The New Guard Literary Review 2011 Contests

KNIGHTVILLE POETRY CONTEST $1,000 for an exceptional work of narrative or experimental poetry. Three poems per entry. Up to 300 lines per poem. Judged by former U.S. Poet Laureate CHARLES SIMIC.

MACHIGONNE FICTION CONTEST $1,000 for an exceptional work of literary or experimental fiction. Submit up to 7,500 words of prose: we’re accepting flash, long stories and everything in between. Novel excerpts are welcomed, as long as the manuscript functions as a stand-alone story. Judged by novelist and author of The Pure Lover, DAVID PLANTE. 

Previously unpublished work only. Each submission will be considered for publication. The fee for each contest entry is $15. Judging is blind. We take contest ethics very seriously and are a proud member of CLMP (please see www.clmp.org for more details).

Entries may be made online via our submissions manager or through postal mail to the address below with a check for $15 and a SASE. This year’s submissions period runs until Sept. 22 for both genres. International submissions are accepted.

THE NEW GUARD
P.O. Box 10612
Portland, ME 04104

Visit the website for submission details: www.newguardreview.com

Last call! Wag’s Revue Summer 2011 Writers’ Contest

Undergraduates are returning and locusts are dying. Summer is ending, in other words, and so is the Wag’s Revue Summer 2011 Writers’ Contest. You have until this Wednesday, August 31st, to get your entry to us.

We’ll be awarding a first prize of $1000 and publication in Issue 11, a second prize of $500 and  a third of $100 to the three best entries–poetry, fiction or essay. Read all guidelines and such, or upload your entry at the Submit page.

Winners will be announced with the publication of Issue 11. Look out for the release of Wag’s Revue Issue 10 in September, our first-ever Music Issue. It’ll be

Announcing The Watty Awards 2011, Our Annual Reader-Voted Story Awards

The Watty Awards are back with a vengeance! Wattpad, the best way to discover and share stories, is thrilled to announce exciting changes to this year’s writing contest.

Similar to the MTV Movie Awards, the Watty Awards is an annual reader-voted competition that celebrates the stories beloved by fans in categories such as Best Cast, Best Imaginative Setting, Best Fictional Couple, Best Sci-Fi Novel and Best Mystery.

For the first time ever, Wattpad is introducing 3 nomination levels: “Most Popular”, “On the Rise”, and “Undiscovered”. Now each genre category will have three winners, giving novice authors a better chance to make their mark and win amazing prizes.

To enter, writers can share their completed stories on Wattpad until the end of November. Finalists will be announced the first week of December and readers can vote for their favorite entries until December 31st. The winners will be announced in January!

Readers will be able to vote for their favorite stories using the Wattpad mobile app and on www.wattpad.com.

For complete contest rules and details, please visit: http://www.wattpad.com/wattyinfo

About Wattpad

Wattpad is the best way to discover and share stories. Founded in 2006, it is a new form of entertainment where readers and writers interact, share content and tell stories across text, video, images and through the conversations they engage in.

Wattpad stories are always available everywhere. Wattpad users connect with other readers, discover new stories and chat with writers from around the globe on wattpad.com and through apps available for over 1,000 different tablets and mobile devices including iPhone/iPad, Android, Windows Phone 7 and BlackBerry.

Win a £500 General Critique by Cornerstones Literary Consultancy

FREE ENTRY

 

So, you know how we’ve been kind enough to give you lot some pretty damned fine prizes on comp corner over the last few months, yes? Prepare to spit out your coffee and stand on the cat in amazement at what we’ve got on offer this time.

Helen Corner, of acclaimed Cornerstones Literary Consultancy (and our brand new regular contributor), has only gone and offered one lucky reader the chance to win a free General Report on a manuscript up to 100,000 words in length, offering pointers for the author to polish their novel and raise it to the next level, and if it goes on to be ‘submission to agents’ worthy then Helen will let you know as there’s a marketability section within the report. This would normally cost you 500 of your British pounds (which is approximately the value of the entire NHS pension fund these days) and you could get it for nothing!

