Your Ultimate Guide to Writing Contests in 2018
Regardless where you are on your writing journey—from wannabe to bestseller—you can benefit from entering contests.
Why?
Because the right contest can tell you:
Where you stand
How you measure up against the competition
What you still need to learn
Not to mention, you could win prizes. :)
That’s why my team and I conducted extensive research to not only find free, high-quality writing contests, but to also give you the best chance to win.
(We’ll update this post frequently with new writing contest details.)
Free Writing Contests
53-Word Story Contest
Prize: Publication
Deadline: Frequent contests
Sponsor: Prime Number Magazine
Description: Each month Prime Number Magazine invites writers to submit a 53-word story based on a prompt.
The Crucible
Prize: $150 1st, $100 2nd
Deadline: TBD 2019
Sponsor: Barton College
Description: Crucible and the Barton College Department of English welcome all writers to submit original, unpublished poems and stories. Writers are limited to 5 poems and stories no longer than 8,000 words. Entries must not be entered in other competitions.
The Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans
Prize: $1,000 and publication in The Iowa Review
Deadline: TBD 2019
Sponsor: The Iowa Review
Description: Due to a donation from the family of veteran and antiwar author, Jeff Sharlet, The Iowa Review is able to hold The Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans. Note: Only U.S. military veterans and active duty personnel may submit writing in any genre about any topic.
St. Francis College Literary Prize
Prize: $50,000
Deadline: TBD 2019
Sponsor: St. Francis College
Description: For mid-career authors who have just published their 3rd, 4th, or 5th fiction book. Self-published books and English translations are also considered.
New Writers Awards
Prize: $500
Deadline: 7/25/18
Sponsor: Great Lakes Colleges Association
Description: Every year since 1970, the Association has honored newly published writers with an award for a first published volume of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. Note: Publishers (not the writers) are invited to submit works that “emphasize literary excellence.”
Young Lions Fiction Award
Prize: $10,000
Deadline: TBD 2019
Sponsor: New York Public Library
Description: Each Spring, the Library gives a writer 35 years old or younger $10,000 for a novel or a collection of short stories. This award seeks to encourage young and emerging writers of contemporary fiction.
The Iowa Short Fiction Award
Prize: Publication in the University of Iowa Press
Deadline: TBD 2019
Sponsor: University of Iowa Press
Description: Seeking 150-page (or longer) collections of fiction by writers who have not previously traditionally published a novel or fiction collection.
Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction
Prize: $15,000
Deadline: TBD 2019
Sponsor: Pen/Faulkner
Description: Mary Lee established the Award in 1980 to recognize excellent literary fiction. It accepts published books and is peer-juried. The winner is honored as “first among equals.”
Friends of American Writers Literary Award
Prize: Up to $4,000
Deadline: TBD 2019
Sponsor: Friends of American Writers Chicago
Description: Current or former residents of the American Midwest (or authors whose book takes place in the Midwest) are invited to submit to the FAW Literary Award. Published novels or non-fiction books are welcome.
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Prize: $10,000
Deadline: 12/31/18
Sponsor: Cleveland Foundation
Description: The Award seeks fiction, poetry, and nonfiction books published the previous year “that contribute to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of cultural diversity.” Self-published work not accepted.
Christopher Doheny Award
Prize: $10,000
Deadline: TBD 2018
Sponsor: The Center for Fiction
Description: Recognizes excellence in fiction or creative nonfiction on the topic of serious physical illness. The award is presented annually for a completed manuscript that has not yet been published. It was founded in honor of Audible employee Chris Doheny, a writer himself, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a baby and passed away on February 20, 2013. The winner of the award must demonstrate both high literary standards and a broad audience appeal while exploring the impact of illness on the patient, family and friends, and others.
Cabell First Novelist Award
Prize: $5,000
Deadline: TBD 2018
Sponsor: Virginia Commonwealth University
Description: Seeks to honor first-time novelists “who have navigated their way through the maze of imagination and delivered a great read.” Novels published the previous year are accepted.
The Gabo Prize
Prize: $200
Deadline: TBD
Sponsor: Lunch Ticket
Description: Awards translators and authors of multilingual texts (poetry and prose) with $200 and publication in Lunch Ticket.
Transitions Abroad Expatriate and Work Abroad Writing Contest
Prize: $500
Deadline: August 1, 2018
Sponsor: Transitions Abroad Publishing, Inc.
