WOW! Women On Writing Winter 2020 Flash Fiction Contest

WOW! Women On Writing Winter 2020 Flash Fiction Contest

Deadline: February 29, 2020

Guest Judge: Literary Agent Marlo Berliner with the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency

Seeking short fiction of any genre between 250 – 750 words. The mission of this contest is to inspire creativity, communication, and well-rewarded recognition to contestants.

Electronic submissions via e-mail only; reprints are okay; simultaneous submissions okay; reprints okay; multiple submissions are okay as long as they are submitted in their own individual e-mail. Open internationally.

Limit: 300 entries.

Prizes (20 winners!):
1st Place: $400, publication, interview, and $25 Amazon Gift Certificate
2nd Place: $300, publication, interview, and $25 Amazon Gift Certificate
3rd Place: $200, publication, interview and $25 Amazon Gift Certificate
7 Runners Up receive $25 Amazon Gift Cards, publication and interview
10 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.

Entry: $10 entry fee; critique option for an additional $10

Visit the website:
https://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php

WOW! Women On Writing Q2 2020 Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest

WOW! Women On Writing Q2 2020 Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest

Deadline: January 31, 2020

Seeking creative nonfiction essays on any topic (200 – 1000 words) and in any style–from personal essay and memoir to lyric essay and hybrid, 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.

Electronic submissions via e-mail only; reprints are okay; simultaneous submissions okay; reprints okay; multiple submissions are okay as long as they are submitted in their own individual e-mail. Open internationally.

Limit: 300 entries.

Prizes (20 winners!):
1st Place: $500, publication, interview, and gift card good for one item from CreateWriteNow’s Store
2nd Place: $300, publication, interview, and gift card good for one item from CreateWriteNow’s Store
3rd Place: $200, publication, interview, and gift card good for one item from CreateWriteNow’s Store
7 Runners Up receive $25 Amazon Gift Cards, publication, interview, and gift card good for one item from CreateWriteNow’s Store
10 Honorable mentions receive a gift card good for one item from CreateWriteNow’s Store

Entry: $12 entry fee; critique option for an additional $13

Visit the website:
https://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php#EssayContest

2020 Inaugural Fiction Chapbook Contest

2020 Inaugural Fiction Chapbook Contest

Overview: Yemassee is now accepting entries for its 2020 Writing Prizes, including the 2020 Chapbook Contests. The author of the winning fiction chapbook will receive $1,250 and 25 copies of their chapbook. Author input on cover art will be considered.

The editors will select ten finalists and pass those submissions on to the guest judge. The ten finalists will receive acknowledgment.

Deadline: February 15th, 2020

Entry Instructions: To enter, submit one chapbook with 20-40 pages (title page, dedication, etc. does not count towards length) of :

• a complete novella or novelette
  (no incomplete works or excerpts from larger works)
• a collection of short stories,
• a collection of flash fiction
• a collection of both short stories and flash fiction
• a collection with a complete novella or novelette and  accompanying short stories/flash fiction
• An entry fee of $18 must accompany each entry.

Formatting and Other Guidelines: Submissions that do not conform to these guidelines may be disqualified at the editors’ discretion.

•  Entries must be submitted online using Submittable  (paper submissions will not be accepted.)
•  The author’s name must not appear anywhere in the submission or in the file name.
•  We welcome multiple entries. However, each entry must be submitted separately and accompanied by an additional entry fee.
• While we do allow simultaneous submissions, please inform us immediately if the submission is accepted elsewhere by withdrawing in Submittable.
•  No refunds will be issued for submissions that are withdrawn or disqualified.
•  All entries must be submitted by the deadline.

Submission Suggestions: If submitting a collection of stories or flash, or stories or flash accompanying a novella, we recommend selecting titles with a discernible cohesion throughout the group.

This may be aesthetic, thematic, tonal, or topical. It does not have to be immediately or superficially obvious. We discourage the unimaginatively literal.  We’re looking to publish a distinct set of prose as a unified group– or a single chapbook rather than short selected works.

Eligibility: Current or previous Yemassee staff, close personal friends or family of the Yemassee staff, and writers who have been published in Yemassee within the past two years are ineligible for entry.

Visit the website: http://yemasseejournal.com/contests-2/

Last call! ORWELL PRIZES

Deadline January 13, 2020.