Well, not nothing, as you’ll have to actually enter the comp. Still good though, innit?

To Enter:

Send us the opening paragraph of your as yet unpublished novel, the one you want to get the full works if it wins. That’s it. No tricks, no hidden trapdoors or poisoned darts, just one single itty bitty paragraph up to 100 words. The emphasis isn’t so much on making us laugh as it is on impressing Helen enough that she wants to read on.

You can enter online at www.wordswithjam.co.uk/compcornercornerstones

The longlist will be notified and required to submit the first page of their novel after the closing date, from which Helen will be picking a winner!

Deadline: 5^th November 2011

Entry Fee: Free

The shortlist and winner will be announced in the December 2011 issue of Words with JAM.

A full set of rules can also be viewed on the above link.

Words With Jam: Short Story Competition 2011 – Now Open!

It’s that time again, our second annual Short Story Competition is now open for submissions, and this year we’ve bumped the first prize up to £500! What are we looking for: the best short story of up to 2,500 words. Stories can be any genre, but as we’re always on the lookout for the Best Short Story, we advise not sending bribes. They’re welcome, obviously, but we retain the right to keep them even if you don’t win.

Prizes:
1st Prize – £500
2nd Prize – £100
3rd Prize – £50

Closing Date: 27^th January 2012

Results: All three winning entries will be published in the April 2012 issue of Words with JAM.

Judge: Douglas Jackon

Doug Jackson is the writer of four successful historical novels and one mystery thriller. He was born in Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders and history has always been in his blood. He left school aged 15 and spent three months restoring a Roman camp in the Cheviots before joining the local paper because he enjoyed writing and had no idea what to do with his life.

Reporter, sub-editor, chief sub and night editor, he eventually spent nine heady years as assistant editor of The Scotsman. In 2005 he began what he describes as ‘digging an escape tunnel on the train with my laptop’, which was actually The Emperor’s Elephant, a project that turned into the novels Caligula and Claudius. In July 2009 he gave up the day job when he received a contract to write a new trilogy. The series began with Hero of Rome and has now been followed by Defender of Rome. His first thriller, The Doomsday Testament, written under the name James Douglas, was published in August.

http://www.douglas-jackson.net/

CLICK HERE for more entry information.

Stanford and Ms. Magazine Essay Contest

Join the conversation on the future of feminism in celebration of the 40^th anniversary of Ms. magazine.  Stanford University and Ms. magazine invite you to enter an essay contest.

• Check out 40 iconic Ms. covers from four decades of feminist reporting.
• Write a 150-word essay that reflects on how it captured an era or moment, or how it may have shaped your own life.
• Ten $100 cash prizes will be awarded for the best short essays. Entries will be judged on originality, vision, awareness of feminist issues and quality of expression.
• Winning essays will be displayed alongside the Ms. covers on the Stanford campus in January 2012.

The essay contest is open to everyone.  Contest runs from August 1–October 15, 2011.  Click here to learn more (http://www.stanford.edu/group/gender/msat40/).

Save the date – January 26, 2012 – for the anniversary symposium at Stanford featuring Gloria Steinem.  Click here to visit the event page (http://www.stanford.edu/group/gender/msat40/conference2012.html)

2011 Aura Estrada Short Story Contest: $1500 First Prize

2011 Aura Estrada Short Story Contest
Deadline: October 1, 2011
Judge: Samuel Delany
Prize: $1,500 plus publication

The deadline for this year’s short fiction contest is approaching! Recently rededicated to the memory of the late author and critic Aura Estrada, and judged in its first year by her husband, Francisco Goldman, the Aura Estrada Short Story Contest is now accepting submissions for 2011. This year’s judge is acclaimed novelist and critic Samuel R. Delany.

