffic, domain authority, and more. 

If you are a book blogger who would like to apply for inclusion in the catalogue, you can do that at the site as well.

For authors who long to see their reviews on paper, please understand that large metropolitan newspapers like The Dallas Morning News in my city, are tough places for book reviews. According to a former book page staff writer at the DMN, it receives several hundred books weekly from authors, but publishes at most only five. 

For a comprehensive list of newspapers and magazines that publish book reviews, check New Pages. And consider contacting smaller papers. A hometown, county or regional paper might be a good fit. Your local library may be able to make suggestions.

And speaking of regional publications -- for Texas writers – or authors of books with special appeal for Texas – I recommend Lone Star Literary Life. Check the site for what LSLL does – and doesn’t accept. Still, with limited time and space, it can’t publish free reviews of every acceptable book with a Texas focus. In that case, writers may opt to buy a review ($249 for fiction, $279 for nonfiction). Again, check the site for terms and conditions. 

Not a Texan or writing a Texas-focused book? Check with local writing groups for other regional outlets for reviews. 

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image: pixabay

OK, so, you write? Consider writing book reviews. You already know it’s one of the best things you can do to promote your fellow writers. 

Book reviews had always seemed reminiscent of the essays I always dreaded writing in school. But after posting a few blog posts dealing with books to Goodreads and Amazon, I decided I had the whole book reviewing thing down cold. Unlike school, nobody grades the review writers, which removes a lot of pressure. It’s a matter of using the same basic formula we learned in school – tell people what you’re going to say, say it, and tell them what you said. 

However, for potential reviewers who want more structure, I like the online tips from the Writing Center at University of North Carolina’s College of Arts and Sciences:

•  Introduction (including the name of the author, title of book and main theme) – although as a fiction writer, I prefer starting with a “hook” in the opening paragraph, and including genre and intended age group (if relevant). 
• Summary of content (remembering not to reveal the ending!)
• Analysis and evaluation of the book
• Conclusion (restatement)

A few additional helpful suggestions from UNC as well as Writing-World.com: Review the book in front of you, not the book you wish the author had written. Be precise. Check to be sure statements you attribute to the book are accurate.

There’s also an entire cottage industry on the Internet about how to write reviews for Amazon, including on Amazon itself. The book itself has to be available on Amazon before the online giant will accept it. But as I can personally attest, contrary to popular belief, reviewers don’t have to buy the actual book from Amazon. Presumably Amazon considers even non-buyer reviews a service to its customers. 

Amazon also likes reviewers of any of its products (not limited to books) to indicate why they liked or disliked a particular one. And it has suggested lengths – 75-500 words. 

Having written all this, I admit that I also have some requirements for reviews. I receive far more requests for reviews than I can honor. As a general rule, I also do not review indie-published books. And I’m wary of reviewing the books of friends, who have probably had their fill of my critical comments long before publication!