NO ENTRY FEE.

The Orwell Prizes aim to encourage good writing and thinking about politics. Honors exceptional fictional and nonfictional works that “make political writing into an art.” Only in its second year, this prize awards £3,000 to its winners. Books must be submitted by their publishing house, and the book must have been first published, or published simultaneously, in the UK. The Orwell Prize asks shortlisted publishers to contribute £150.

How to enter, visit: https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-prizes/

OMNIDAWN PUBLISHING POETRY CONTEST

Deadline February 18, 2020.

$27 ENTRY FEE.

This contest is open to writers worldwide who have either never published a full-length book of poetry, or who have published only one full-length book of poetry, so that the winning book would become a poet’s first or second published full-length book of poetry. Writers who have published two or more full-length books of poetry are NOT eligible. Winner receives $3,000 and publication.

How to enter, visit: http://omnidawn.com/contest/poetry-contests.htm

FIRST PAGES PRIZE

Deadline: This contest closes at 23:59 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) February 2, 2020, with an extended deadline until 23:59 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) February 16, 2020

Guidelines

1. The First Pages Prize is an annual prize awarded to three emerging writers. The competition is for writers who are NOT currently represented by a literary agent, whether previously published or unpublished.

2. The three winners receive:

   a. a cash award (1st – $1,000, 2nd – $750, 3rd – $500 in US dollars)

   b. partial developmental editing to support the completion of their full manuscript

   c. invitation to a public reading of their work and prize presentation events in Paris, France on June 9-10, 2020 for the 1st and 2nd place winners

   d. travel stipend (based on geographic location) to Paris, France and two nights’ lodging for the 1st and 2nd place winners.

3. Cash prizes are not transferable.

4. The developmental edit is not transferable or redeemable.

5. Travel to Paris must be reserved by the winners and any visas or entry requirements to visit France must be organized by the winners.

6. Prizes are supported by The First Pages Prize, Inc. and The de Groot Foundation.

Eligibility

1. The entrant’s name MUST NOT appear anywhere on the manuscript of the entry to ensure judging anonymity. The entrant’s name MUST NOT be part of the story title. Any entry failing to comply with this rule is immediately disqualified without refund of entry fee.

2. Writers from anywhere the world may enter, if eligible.

3. Entrants must be individuals, not a company or organization.

4. Entrants must submit the work using their name, not a pen name. A pen name may be used when announcing their win, if requested.

5. Entrants must be over 18 years of age at the time of entering their work.

6. Entries must be an unpublished, original work.

7. Entries must be written in English.

8. Entrants must be currently unagented. If you are working with an agent, you are NOT eligible to enter.

9. Previously published entries (including on a website, Wattpad or any other online or offline platform) are NOT eligible to enter.

10. If your entry wins another writing competition after you entered the FIRST PAGES PRIZE you must withdraw from the FIRST PAGES PRIZE by emailing us at firstpagesprize@gmail.com. Your entry fee will be refunded (minus processing + transaction fees) unless you enter a different entry (by the final date of the entry period).

11. Entries (or drafts of entries) that have won 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in any other competition are not eligible.

12. Entries (or drafts of entries) that previously entered the FIRST PAGES PRIZE and did not place 1st, 2nd or 3rd ARE eligible to enter.

13. Translated works are not eligible.

14. This competition is NOT open to members of the board or employees of the First Page Prize, The de Groot Foundation, the reviewers or juror. Family members of the aforementioned are also NOT eligible.

Entry Terms & Conditions

1. Entries must be your original work.

2. Entries must be written in English.

3. Entries must not infringe upon the copyright of any person or entity.

4. Copyright remains with the author.

5. No entry will be returned or kept after the winners have been announced.

6. Entries will be acknowledged upon submission.

7. Cash awards will be paid within 15 days of prize presentation by bank transfer or TransferWise.

8. By entering, entrants accept that their email address is added to the mailing list of the First Pages Prize.

9. Travel stipends are awarded by geographical location in bands of: within Europe, from the US/Canada, from the Middle East, and from elsewhere worldwide.

10. Entrants may submit more than one entry. Each entry needs to be submitted as a separate entry and you need to pay the fee for each entry.