Complete Guidelines

The winning author will receive $1,500 and have his or her work published in Boston Review, the summer of 2012. First runner-up will be published in a following issue, and second runner-up will be published at the Boston Review Web site. Stories should not exceed 4,000 words and must be previously unpublished. Mailed manuscripts should be double-spaced and submitted with a cover note listing the author’s name, address, and phone number. No cover note is necessary for online submission. Names should not appear on the stories themselves. Any author writing in English is eligible, unless he or she is a current student, former student, relative, or close personal friend of the judge. Simultaneous submissions are not permitted, submissions will not be returned, and submissions may not be modified after entry. A non-refundable $20 entry fee, payable to Boston Review in the form of a check or money order or by credit card, must accompany each story entered. All submitters receive a complementary half-year subscription (3 issues) to Boston Review. Submissions must be postmarked no later than October 1, 2011. Manuscripts will not be returned. The winner will be announced no later than May/June 2012, on the Boston Review Web site.

Please enter online using our contest entry manager at bostonreview.net/contest. Or mail submissions to:

Short Story Contest, Boston Review
Post Office Box 425786
Cambridge, MA 02142

Storiad: A Networked Marketplace Dedicated to the Art & Business of Writing

Storiad – an online network connecting aspiring writers with media professionals in search of that perfect piece of undiscovered writing. Storiad has recently created a crowdsourcing feature – StoriSource. The purpose of this platform is to enable media professionals to search for specific types of writing within the Storiad site. For more information about StoriSource, visit http://www.facebook.com/storiad?sk=app_205174506179089.

Leeding media, a company that has worked with Kevin Spacey, has also just signed on to Storiad. Sign up for Storiad today so the Leeding Media can review your work. We would also love it if you could post about joining Storiad on your blog so that your readers can also sign up.

Go to http://storiad.com/ to make a profile or to explore what the site has to offer.

Lady Dragonfly Publishing Contest – “Restoring Gratitude.”

Lady Dragonfly Publishing Contest – “Restoring Gratitude.”

With the economy being at an all time low, the housing market plummeting, unemployment numbers rising; our society seems to be illuminating sadness and despair. Lady Dragonfly Publishing is ready to show the world that although you may be losing money, work, or your home there ARE STILL things in life that make you smile and say THANK YOU! Now is the time to come together and empower each other with stories of achievement and triumph in the face of doom! What are you grateful for? Have you cheated death? Do you live each day with passion and purpose? Have you overcome an obstacle when life seemed at its worst? Have you been fortunate enough to help others overcome when they thought there was no way out? Has some one helped you when you were at your lowest? We want to hear your stories! Lady Dragonfly Publishing is currently holding a contest for the best short story that shows and attitude of gratitude! Keep it 5000 words or less and tell us what you are grateful for today. The story can be fiction or non-fiction, but we are looking for originality and inspiration

• $20 submission fee
• Multiple submissions $10 each (after initial fee)
• Close date: September 30, 2011
• Grand Prize Winner receives: $150
• Anthology out by: Thanksgiving
• Word Limit: 2,500-5000 words
• Fiction or non fiction
• Entry will be done via email submissions. You must register online at Lady Dragonfly Publishing, and activate your account FIRST. After a confirmed registration, you may submit your completed submission via email. If you are not registered, your submission will not be opened, only deleted. More details on the registration page.
• Open to all contestants of any age group! Contestants under the age of 18; must provide a signed parental letter of consent prior to publishing, if story is selected.
• No profanity
• No gender bias
• No adult content

• Format
  • Must be in English
  • Must be an original, unpublished, and un-awarded piece
  • Must be a complete story apart from another work
  • Must be sent using Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or as a Rich Text File (.rtf)
  • Must be typed, double-spaced, and in Calibri, Times New Roman, or Arial 12 point black font, and 1″ margins. Paragraphs should be indented and left aligned (not justified).
  • Must include a coversheet with the title of your piece, address, phone number, email (same as registration email) and brief biography of no more than 250 words.
  • Your name must not appear on the pages of the story, except as part of the story. In other words, there should be no labeling of the author’s name on the pages of the story. Your story will be linked to the email address you use for registration.

Visit the website for detail:
http://www.ladydragonflypublishing.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=59&Itemid=88

The Missouri Review’s 21st Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize Competition

$5,000 prizes each in fiction, poetry, and essay.

Winners and select runners up will be published in The Missouri Review,

and winners will be flown to Columbia, MO for our annual Editor’s Prize Gala.

