Ditch the chill with these hot winter writing contests

Let's keep our writerly minds and fingers warmed up with this list of wintery writing contests! I love Texas contests but with so many online, we can write from anywhere in the world.

Now-January 31: WOW! -- that's Women on Writing -- offers two quarterly, repeating contests for short fiction and nonfiction essays. Closing for the current nonfiction contest is January 31, for the fiction contest February 28. See the site for fees, prizes and rules for both.

Now-February 2: The Masters Review is open to submissions of previously unpublished work for its Winter Short Story Award for New Writers, judged by best-selling author Bret Anthony Johnstone. The contest, for fiction and creative nonfiction up to 6,000 words, is open to any writer who has not published a novel or memoir with a major press. Cash prizes and online publication for all winning entries. All winners also receive review from several partnered literary agencies. Fee: $20.

Now-February 28: The Crime Writers Association has current contests open -- its Emerging Authors Dagger and its Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition .  

Both are open to anyone writing in English. The Emerging Author Dagger is for a crime novel opening (3,000 word maximum) and synopsis (1,500 word maximum) in any crime/mystery/thriller subgenre. Eligible writers must not have had a publishing contract for a full-length novel of any kind, and do not have a literary agent at the time the contest closes. Fee: £42, Cash prize. See the sites for additional details.

The Margery Allingham contest is for short stories up to 3,500 words. Among other criteria, they must meet Golden Age writer Allingham's definition of a mystery: "The Mystery remains box-shaped. . . Its four walls are, roughly, a Crime, a Mystery, an Enquiry and a Conclusion with an Element of Satisfaction in it." Cash prize. Fee: £18. 

Now-March 20: Book Pipeline's Unpublished Contest offers winners cash prizes in multiple fiction and nonfiction genres and circulation to publishing executives. March 20 is the early deadline, with $35 entry fee. Fees increase to $60 by the late entry date of September 5. See the site for details.

Image by Jon Hoefer from Pixabay

March 24-July 11: You don't have to live in Texas to enter the Writer's League of Texas Manuscript 2025 Contest. Although details are skimpy at this point, the contest allows writer in a variety of fiction and nonfiction genres to submit the first (approximately) 10 pages plus a synopsis of their work. No finished manuscript necessary! 

Winners in each category will meet virtually with a top literary agent (and the final judge in their category) via Zoom. All entrants, winners or not, may opt for feedback on their submissions from experienced editors. Check the site for details as they become available. Warning: the site currently is a bit confusion, since it starts by mentioning that the 2024 contest is closed. Just keep scrolling!

A few years ago, WLT changed its Agents & Editors conference from annual to biannual. Due to that change, 2025 will not see an in-person conference. But check out the WLT's online Agents Symposium, as listed in my previous post.

Now-May 1: Thrillerfest's Best First Sentence Contest returns. This is a pay for play event, as contestants must either be ITW members or registered for this year's Thrillerfest XX, June 17-21. Entries may be from the contestant's published or unpublished work. Winners receive a critique from one of the contest judges, who are the festival's 2025 master class teachers. See the site for details.

Now-May 5: Writer's Digest's writing competitions have so many categories, deadlines, and rules, it's condensed them into a pdf "2025 Competition Season Planner." Note that the deadline provided here is only the "early bird" deadline for the organization's poetry and manuscript entries. See the pdf at the site for additional deadlines for categories such as self-published books, personal essays and self-published e-books.

More ongoing contests:

Indefatigable site Reedsy lists more than 300 of what it deems the best writing contests in 2025. Lots of genres and prizes. Submission requirements vary. See the site for details.

Writer of the Future contests repeat quarterly. Open to new and amateur science fiction and fantasy writers. Cash prizes each quarter. No entry fee. See the site for details.

Writer/blogger Erica Verrillo's Publishing and other forms of insanity features lists of free contests monthly. Check the site for details.

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.

Weather frightful? Online classes & contests still delightful!

‘Tis the season – for ice, snow and crazy holiday traffic. Never mind, there’s plenty for writers to do during these wintry days. Instead of fighting the weather, try a sampling of contests – not to mention craft-sharpening online classes. (And wouldn’t they make great gifts for the fellow writers on your ‘nice’ list. . . )

I’ll start with contests, because they’re coming up as fast as blizzards on the prairie.

From Writer Unboxed blogger Arthur Klepchukov, check out the winter 2018 version of “Fiction Writing Contests Worth Your Time.” (Worried that 2018’s fast coming up in the rearview mirror? Klepchukov kindly includes contests through February 28, 2019.)

Yes, I’m behind on some of these (see my December 8 post for excuses), but these are currently open: Nowhere – Fall 2018 Travel Writing Contest, with a December 31, 2018, deadline. Fee: $20, cash prize and publication. International writers welcome! See the site for details.

Before Columbus Foundation – American Book Awards. No cash, but a chance to support a noble, inclusive cause. No fee, but you’ll have to submit two copies of the book to the foundation by December 31, so make tracks for the post office! See the site for details.

Boulevard – Short Fiction Contest for Emerging Writers, $16 entry fee, cash prize and publication in a prestigious journal. (And did I mention it’s emerging writer-friendly?)

And – final on Klepchukov’s list for December 31 – River Styx – 2019 Microfiction Contest. Entry fee: $10-$20, publication and cash awards.

mage: pixabay

Want more? Keep reading down Klepchukov’s list for January and February! Or take a look at these listings from New Pages including:   Tartt First Fiction Award for writers who have not yet published a full story collection. Deadline: December 31, 2018. Entry fee: $20. See the site for details.

StoryQuarterly Nonfiction Contest, with a January 12, 2019, deadline. Cash prize and publication. See the site for entry fee.

2019 Colorado Prize for Poetry, for book-length collections of poems. Cash and book publication. Reading fee $25 (plus $3 for online submissions). Due date: January 14, 2019.

Also from New Pages – Rattle Chapbook Prize, Palette Poetry Spotlight Award, Kenyon Review Inaugural Short Nonfiction Contest, and more. See the New Pages site for details.

Oh, you say, you’re more of a genre writer? Check out the contest listings at Ralan.com for horror, science fiction, fantasy and mystery.

Or the previously mentioned, but still open manuscript and book contests from the Writers’League of Texas for works in a variety of genres. There’s a January 31, 2019, deadline for the manuscript contest, which doesn’t even require a completed manuscript, only the first 10 (or so) pages plus a synopsis, and offers a chance to win entry to the League’s 2019 Agents and Editors Conference. Entry fee for the manuscript contest is $55 for WLT members, $65 for nonmembers (includes written critique). Or opt to skip the critique and pay only $25 for members, $35 for nonmembers. WLT’s book contest (for books published in 2018) closes February 28, 2019. See the site for rules for both book and manuscript contests.

And, sharpen your writing skills with online classes and seminars at the likes of the Writers’ League of Texas  (no state residency required!) and Writing Workshops Dallas.

You can attend in-person classes at both the WLT and Writing Workshops Dallas, but check out Writer Workshops Dallas’s array of 8-week long online classes beginning January 14, 2019, in personal essays, crime/suspense writing, kidlit and more at $495 for new students, $470 for returning students. (Writing Workshops Dallas also offers gift certificates, hint, hint.)

Not ready for an eight-week commitment? Try the WLT’s lineup of one-day (usually three-hour long) online classes for $49 for members/ $109 for nonmembers. And check out the limited time offer, four-class packages for $160!

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.