11. Specifics for entering:

    a. All entries must be made through the SUBMITTABLE platform https://firstpagesprize.submittable.com/submit

    b. Please submit the first 1,250 words (maximum) of a fiction or creative non-fiction manuscript (such as a novella, novel, memoir, etc.)

    c. Kindly double space your pages, using Times New Roman 12-point font

    c. No alteration may be made to the entry once it is submitted

12. Entry timeline:

    a. Entries for the 2020 competition will open on January 1, 2020 and close at 23:59 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) February 2, 2020, with an extended deadline until 23:59 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) February 16, 2020

    Please check a time zone converter to avoid disappointment and inability to enter http://www.timebie.com/std/pst.php or https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com

    b. Only entries received and paid for by the entry deadline will be considered.

    c. Entries that are not paid for, are incomplete, corrupted or submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

    d. The entry fee for each entry is $25.00 and for extended deadline entries it is $35.00 in US dollars.

13. By entering this competition, each entrant agrees to be bound by the competition guidelines, terms and conditions.

Review & Juror Process

1. The FIRST PAGES PRIZE entries are submitted to a blinded review process. The identity of the author is unknown to reviewers.

2. Each entry is reviewed by multiple reviewers.

3. Our judging criteria is: quality of writing, character development, originality, a sense of a story or bigger narrative emerging, and how much the writing hooked the reviewer.

4. Our review and juror process adheres to the CLMP Contest Code of Ethics (see below).

5. Only winners will be contacted.

6. A “general feedback” email will be sent to all entrants in May, 2020. No individual feedback will be provided.

7. The decisions of the reviewers and the juror are final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the judging process.

We look forward to receiving YOUR entries.

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CLMP Contest Code of Ethics

The FIRST PAGES PRIZE competition adheres to the Council of Literary Magazines & Presses Contest Code of Ethics as stated below.

“CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.”

Last call! The Bethesda Urban Partnership & Bethesda Magazine: Writing Contests

The Bethesda Urban Partnership & Bethesda Magazine have partnered to honor essays and short stories. All Essay and Short Story Contest winners will be published on the Bethesda Urban Partnership and Bethesda Magazine websites and honored at a special event during Local Writer’s Showcase in April 2020.

Essay Contest

Topic: Open
Deadline for application: Friday, January 17, 2020

Awards (Adult)
First Place: $500 and published in Bethesda Magazine
Second Place: $250
Third Place: $150
Honorable Mentions: $75
Online Application for Adult Essay Contest

Awards (High School)
First Place: $250 and published in Bethesda Magazine
Second Place: $100
Third Place: $50
Honorable Mentions: $25
Online Application for High School Essay Contest

All winning essays will be published on the Bethesda Urban Partnership and Bethesda Magazine websites and will be honored at a special event during the Local Writer’s Showcase in April 2020.

Requirements
Essays must be limited to 500 words or less about a topic of the writer’s choosing. Only one entry per person. Your essay must be your original work. Any essays containing material that is obscene or objectionable will be disqualified.  Previously published essays are not eligible.

Eligibility
Residents of Washington, D.C. and the select counties of Maryland (Montgomery, Prince George’s, Howard and Frederick) and Virginia (Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William) are eligible. Current and former employees, contractors, directors, and officers of the Bethesda Urban Partnership (BUP) and their immediate family members are ineligible. Current students, relatives, or close personal friends of the judge(s) are also ineligible.

Judges: 2020 Judges to be announced soon!

Notification: Winners will be contacted by March 23, 2020.

Copyright
All entrants retain the copyright rights that they have in the essays they submit, but by participating in this contest and submitting essays, all entrants grant Bethesda Urban Partnership (BUP) the right, license, and ability to use and publish all submitted essays (in complete form or in excerpted form) on the BUP Web site, on other Web sites, and in other media.

Visit the website: https://www.bethesda.org/special-events/writing-contests

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Short Story Contest

Topic: Open
Deadline for application: Friday, January 17, 2020
Online Application for Short Story Contest

Awards (Adult)
First Place: $500 and published in Bethesda Magazine
Second Place: $250
Third Place: $150
Honorable Mention: $75

Awards (High School)
First Place: $250 and published in Bethesda Magazine
Second Place: $150
Third Place: $50
Honorable Mention: $25

All winning short stories will be published on the Bethesda Urban Partnership and Bethesda Magazine websites and will be honored at a special event during the Local Writer’s Showcase in April 2020.