Your entry fee includes a one-year subscription to The Missouri Review: four issues.

Subscriptions are now available either in print or digital formats.

Digital format includes a full audio version of the journal.

The postmark deadline is Oct. 1, 2011.

For more information or to submit your entry online,

please visit our website:

 http://www.missourireview.com/tmrsubmissions/editors-prize-contest/

VENTURA COUNTY BOOK & AUTHOR FAIR LAUNCHED

VENTURA COUNTY BOOK & AUTHOR FAIR LAUNCHED

2011 event to be held in Camarillo, November 5

(Ventura, CA August 16, 2011) A new literary event for writers, publishers, people looking for new books to read and those wishing to learn more about the craft of writing, will take place Saturday, November 5th at the Pleasant Valley Community Park Auditorium in Camarillo. The Ventura County Book & Author Fair will feature speakers, educational seminars, book signings, a free book expo and a children’s reading area. The event is produced by the Pacific Institute for Professional Writing (PIPW) and co-sponsored by the Ventura County Writers Club (VCWC) and the Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network (SPAWN).

“We are very excited to produce our first event in Camarillo,” said Kate Sexton, Executive Director of the Pacific Institute for Professional Writing. “There have been regional book festivals in the county but we thought bringing every county literary fan together in one location made sense. The Book Expo will be free with lots of authors, independent publishers and related literary companies for people to browse and find new books and gifts for the holiday.”

        “A strong educational program is under development and full details on speakers and topics will be released September 15th. We have already secured two top west coast literary agents, a leading book editor, and memoirist to lead workshops and seminars.”

Some sessions will be two-hours long and others one hour. There will be a fee for these sessions. Ms Sexton coordinated the highly successful Ventura Book Festival last year.

        Other regional writing groups are welcome to co-sponsor the event. Any author or book publisher interested in exhibiting should contact Ms. Sexton at 805-633-1506. For more details or how to participate, visit

To learn more about PIPW visit

http://www.vcbookandauthorfair.com/

Writers’ Village Story Contest Fall 2011

 

$400 First Prize in Writers’ Village Story Contest Fall 2011

 

All entrants gain a free critique of their story in the fall 2011 round of the Writers’ Village ‘Best Writing’ award. Prizes totalling $640 can also be won for short fiction in any genre. The top award is $400, with a $160 second prize and third prize of $80, plus five runner-ups gain a free entry in the next round.

 

Winners will be awarded the title ‘Winner, the Writers’ Village Best Writing Fall 2011 Award’ and see their work showcased online.

 

Stories up to 3000 words may be submitted in any genre of prose fiction, except playscripts and poetry. Entries are welcomed world-wide. The fee is $15 for two entries and multiple entries are permitted. Deadline is 30th September 2011. Entry rules plus all winning stories since 2009 can be found at: http://www.writers-village.org

 

More information: www.writers-village.org. Email: cwriting@btinternet.com. Address: Writers’ Village, The Old School House, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 9DP, UK.

THE 2011 FIRST ANNUAL STORY QUARTERLY PRIZE FOR FICTION

 

Contest Extended to October 1, 2011

Open to short stories and novel excerpts of 8,000 words or less.

• Grand Prize of $1000 and publication in StoryQuarterly 45
• First Runner-up $300 and publication in SQ Online
• Second Runner-up $200 and publication in SQ Online

Details:

• Judging will be blind, and all contest entries will be sent by the editors to the contest judge with the authors names removed.
• Cover letters are discouraged.
• Your receipt from ScholarChip, our secure server, is your confirmation that your entry was received and logged in.
• The contest fee is non-refundable should your contest submission be accepted elsewhere prior to the judge’s decision.
• Multiple submissions are acceptable as long as each is accompanied by the contest fee.

Contest will be judged by Karen Russell.

$15 contest fee includes subscription toStoryQuarterly 45, to be published in the Fall, 2011

Visit the website for details: http://www.camden.rutgers.edu/storyquarterly/

Best Paris Short Stories Cover Contest

We are launching a contest to design the cover for our upcoming book called
‘Best Paris Short Stories’.

