Contests

Writing contests provide steps up for a writer – especially a struggling writer. A portfolio that contains contest wins means more than many clips. Can’t afford the entry fees? Consider entering one contest a quarter or something more amiable to your pocketbook. A few are free. Contests provide prizes, prestige and usually publication with many offering book contracts. Denouncing contests from your writing repertoire is like discounting an entire genre or refusing to eat yellow vegetables. You’re giving up something valuable that may serve you and your career well.

NOTE: To have your group’s contest posted, email hope@chopeclark.com with the link to the contest. It must pay a minimum of a $200 first prize, not take all rights for entering, and charge an entry fee of five percent or less. 

WOW! FLASH FICTION CONTEST
https://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php
$10 ENTRY FEE. Deadline: May 31, 2025. Seeking flash fiction of any genre between 250 and 750 words. Open internationally. Limit: 300 entries. First Place: $400, publication, interview, and $25 Amazon Gift Certificate. Second Place $300 and same. Third Place $200 and same. Seven Runners Up receive $25 Amazon Gift Cards, publication and interview. Ten Honorable mentions receive $20 Amazon Gift Card. Top 10 stories are published in the WOW! Women On Writing e-zine, and contestants are interviewed on WOW’s blog, The Muffin.

WOW! CREATIVE NONFICTION ESSAY CONTEST
https://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php#EssayContest
$12 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 30, 2025. Seeking creative nonfiction on any topic (1000 words or less) and in any style–from personal essay and memoir to lyric essay and hermit crab, and more. The mission of this contest is to reward bravery in real-life storytelling and create an understanding of our world through thoughtful, engaging narratives. Open internationally. Limit 300 entries. Prizes (20 winners!). First Place: $500, publication, interview, and gift from CreateWriteNow’s Store. Second Place: $300, publication, interview, and CreateWriteNow’s Store. Third Place: $200, publication, interview, and CreateWriteNow’s Store. Seven Runners Up receive $25 Amazon Gift Cards, publication, interview, and CreateWriteNow’s Store. Ten Honorable mentions receive a gift code good for one item from CreateWriteNow’s Store.

READ MAGAZINE SHORT STORY CONTEST
https://readmagazine.substack.com/p/short-story-contest-2025-w-reading
$5 ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 31, 2025. First Prize: $200. Second Prize: $100. Third Prize: $50. READ is NOT a publication for genre fiction such as romance, mystery, or sci-fi that tightly adheres to genre tropes. We will consider genre fiction that is fresh, pushes boundaries, and can be appreciated by many readers. Submitters must be subscribed to the free version of READ to be considered for publication. Limit 3500 words.

BETTY L. YU AND JIN C. YU CREATIVE WRITING PRIZES
https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2025/03/2025-creative-writing-prize/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 18, 2025. Submissions will be considered in four categories: Middle School (enrolled in 6th-8th grade as of the deadline), High School (enrolled in high school as of the deadline), College (enrolled in community college or as an undergraduate as of the deadline), Adult (in any stage of life beyond college). Grand Prize Winner: $500 – one selection per age category. Finalist: $200 – three selections per age category. Honorable Mention: $75 – at judge’s discretion per age category. In addition, each of the winners and finalists will have their submitted work published online by TaiwaneseAmerican.org and considered for publication in a future edition of Chrysanthemum: Voices of the Taiwanese Diaspora. In order to be eligible, submissions must be from writers of Taiwanese heritage (or writers with other significant connections to Taiwan), or have subject matter otherwise relevant to the Taiwanese or Taiwanese American experience. (Thanks to www.erikadreifus.com)

THE LAUREL REVIEW PROUD TO BE: WRITING BY AMERICAN WARRIORS CONTEST
https://thelaurelreview.submittable.com/submit
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 26, 2025. Submission to this anthology is open to veterans, military-service personal, and their families. Poetry: up to 3 poems (5 pages maximum). Keep poems in one document. Short Fiction & Essay: 5,000-word limit. The annual contest awards a $250 prize in each: Short Fiction, Poetry, Essay, Photography. (Thanks to www.erikadreifus.com)

OMNIDAWN POETRY CONTESTS
https://www.omnidawn.com/contests/omnidawn-poetry-contests/
$14 ENTRY FEE FOR ONE POEM. Deadline April 16, 2025. The winner of each of Omnidawn’s poetry book and chapbook contests wins a cash prize ($3,000 for the 1st/2nd Book and Open Contest, $1,000 for the Chapbook Contest), publication of the book by Omnidawn with a full color cover (unless the author prefers black and white), 20 free copies of the winning book, and extensive publicity through our newsletters and social media channels.