Requirements
Stories must be limited to 4,000 words or less. Only one entry per person permitted.

Eligibility
Residents of Montgomery County, MD and Upper NW Washington, D.C. (20015 and 20016 ZIP codes) are eligible.
The contest will take entries in two categories: High School (grades 9-12) and Adult (ages 18+).

Visit the website: https://www.bethesda.org/special-events/writing-contests

Last call! LEA RYAN’S FUND FOR EMERGING WOMEN WRITERS

Deadline: January 13, 2020.

Entry fee: $10

All women, trans women, and non-binary playwrights who consider themselves emerging (as distinct from fledgling or mid-career playwrights) are eligible to apply for the 2020 Leah Ryan’s FEWW Prize. Playwrights from all over the world are encouraged to apply, but the play must be written in English. Eligibility does not require that a submitted work adheres to the traditional three-act structure. One-acts, two-acts (even four-, five-, six- acts), monologues, adaptations, and any other wild (or deceptively tame) format will be considered with equal seriousness. The only absolute requirement is that the submitted text be a completed full-length work for theater.

The fee to apply is $10. The deadline is 11:59pm on Monday, January 13, 2020.

The winner will be chosen by a committee selected by a readers committee selected by the board members of Leah Ryan’s FEWW, and will be presented with her award as part of the 2020 Lilly Awards, which honors the work of women in American theater. In addition, the winner will receive a cash prize of $2,500, a workshop at the Vassar Powerhouse Theater, and a reading of her play in New York City.

Finalists will be contacted in mid-March and will have one week within which to submit their full play.

Click here to submit your work.

We look forward to receiving your application!

Visit the website: https://leahryansfeww.com/?page_id=515

BREAKWATER FICTION CONTEST

prize: $1000 and publication in our Winter issue

fee: $10

We are seeking submissions for pieces that breathe freshness to the form. We are interested in previously unpublished prose ranging from 1,000 – 5,000 words, each with a $10 entry fee. We accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify Breakwater if submission is accepted elsewhere.

2020 FINALIST JUDGE: Susanna Kaysen has written the novels Asa, As I Knew Him and Far Afield and the memoirs Girl, Interrupted and The Camera My Mother Gave Me. She lives in Cambridge Massachusetts.

Submissions: Open until FEBRUARY 1st, 2020.

Winner and Finalists Published in our Winter Issue.

Please do not submit your work if you are associated with the MFA program at the University of Massachusetts, Boston or Susanna Kaysen.

How to submit, visit: https://www.breakwaterreview.com/contests

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest

Welcome to the 28th annual Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest. Submit published or unpublished work. $8,000 in prizes.

Please submit until April 30, 2020

Prizes:

• STORY: First Prize, $3,000
• ESSAY: First Prize, $3,000
• The top two winners will also receive two-year gift certificates from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value)
• 10 Honorable Mentions will receive $200 each (any category)
• Top 12 entries published online
• Enter via Submittable

For this contest, a story is any short work of fiction, and an essay is any short work of nonfiction. Judge: Dennis Norris II, assisted by Lauren Singer Ledoux. Please submit as many entries as you like. All themes accepted. Entries may be published or unpublished. Length limit: 6,000 words maximum. No restriction on age of author. All countries eligible except Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Crimea (due to US government restrictions). Please click the Submittable button below for full details. Fee: $20 per entry. Read the winning entries from the 27th contest. The results of our 28th contest will be announced on October 15, 2020.

Visit the website for details: https://winningwriters.com/our-contests/tom-howard-john-h-reid-fiction-essay-contest

Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest (no fee)

Now in its 19th year, this contest seeks today’s best humor poems. No fee to enter. Submit published or unpublished work. $2,250 in prizes.

Please submit once by April 1, 2020

Prizes:

• First Prize: $1,000 plus a two-year gift certificate from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value)
• Second Prize: $250
• Honorable Mentions: 10 awards of $100 each
• Top 12 entries published online
• Enter via Submittable

No fee to enter. Judge: Jendi Reiter, assisted by Lauren Singer Ledoux. Length limit: 250 lines maximum. No restriction on the age of author. Authors from all countries eligible except Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Crimea (due to US government restrictions). Click the Submittable button below for full details. Read the winning poems from our 18th contest. The results of our 19th contest will be announced on August 15, 2020.