There is no entry fee and the winning prize is 100 Euros.

Deadline for submission is September 30, 2011.

Here are the Submission guidelines:

• The title is: Best Paris Short Stories
• Format: JPEG
• Color: RGB
• Dimensions of front cover: 5 X 8 in or 203 X 127 mm*
• Minimum resolution: 300 dpi
• Maximum file size: 20 MB per image
• File name: should be your name
• Rights: You must own the rights to all images submitted and be willing to

authorize display of your submission as well as a release for use in BEST
PARIS STORIES. You should also obtain a release for any recognizable person
in any photograph

• Include: the authors, editors & publisher.

• Send the JPEG file to: parisshortstory@gmail.com with “Cover contest” as

the subject.

Further details  can be found at:  http://parisstoriescontest.blogspot.com/

Last call: Inaugural Found Poetry Contest: Deadline: August 31, 2011

The Found Poetry Review invites submissions for its inaugural found poetry contest through August 31. All contest submissions must be found poems derived from How to Analyze People on Sightby Elsie Lincoln Benedict and Ralph Paine Benedict, available as a free e-text through Project Gutenberg.

The winner will receive a prize of $100 (U.S. dollars) and have his or her poem published in the Fall 2011 edition of The Found Poetry Review.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Visit Project Gutenberg to view the source text, How to Analyze People on Sight: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30601/30601-h/30601-h.htm

2. Select words and phrases from the text, then recombine them to create your found poem. Artful arrangements and combinations are encouraged! We want to see you do more than insert line breaks in a paragraph and call it a poem.

3. Avoid adding your own language to the poem. You can change verb tenses, plurals and make other small manipulations, but stay as close to the original text as possible. You are free to add your own punctuation and capitalization to the text.

4. Visit our Submishmash page and select “Inaugural Found Poetry Contest” to submit your poem and pay the $5 entry fee. Payments may be made securely through the Submishmash site through PayPal or credit card.

5. Follow us on Facebook and/or Twitter to hear the winner announcement in September.

Questions? Email foundpoetryreview@gmail.com for more information.

Creative Competitor Competitions

Romantic Fiction Competition

1^st Prize: £300

2^nd Prize: £200

3^rd Prize: £100

Closing date: 10th September 2011

Entry fee: £4.00

Entangled in his embrace, the world seemed softer, warm and altogether more pleasurable. She longed for this moment to last, to stay cocooned in pure happiness forever. A shiver of trepidation ran down her spine and fought it off in vain, snuggling closer to his warmth, inhaling his intoxicating scent. Why did life have to be so complicated?

To stand a chance of winning this romantic fiction writing competition, simply continue this story and create a multi-layered story that reveals the intricacies of human nature and the complexities of love.

You have 2000 words in which to be able to craft your submission excluding the title.

http://creativecompetitor.com/competitions/new-competitions/romantic-fiction-writing-competition/

Email: info@creative-competitor.co.uk

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Suspenseful Fiction Competition

1^st Prize: £300

2^nd Prize: £200

3^rd Prize:£100

Closing date: 20th September 2011

Entry fee: £4.00

He had been watching her for months. Checking out her behaviours, monitoring her movements until now, he felt he knew her almost as well as she knew herself. It hadn’t been easy breaking into her circle whilst hiding in the shadows retaining anonymity but now he was almost ready to make his move….

The key to winning this competition is to engage the reader with suspenseful intent. Build up the tension and keep us hanging onto every word. You have 2000 words in which to create your masterpiece of drama excluding the title.

http://creativecompetitor.com/competitions/new-competitions/suspenseful-fiction-writing-competition/

Email: info@creative-competitor.co.uk

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Last Line Fiction Writing Competition

1st Prize: £100.00

2nd Prize:  £75.00

3rd Prize:   £50.00

Closing date: 1st October 2011

Entry fee: £2.50

Our latest competition tests your creativity to the full as you have to create a story ending with our given sentence.

Whoever coined the phrase ‘Don’t Get Mad, Get Even’ had been so right she realised and smiled with a sudden sense of purpose. 