NARATIVELY X BELLETRIST TRUE ROMANCE WRITING PRIZE
https://www.narratively.com/p/narratively-belletrist-true-romance-writing-prize
$10 and $20 ENTRY FEES. Deadline May 1, 2025. The Narratively x Belletrist True Romance Writing Prize will award remarkable memoir and reported stories, from love quadrangles, to lost-and-found soulmates, to unthinkable sacrifices and bizarre romantic connections that defy all odds. We’re seeking completely new perspectives that shift our understanding of romance and relationships and reignite our pride about being human in 2025. We’ll even be teaming up with actor Emma Roberts, acclaimed producer Karah Preiss, and their production company/book club, Belletrist to develop our favorite stories for the screen. Longform (1,000-5,000 words) – One grand prize: $3,000, two finalists: $1,000 each. Shortread (up to 999 words) – One grand prize: $500 and two finalists: $250 each.

INDIE AUTHOR PROJECT ANNUAL CONTEST
https://indieauthorproject.librariesshare.com/iap/
Deadline May 31, 2025. For authors, this contest is a powerful way to elevate your careers and writing goals, powered by the library community. The winners of this contest will receive: $2,500 to the 1st place winner and $500 each to two runner-ups in each genre; honors at the 2026 Indie Author Day Reception at ALA Annual; opportunities to promote your book(s) at public libraries; inclusion in a full-page print spread in Library Journal; and opportunities to earn royalties through the IAP Select collection (ePUB format required for eligibility). Must be indie published in Mystery/Thrillers, Romance, SciFi, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, General/Contemporary, Fiction, Memoir, or Young Adult. Author must live in the U.S. or Canada.

THE HOPE PRIZE
https://www.thehopeprize.com/
EARLY BIRD ENTRY FEE $20 AUD (approx. $13 USD / €12 EUR / £10 GBP etc.). Deadline October 31, 2025. (Opens, May 1, 2025.) The Hope Prize is an international writing competition open to writers worldwide aged 18 and over. We’re seeking powerful, original stories of hope, fiction or non-fiction, from both emerging and established voices. The winner will receive $10,000 AUD, and shortlisted stories will be published in a Simon & Schuster anthology, with royalties supporting our charity partner. This year, we’re proud to partner with CAMFED, a global leader in girls’ education and women’s empowerment across Africa. We offer a limited number of fee-free places for writers experiencing financial hardship. A maximum of 5,000 words (no minimum). The Hope Prize is a short story competition and we accept prose short stories only; either fiction or narrative nonfiction (including memoir). We do not accept poetry, essays, or academic writing. Genre, style, and subject matter are open (and we encourage bold self expression and boundary pushing), though stories should align with the core themes of hope, courage, and resilience, as personally experienced or imagined by you, the writer.

THE BEAUTIFUL PAUSE PRIZE
https://www.presspausepress.org/the-beautiful-pause-prize
$25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 1, 2025. A yearly prize of $1,000 and the print publication of a full-length manuscript awarded to a writer of exceptional talent and heart. One runner-up will receive $500 and publication of a series of poems in one of our biannual print volumes. Thirty poems minimum.

PAIRED FICTION AWARD
https://periscopeliterary.wordpress.com/
£16 ENTRY FEE. Deadline June 1, 2025. Theme: When The Smoke Clears. Limit 1000 words. First Prize £400. Open internationally. Writers must pair up on their own initiative with someone they know, or be bold and reach out to a person whose work they admire with a request for collaboration. For administrative purposes, we ask that you type: PERISCOPE PAIRS in the email subject line.

REEDSY WRITING PROMPT CONTEST
https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/
$5 ENTRY FEE. Deadline monthly. Reedsy challenges you to create a short story based on one of their prompts. The winner will be featured on Reedsy Prompts and receive $250 via PayPal. We’ll also consider your submission for a future print and digital issue of our lit mag, Prompted. Write a short story between 1,000 and 3,000 words, submit it from your Reedsy Prompts profile.

STORYHOUSE NONFICTION ANIMAL STORIES
https://www.storyhouse.org/contest2025.html
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 30, 2025. Stories should be factual and true accounts of an encounter or encounters by the author with a wild animal or animals. These include, but are not limited to, birds, fish, butterflies, snails, lions, bears, turtles, wombats, etc., as long as it is not a domesticated animal or a pet. Stories must be between 1000–5,000 words in length. There are no international limitations. Stories from any country are fine, although they must be written in English. Language in the stories should be free of words or scenes not suitable for children, since many children read the stories and some actually post their stories. One prize of $200 for the winner, $100 for the runner-up, and certificates of achievement for all finalists.

