Category Archives: Contests September

2011 Gateway to the Best Writing Contest

Posted on August 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

Deadline: September 9, 2011

Fee: $20-30

Guidelines: Missouri RWA

Here’s a contest for unpublished novel manuscripts. If you enter more than once, the subsequent entries are half price. The thing that makes a contest like this worth the 20 or 30 bucks is you get a critique with your entry, whether you win or not.

The following is the official announcement from MORWA.

***Permission to forward is granted and greatly appreciated.***

**2011 Gateway to the Best – Open now!

Missouri Romance Writers of America (MORWA) is proud to announce the opening of their annual contest – Gateway to the Best. With six categories, there’s sure to be one for your manuscript.

As summer draws to a close, Gateway’s first round judges are waiting for your manuscript.

Contest closes September 9th, 2011

No synopsis needed. Send in the first 7000 words of your manuscript.

Costs: $20 for MORWA Members for 1st entry & $10 for additional entries, $30 for Non-MORWA Members for 1st entry & $15 for additional entries

Eligibility: Open to unpublished authors and authors who have not been contracted in novel-length fiction (40,000+) in last 3 years.

Entry: Electronic entry only. Entry length limited to first 7,000 words (25-28 pages). No synopsis.
Categories: Contemporary Series, Historical, Young Adult, Romantic Suspense, Single Title & Paranormal

Final Judges:

Laura Barth – Harlequin: Contemporary Series

Esi Sogah – Harper Collins: Historical

Adam Wilson – Harlequin Teen: YA

Margo Lipschultz – Harlequin: Romantic Suspense

Katherine Pelz – Berkley: Single Title

Latoya Smith – Grand Central Publishing: Paranormal

Grand Prize: $100 & entire manuscript critiqued by published author.

For more information go to http://www.morwa.org/gateway.htm

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Tenth Glass Woman Prize Writing Contest

Posted on August 2, 2011 | Leave a comment

Deadline: September 21, 2011

Entry Fee: Free

Guidelines: Glass Woman Prize

The purpose of this contest is to get women to express themselves in writing and support each other through their writing, honoring each other’s thoughts.It seems to be working; The Blue Fifth Review featured several of the stories from the last contest on their website. Click on the link and read them to get a feel for the quality of the writing submitted to this contest.

Only one submission is allowed per writer, per reading period. Winners receive up to $500 and possible publication.

Word of note: This contest is supported solely by the founder, Beate, whose dream is to help women find their voices.

Good luck and happy writing!

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Robert Watson Literary Prizes

Posted on July 26, 2011 | Leave a comment

Deadline: September 15, 2011

Entry Fee: $14

Guidelines: The Greensboro Review

This is an annual contest sponsored by the The Greensboro Review, a literary magazine published by the MFA program at the University of North Carolina. Winners receive $1000 and publication in the Spring issue.

You may enter both fiction and poetry. They accept snail mail submissions and online submissions as well.

Good luck and happy writing!

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Still Moments Publishing Call for Submissions

Posted on May 17, 2011 | 1 Comment

Deadline: May 29, 2011

Guidelines: Still Moments Publishing

Still Moments Publishing is opening its online doors with a Summer Heat edition. They’re looking for published and unpublished writers with a strong, engaging, short romantic story to share.

Stories should be previously unpublished and between 1,000 and 5,000 words long. Almost any romance genre is acceptable as long as they have a hero and heroine and of course, the requisite HEA. They ask that you rate it sweet to sexy. The magazine is intended to have a PG rating, so erotic romance is out.

Payment is in the form of a full-page ad for a published writer. For unpublished writers they offer the same amount of ad space to promote your writing or provide another sample of your writing.

For more information, check out the guidelines at their site.

Happy writing!

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In the Line of Fire Anthology

Posted on May 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

Deadline: September 1, 2011

Guidelines: Etopia Press

If you love romantic suspense, with a strong hero and heroine, fighting a dangerous enemy, this may be the market for you. They are looking for stories with plenty of tension, suspense, conflict, and a dose o hot romance thrown in.

Stories may be 25,000 words to novel length. Longer works will be released in print as well as digital, the shorter works will be in ebook format only. Read the entire submissions page for complete guidelines.

In addition to this anthology, Etopia Press is looking for stories in all genres. Read about Etopia and two other publishers that accept unagented submissions in my Suite101 article.

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Fairy Tale Magazine Open to Submissions

Posted on February 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

Fee: FREE

Deadline: Feb. 24, 2011, May 14, 2011, June 30, 2011, and September 30, 2011

Guidelines: Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine

Payment: Fiction and nonfiction: $0.10 per word, Poetry: $50 flat rate

Picture of fairies by moonlight

Image by Jeroen Kransen, Queen Fabiola's Fairy Tale

Fairy tales aren’t just for children anymore. This magazine takes fairy tales to new realms of wonder and enchantment.