 Stories must be original and previously unpublished and the maximum word count including the title and the sentence provided is 1500 words

http://creativecompetitor.com/competitions/new-competitions/last-line-fiction-writing-competition/

Email: info@creative-competitor.co.uk

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Dramatic First Paragraph Competition

1^st Prize: £100

2^nd Prize: £50

Entry fee: £2.00

Closing date: 10th October 2011

You  have just one paragraph to capture our attention and to wow us with a strong sense of drama so make every word count.

Your submission must be previously unpublished and original. The paragraph can be in any style or genre.

http://creativecompetitor.com/competitions/new-competitions/dramatic-first-paragraph-writing-competition/

Email: info@creative-competitor.co.uk

Call for submissions: Trigger: 2nd Edition: The Extremes

Trigger:  www.statushat.org/trigger

2nd Edition: The Extremes

Call for Submissions

Lately, we at Trigger have been thinking a lot about the role of subject matter in art. There are, it seems to us, two specific extremes of subject matter in fiction, poetry, and visual art. Some art focuses directly on moments of change or crisis, on the big moments in the lives of characters, creators, or subjects. Births, deaths, disease, divorce, marriage, the subject matter of these works is overtly life-altering. And then there is the work that focuses on the mundane, on the commonplace occurrences of a life as a way of hinting at the sublime or the universal. These artists construct narratives out of snippets and glimpses of something larger hiding in their small subject matter.
The danger with either approach is that you can lose sight of the bigger picture. A story can be about murder (a huge subject, to be sure), but if it doesn’t do anything with that subject matter, if it doesn’t reach for something more, then it is the weaker for it. Similarly, a work that focuses on the mundane and the everyday but that don’t use that form to impart anything beyond the surface ends up being the type of dull work that turns readers and viewers away from art in droves. A poem about making a cup of coffee can’t just be about making coffee.
With that in mind, we’re looking for your best writing or visual art dealing with one or the other of these extremes. Send us your best “big” fiction, poetry, or visual art, focusing on the life-changing, the inherently dramatic. Or send us your best “small” writing or art. We want stories, poems, and pieces of art that try to construct a narrative out of the bits and pieces of everyday life, isolated images, or random, disparate elements.
Above all else, we want you to be creative in your response to this call. We, as a publication, are most interested in looking at the wide range of ways that narrative manifests itself in art and the artistic process. If you have a unique take of this, we absolutely want to see it.
Guidelines for Submission:
Submissions will be open from August 1-October 31, 2011. We encourage simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if your work is accepted by another publication. Please follow all guidelines for your genre (see below). You may only submit work to one genre per submission period. If we accept your work, payment is in the form of undying gratitude. Please no previously published work. Email submissions to triggersubmissions@yahoo.com.
Genre Guidelines:
Fiction: Send only one story, up to 20 pages double spaced, attached as a .doc or .rtf file. The subject line of your email should read “Fiction Submission: Last Name.” Make sure to include all contact information in a cover letter in the body of the email and on the first page of your submission. Please specify in your cover letter which section (“Big” or “Small”) you are submitting to. There is no minimum word or page count.
Poetry: Send up to three poems, no more than 10 pages, attached as a single .doc or .rtf file. The subject line of your email should read “Poetry Submission: Last Name.” Make sure to include all contact information in a cover letter in the body of the email and on the first page of your submission. Please specify in your cover letter which section (“Big” or “Small”) each poem is being submitted to. We encourage both traditional and experimental forms. 

Visual Art: Send up to three pieces of visual art, attached as .jpeg files — web resolution quality is fine, and maximum width and height should be less than 1200 pixels. The subject line of your email should read “Visual Art Submission: Last Name.” Make sure to include all contact information in a cover letter in the body of the email. Please specify in your cover letter which section (“Big” or “Small”) each piece of art is being submitted to. We are equally open to painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, installations, etc. Essentially, if it is visual, we’d like to see it.

Visit the website: http://statushat.org/create/status-hat-artszine/submission-guidelines.html