STORYHOUSE GENERAL NONFICTION STORIES
https://www.storyhouse.org/contest2025.html
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline June 30, 2025. Any appropriate nonfiction topic is eligible.  Stories must be true, not semi-fictional accounts.  So-called “creative nonfiction” will not be considered. Stories from any country are fine, although they must be written in English. Language in the stories should be free of words or scenes not suitable for children, since many children read the stories and some actually post their stories. One prize of $200 for the winner, $100 for the runner-up, and certificates of achievement for all finalists.

STORYHOUSE BIOGRAPHICAL NONFICTION CONTEST
https://www.storyhouse.org/contest2025.html
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 31, 2025. A biographical entry must be a true story of an individual(s) known to the author personally–not a fictional or historical character.  Autobiography, of course, must be a true story about the author’s life, the whole or an episode. Biographical stories, especially those from older people, or about them by children and grandchildren, are especially appropriate for our mission–to “preserve the extraordinary stories of ‘ordinary’ people.” Stories from any country are fine, although they must be written in English. Language in the stories should be free of words or scenes not suitable for children, since many children read the stories and some actually post their stories. One prize of $200 for the winner, $100 for the runner-up, and certificates of achievement for all finalists.

WATERSTON DESERT WRITING PRIZE
https://highdesertmuseum.org/waterston-prize/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 1, 2025. In 2025, the Prize will recognize the winner with a $3,000 cash award and a reading and reception at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon on September 25, 2025. Open to nonfiction writers who illustrate artistic excellence, sensitivity to place and desert literacy with the desert as both subject and setting. No more than 10 double-spaced pages in 12-point type and one-inch margins as a writing sample.

BLACK ORCHID NOVELLA AWARD
https://www.nerowolfe.org/htm/literary_awards/black_orchid_award/Black_Orchid_award_proc.htm#qualifications
Deadline May 31, 2025. Each entry must be an original unpublished work of fiction that conforms to the literary tradition of the Nero Wolfe series. The mystery should be “traditional” in flavor. The crime must be solved using the deductive abilities of the sleuth. No coincidences. The killer must be known to the victim. No random psycho shootings. The characters (male or female) must have an engaging relationship. There needs to be some wit. The timing could be retro or current. There should be no explicit sex or violence. Entries must be 15,000 to 20,000 words in length, and submitted by the deadline. The prize is $1,000 and publication in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.

OMNIDAWN POETRY BROADSIDE PRIZES
https://www.omnidawn.com/contests/omnidawn-poetry-contests/
$14 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 16, 2025. The winner of each of Omnidawn’s poetry book and chapbook contests wins $1,000, publication of the book by Omnidawn with a full color cover (unless the author prefers black and white), 20 free copies of the winning book, and extensive publicity through our newsletters and social media channels. There are no citizenship requirements or limitations.

F(R)ICTION SPRING WRITING CONTESTS
https://frictioncontests.submittable.com/submit
$10-$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline: May 2, 2025. Short stories: 1,001 – 7,500 words. Poetry: up the three pages per poem. Creative Nonfiction: up to 6,500 words. Flash fiction: up to 1,000 words per piece. We accept work, written in English, from anywhere in the world—regardless of genre, style, or origin—and welcome speculative writing and experimental literature. Writers over the age of thirteen are welcome to submit. Prizes range from $300 to $1,000, depending on the genre.

SANTA CLARA REVIEW FLASH FICTION AND FLASH CREATIVE NONFICTION CONTEST
https://santaclarareview.submittable.com/submit
$10 ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 2, 2025. The first prize winner will be awarded $200, the first runner-up will be awarded $100, and the second runner-up will be awarded $50. The contest winner will be published in the 2025 fall issue of the Santa Clara Review. All other work will be considered for publication. Limit 1000 words.

NAOMI SHIHAB NYE PRIZE
https://www.albustanseeds.org/naomi-shihab-nye-prize
$25 ENTRY FEE. Opens March 1. Deadline May 20, 2025. Open to Arab American and Arab Canadian writers to submit an English-language middle-grade manuscripts directed to readers ages 8–12. This competition, initiated by Barbara Nimri Aziz, serves to foster new talent and encourage all writers, emerging and established, to celebrate the richness of Arab creativity and their storytelling tradition. First prize: $1,000; second: $500. Minimum 200 pages.

RINKS AND ROMANCE WRITING CONTEST
https://www.inkitt.com/contests/rinks-and-romance-2025
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline June 30, 2025. Win a Galatea Publishing Contract and $300, a free year of Galatea Unlimited, an Inkitt VIP Badge, and a feature on our Instagram! Second place $150, third place $50. Both come with other perks. Share your most heartwarming or thrilling hockey romance and keep readers hooked. We encourage writers to submit original stories that blend the intensity of hockey with the depth of romance. Whether it’s a tale of forbidden love, second chances, or rivals-to-lovers, your story should bring the rink to life and captivate readers. Entering the contest is free; all you need to do is publish your book on Inkitt and submit it on the contest page or from the contest tab in your work settings.