The deadlines above are for different issues. The February issue is with a Rumpelstilstkin theme. Check the website for the themes of each subsequent issue. Read the guidelines carefully, because the open window for submissions is usually just a few days long.

You may write a story up to 1,500 words following the issue’s theme, or submit original poetry. Fairy tales are all about the romance of true love and dreams coming true. Unless they’re of the darker kind, such as where witches eat children or mermaids turn into sea foam.

If you love fairy tales and you love creating new enchanted stories or poems, check out this site. The artwork is phenomenal.

I’m a fairy tale lover, and have a new story East of the Sun and West of the Moon Redux coming out in the July 2011 issue of Pink Narcissus Press. If you get published in A Fairy Tale Magazine, share your good news here. I’ll tweet it for you.

Have fun writing your new fairy tale!

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Posted in Contests February, Contests June, Contests May, Contests September, Writing, Writing markets

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Writers of the Future Contest

Posted on February 17, 2011 | Leave a comment

Entry Fee: FREE

Deadline: March 31,  June 30, September 30, December 31 every year.

Genre: Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction and Fantasy

Guidelines: Writers of the Future Contest Rules

If you’re a new writer, and you’ve not been professionally published in a novel, more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, then you can enter this popular contest. It is judged by some of the biggest names in science fiction today, such as Kevin Anderson, Orson Scott Card, and Anne McCaffrey. The contest began in 1988 and is still well respected.

This contest is free to enter, and awards are given every three months. All rights to the story remain the property of the author, which means it may be published elsewhere or in different formats. Enter a short story or novelette up to 17,000 words. They use a blind judging process, so after the cover note, only include the title and page number in the header, not your name.

SEND YOUR ENTRY BY MAIL TO:
L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest
PO Box 1630
Los Angeles, CA 90078

Only one entry per quarter is allowed.

Prizes are:

  • $1000 for first place
  • $750 for second
  • $500 for third.

What are you waiting for? The future is yours!

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Posted in Contests, Contests December, Contests June, Contests March, Contests September, Writing

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St. Martin’s Press Short Story Contest

Posted on September 14, 2010 | Leave a comment

Entry Fee: FREE

Deadline: October 1, 2010

Guidelines: http://us.macmillan.com/smp/promo/jeffreyarcherpresents

Contests as good as this one don’t come along often. St. Martin’s Press is offering a publishing contract for an e-book to the grand prize winner of this short story contest. Judging will begin on or about October 2, by St. Martin’s Press. The final decision on the winning entry will be made by Jeffrey Archer.

If you’ve been looking for a way to break in and get your name out there, this might be an option. But time is running out. Send your best, most creative, most original, and most well written story, up to 5,000 words to the St. Martin’s Press “Jeffrey Archer Presents” Short Story Competition.

Good luck!

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Reading Writers Intense Suspense Contest

Posted on June 16, 2010 | Leave a comment

Deadline: September 15, 2010 at midnight ET

Entry fee: FREE

Guidelines: http://www.readingwriters.com/contest.htm

Innocent victim. Evil entity. Dead cell phone. 1,500 words.

Can you do it? Can you write a story with these elements that will keep readers on the edge of their seats, gasping for breath, unable to sleep for fear of the nightmares your story will induce?

Yes, you say? Then send that story in to the Intense Suspense contest and see if you can win $100 and get published.

Reading Writers, publishers of The Verb, regularly run writing contests for short stories. The winning entry is published, along with a story opinion by the judge, Elizabeth Guy. Authors of stories that don’t win may order a story opinion.

Good luck, and happy writing!

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Writers of the Future Contest

Posted on April 7, 2010 | 1 Comment

Entry Fee: FREE

Deadline: March 31,  June 30, September 30, December 31 every year.

Genre: Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction and Fantasy

Guidelines: http://www.writersofthefuture.com/rules.htm

If you’re a new writer, and you’ve not been professionally published in a novel, more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, then you can enter this popular contest. It is judged by some of the biggest names in science fiction today, such as Kevin Anderson, Orson Scott Card, and Anne McCaffrey. The contest began in 1988 and is still well respected.

The website has forums for writers, and plenty of tips for those who want to learn more about writing in these genres. A short YouTube book trailer is on the main page, and an interview with Orson Scott Card is on the “How to Win” page. He talks about reasons why to enter this particular contest.

If you win, your story will be published in the L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Anthology. Prizes are $1000 for first place, $750 for second, and $500 for third. In addition, the winners will receive a trip to the award ceremony in Seattle, and be registered for a week-long workshop. So what are you waiting for? The future is yours!

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Posted in Contests, Contests Anytime, Contests December, Contests June, Contests March, Contests September

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