Description: Seeking inspiring articles or practical mini-guides that also provide in-depth descriptions of your experience moving, living, and working abroad (including teaching, internships, volunteering, short-term jobs, etc.).” Work should be between 1,200-3,000 words. All writers welcome.
Short Fiction Prize
Prize: $1,000
Deadline: June 1, 2018
Sponsor: Stoney Brook University
Description: Seeking short stories by undergraduates at American or Canadian colleges.
The Wallace Stegner Prize in Environmental Humanities
Prize: $5,000
Deadline: December 30, 2019
Sponsor: The University of Utah Press
Description: Wallace Stegner was a student of the American West, an environmental spokesman, and a creative writing teacher. In his memory, the University of Utah Press seeks book-length monographs in the field of environmental humanities. Projects focusing on the American West preferred.
Drue Heinz Literature Prize
Prize: $15,000
Deadline: June 30, 2018
Sponsor: University of Pittsburgh Press
Description: Seeks short fiction collections. Writers who have published a novel or a book-length collection of fiction with a traditional book publisher, or a minimum of three short stories or novellas in magazines or journals of national distribution are accepted.
Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence
Prize: $10,000
Deadline: August 15, 2018
Sponsor: Baton Rouge Area Foundation
Description: Honors novels and story collections by African American writers. Entries that will be published in 2018 are accepted.
Brooklyn Nonfiction Prize
Prize: $500
Deadline: TBD
Sponsor: Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival
Description: Showcases essays set in Brooklyn. Five authors will be asked to read their pieces at the Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival.
International Flash Fiction Competition
Prize: $20,000
Deadline: TBD
Sponsor: The César Egido Serrano Foundation
Description: With over 40,000 participants last year, this prize invites authors to submit flash fiction in Spanish, English, Arabic, and Hebrew.
David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction
Prize: $1,000
Deadline: 12/1/18
Sponsor: Langum Charitable Trust
Description: To make American history accessible to general educated readers, the Trust seeks American historical novels published in the previous year. Novels should take place in America before 1950 (split-time novels accepted). Novels set outside American but including American values and characters accepted (such as about the American military). Self-published novels not accepted.
Y. Boyd Literary Award
Prize: $5,000
Deadline: 12/1/18
Sponsor: American Library Association
Description: The Association seeks Military fiction published in the previous year. Children’s books not accepted—young adult and adult novels only.
Thomas and Lillie D. Chaffin Award
Prize: $1,000
Deadline: 12/1/18
Sponsor: Morehead State University
Description: Accepts outstanding books of all genres by Appalachian writers. Writers will have the opportunity to interact with students.
BCALA Literary Awards
Prize: $500
Deadline: TBD
Sponsor: Black Caucus of the American Library Association
Description: For literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books as well as first novels. Books written by African Americans and published the previous year accepted.
Desert Writers Award
Prize: $5,000
Deadline: 1/15/19
Sponsor: Ellen Meloy Fund
Description: Accepts proposals for creative nonfiction about the desert that reflects the spirit and passions embodied in Ellen’s writing and her commitment to a “deep map of place.”
John Gardner Fiction Book Award
Prize: $1,000
Deadline: TBD
Sponsor: Binghamton University
Description: Seeks original novels or collections of fiction published the previous year.
Nelson Algren Short Story Award
Prize: $3,500
Deadline: TBD
Sponsor: Chicago Tribune
Description: Original, unpublished short stories under 8,000 words accepted for this award given in honor of the late Chicago writer.
Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize
Prize: $12,000 and publication
Deadline: TBD 2020
Sponsor: Graywolf Press
Description: Awarded to the most promising and innovative literary nonfiction project by a writer not yet established in the genre. Accepts memoirs, essays, biographies, histories, and more, but emphasizes innovation over straightforward memoirs.
New Voices Award
Prize: $2,000 and publication ($1,000 for the Honor Award winner)
Deadline: 8/31/18
Sponsor: Lee and Lowe Books
Description: Seeks a children’s picture book manuscript by a writer of color or a Native/Indigenous writer.” Only U.S. residents who have not previously published a children’s picture book are eligible. Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry accepted that addresses the needs of children of color and Native nations by providing stories with which they can identify and which promote a greater understanding of one another.” Work should be under 1,500 words.
St. Martin’s Minotaur / Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition
Prize: Publication and a $10,000 advance
Deadline: TBD 2019
Sponsor: Mystery Writers of America
Description: Seeks mysteries by writers who have never published a novel (not including self-publishing). Serious crime must be at the heart of the work.