ELECTRIC BOOK AWARD
https://altcurrentpress.com/submissions/
$18 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 30, 2025. Seeks book-length manuscripts of literary fiction, short stories, poetry, plays, novels, long novellas, creative nonfiction, literary memoir, essay collections, or hybrid. Winner receives $1,000, the Electric Book Award digital medallion, a certificate, and book publication on Alternating Current Press, which includes distribution through Ingram, Asterism, and all major online retailers.

OXFORD/42 NEW WRITING PRIZE
https://www.42mp.com/page/oxford-42-new-writing-prize
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 30, 2025. The Oxford/42 New Writing Prize is open to anyone aged 18 or over living, working or studying in the UK at the closing date for submissions. The winner will receive £1500 along with professional representation by 42. To enter the competition, you need to submit a synopsis (up to 300 words) and an elevator pitch of no more than two sentences for a work of fiction, along with one of the following (in Word format): Novel – the first 10,000 to 15,000 words; Stage or radio play – a complete script of between 30 and 90 pages; Screenplays – a script of between 30 and 60 pages for episode one of a TV show or a complete feature-length film script of 90 pages.

FURIOUS FICTION
https://www.writerscentre.com.au/furious-fiction/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline first Friday of each month. A monthly short story challenge from the Australian Writers’ Centre. On the FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH, we will unveil a new story challenge. You then have 55 hours and a maximum of 500 words to wow us with your storytelling skills. Prize is $500 AU.

JOHN UPDIKE REVIEW EMERGING WRITERS PRIZE
https://blogs.iwu.edu/johnupdikesociety/the-jur-emerging-writers-prize/
NO ENTRY FEE. Rolling deadline. A $1000 prize plus publication in The John Updike Review, awarded annually to writers 40 years of age or younger. The writing may be scholarly or bellestristic in nature. Academics, critics, graduate students, assistant professors, novelists, poets, and short story writers are encouraged to submit 10-30 page essays. Submissions are open and rolling.

TADPOLE PRESS 100-WORD WRITING CONTEST

https://www.tadpolepress.com/100-word-writing-contest
$15 ENTRY FEE. Hosted twice a year with deadlines every April 30 and November 30. Word Limit: 100 words or less per entry. All ages. All genders. All nationalities. You may enter pieces that are brand-new or have been previously published elsewhere. Any genre. No theme. 1st place $2,000 USD. 2nd place publishing and marketing package with Compassiviste Publishing ($6,000 USD value). 3rd place manuscript assessment package with Compassiviste Publishing ($1,500-$3,000 USD value). 4th place editing package with Tadpole Press ($1,450 USD value). 5th place writing coaching package with Tadpole Press ($600 USD value). 6th-10th place $100 USD.

NOTE: See more contests by joining our newsletters. We can keep you loaded with contests without you looking anywhere else!

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Please remember to read ALL guidelines for a contest. FundsforWriters tries to research contests to the best of our ability, but we cannot confirm the credibility of each and every one without entering them ourselves. Be informed and be alert as you would with any market, publisher, agent or competition.

Testimonials

Dear Hope, The Emerald Theatre Company’s 10-minute play fest is going into its second year. Without you, and FundsforWriters, the first year might not have been possible. Thanks to the publicity from your newsletter, our little Memphis, Tennessee event received scripts from Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming, the UK and New Zealand.

This wealth of wonderful material yielded quality vignettes that made the best local actors and stage directors (including a popular local radio personality) eager to donate their time and talent – their presence, in turn, sold tickets. We played to packed houses and everyone had a great time. To our astonishment, Vermont Pride Theatre got wind of the show and asked to put it on in its entirety this coming July – meaning the playwrights who won prizes and recognition in our fest, will now receive additional recognition along with royalties.

The bottom line is, without you, we would have had something rinky dink – with you we had something substantial. The publicity you provided on the front end made all the difference in the world!  ~Caroline Sposto, www.whycaroline.com, (610) 597-9803

 

Hi Hope, we met at the SCWW conference in Myrtle Beach last October, and I was so impressed with your lecture that I subscribed to FFW as soon as I got home. I wanted to drop you a line to let you know that because of FFW, I submitted AND WON The 2008 William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers! My novel will be finished this week, and next weekend I’m going to Malice Domestic to accept the award. Thanks you, and keep up the great work.