Visit the website for details:

https://winningwriters.com/our-contests/wergle-flomp-humor-poetry-contest-free

L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest

WELCOME TO THE WRITERS OF THE FUTURE

Deadline: March 31, 2020

The most enduring and influential contest in the history of SF and Fantasy

L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest is an opportunity for new writers of science fiction and fantasy to have their work judged by some of the masters in the field and discovered by a wide audience.

No entry fee is required and entrants retain all publication rights.

Entries in the Writers of the Future Contest are adjudicated only by professional writers. Prizes of $1000, $750 and $500 are awarded every three months. From the four quarterly 1st Place winners each year, a panel of judges select one story as the grand prize winner. The writer of the grand-prize-winning story receives the L. Ron Hubbard Golden Pen Award and an additional $5000 cash prize.

• PRIZES EACH QUARTER: $1000, $750, $500
• QUARTERLY 1st PLACE WINNERS COMPETE FOR $5000 ADDITIONAL ANNUAL PRIZE
• OPEN TO NEW AND AMATEUR SCI-FI & FANTASY WRITERS
• ALL JUDGING DONE BY PROFESSIONAL WRITERS ONLY
• NO ENTRY FEE IS REQUIRED
• ENTRANTS RETAIN ALL PUBLICATION RIGHTS

1. No entry fee is required, and all rights in the story remain the property of the author. All types of science fiction, fantasy and dark fantasy are welcome.
2. By submitting to the Contest, the entrant agrees to abide by all Contest rules.
3. All entries must be original works by the entrant, in English. Plagiarism, which includes the use of third-party poetry, song lyrics, characters or another person’s universe, without written permission, will result in disqualification. Excessive violence or sex, determined by the judges, will result in disqualification. Entries may not have been previously published in professional media.
4. To be eligible, entries must be works of prose, up to 17,000 words in length. We regret we cannot consider poetry, or works intended for children.
5. The Contest is open only to those who have not professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium. Professional publication is deemed to be payment of at least eight cents per word, and at least 5,000 copies, or 5,000 hits.
6. Entries submitted in hard copy must be typewritten or a computer printout in black ink on white paper, printed only on the front of the paper, double-spaced, with numbered pages. All other formats will be disqualified. Each entry must have a cover page with the title of the work, the author’s legal name, a pen name if applicable, address, telephone number, e-mail address and an approximate word count. Every subsequent page must carry the title and a page number, but the author’s name must be deleted to facilitate fair, anonymous judging. Entries submitted electronically must be double-spaced and must include the title and page number on each page, but not the author’s name. Electronic submissions will separately include the author’s legal name, pen name if applicable, address, telephone number, e-mail address and approximate word count.
7. Manuscripts will be returned after judging only if the author has provided return postage on a self-addressed envelope.
8. We accept only entries that do not require a delivery signature for us to receive them.
9. There shall be three cash prizes in each quarter: a First Prize of $1,000, a Second Prize of $750, and a Third Prize of $500, in US dollars. In addition, at the end of the year the first place winners will have their entries judged by a panel of judges, and a Grand Prize winner shall be determined and receive an additional $5,000. All winners will also receive trophies.
10. The Contest has four quarters, beginning on October 1, January 1, April 1 and July 1. The year will end on September 30. To be eligible for judging in its quarter, an entry must be postmarked or received electronically no later than midnight on the last day of the quarter. Late entries will be included in the following quarter and the Contest Administration will so notify the entrant.
11. Each entrant may submit only one manuscript per quarter. Winners are ineligible to make further entries in the Contest.
12. All entries for each quarter are final. No revisions are accepted.
13. Entries will be judged by professional authors. The decisions of the judges are entirely their own and are final and binding.
14. Winners in each quarter will be individually notified of the results by phone, mail or e-mail.
15. This Contest is void where prohibited by law.
16. To send your entry electronically, go to: writersofthefuture.com/enter-writer-contest and follow the instructions.

To send your entry in hard copy, mail it to:
L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest
7051 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90028

Visit the website for details: https://www.writersofthefuture.com/enter-writer-contest/