Stowe Prize
Prize: $10,000
Deadline: TBD 2019
Sponsor: Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
Description: Named for the abolitionist and author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, recognizes a U.S. author whose work has made a tangible impact on a social justice issue critical to contemporary society. Can be for a single work or a body of work (fiction or nonfiction) within two years of submission.
Everything You Need to Know About Writing Contests: An Interview with Doc Hensley
To get you the complete lowdown on everything you need to know about writing contests, I consulted the ultimate expert.
Dr. Dennis Hensley is chairman of the Department of Professional Writing at Taylor University, Upland, Indiana.
It’s because of Doc that I unequivocally refer to Taylor as having the best university writer training program in the country, bar none. Ever since I heard him speak more than 30 years ago, I have never hosted a writers conference without inviting him to keynote and teach. Doc is always a favorite and never disappoints.
His students don’t just learn to write and sell and publish. They’re in the game every day, pushed to query and propose and market their work to real publications. So Doc isn’t preparing them to be professional writers when they graduate; he’s thrusting them into the action now.
Besides having students sell their writing, Doc pushes them into contests too. He’s turned out enough productive writers over the decades to tell me that what’s good for them has to be good for you and me.
So I asked him:
Why are you such a strong advocate of writing contests in 2018?
Contests force writers to hit deadlines. That means they have to finish, and finish on time. It’s hard to beat that kind of training.
If a writer wins or even places in the top three, it often means publication in a magazine or quarterly or journal. That’s fantastic exposure for any writer trying to build a platform—which means every writer.
How big a deal is winning, really?
Being able to list “contest winner” on your resumé impresses publishers and boosts your confidence. From then on, the covers of all your books can feature you as an award winner. The news can be publicized in your hometown paper, college alumni magazine, church newsletter, you name it—it garners notoriety. It can also help land radio and TV interviews.
How can a writer be sure a contest is legitimate?
Go to swfa.org, a free website that offers tips on how not to be cheated by scam artists who try to get you to pay for awards or charge editing fees to work on your manuscript. Any contest that charges anything is suspect.
What is meant by “blind” vs. “open” judging?
Blind judges don’t know the names of the writers they’re judging. In open judging, the bylines appear on the entries.
Doc, why are you willing to spend so much time judging writing submitted to contests?
Because it exposes me to such a wide range of topics and writers. For example, I judge a different category each year for one magazine contest. One year I may judge Editorials, so I analyze more than 50 of those. The next year I may judge Interviews, so I’ll read 50 interviews amazingly interesting people.
Reading widely like that keeps me on top of things and stimulates my own thinking as a writer. It also exposes me to many periodicals I might not normally come across. That’s good for me and for my students.
Also, besides just judging, many times I’m able to critique the submissions, providing guidance to writers who show potential but still need mentoring.
Also, I hope my credentials add credibility to worthy contests. Hopefully contestants gain confidence knowing that a judge has a degree in English and has himself written more than 60 books.
If a competitor doesn’t win a prize, should they regret having entered?
Not at all, because of some of the things I mentioned earlier. Entering requires hitting a deadline. It offers the chance at prizes and publication. And often it also offers a chance for feedback from the judge, which can prove helpful.
Any inside tips on how to win a writing contest?
Follow the guidelines precisely. Some require submissions by email and some hard copy. Some allow multiple submissions, while others limit it to one entry per person. Some are genre specific, others not. Some want your full name and address on the cover page, others want your name on a separate sheet.
Whatever the guidelines ask for, follow them exactly or your submission may be disqualified.
Proofread carefully. Nothing is more disappointing to a judge than an excellent story full of errors, evidencing a lack of professionalism.
Avoid gimmicks, such as five different fonts or colors or lace-edged paper. None of that impresses judges.
Don’t resubmit last year’s entry unless you significantly revised it.
Dr. Dennis E. Hensley is the author of eight writing textbooks, ten novels, and dozens of other books. He serves as a judge for the Christy Fiction Awards, the Christian Book Awards, and the Evangelical Press Association Awards. For ten years he also was a judge for the Jerry B. Jenkins Operation First Novel Contest.
What’s your favorite writing contest—and why? Tell me in the comments.
Related Posts:
How to Write a Book: Everything You Need to Know in 20 Steps
How to Write a Short Story That Captivates Your Reader
How to Overcome Writer’s Block Once and for All: My Surprising Solution
The post Your Ultimate Guide to Writing Contests in 2018 appeared first on Jerry Jenkins | Proven Writing Tips.
