UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2020
For a change of pace from client work, why don’t you consider entering writing contests in 2020? It will give you a chance to flex your creative writing muscle in a way you don’t normally get to when you are doing work for other people.
Along with the chance to win some money, you get to have your work seen and evaluated by judges who often bring some impressive credentials to the table.
If you ever get the opportunity to see their scorecards or get some feedback, do take it. You may find something valuable in what they have to say about your writing.
Enter these writing contests in 2020 to flex your writing muscles and make some earnings while you're at it. Click To Tweet
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As always, when entering writing contests, follow the instructions precisely. If there is something that isn’t clear, reach out to the organizers by email before the submission deadline to make sure you are submitting your entry correctly. You don’t want to have your submission rejected because of one small detail.
Writing Contests in 2020
SEPTEMBER
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Annual Anthology Contest
Guidelines and rules:
Word count: 4500-6000
Genre: Science Fiction
Theme: Dark Matter
Submissions accepted: May 6 – September 2, 2020
How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (double-spaced, no footers or headers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your full contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group.
The Hubert Butler Essay Prize is intended to encourage the art of essay-writing with a European dimension and to expand interest in Butler’s work.
The prize is designed to reflect Butler’s interest in the common ground between the European nation states that emerged after the First World War; his concern with the position of religious and ethnic minorities; his life and writings as an encapsulation of the mantra ‘Think globally, act locally’; the importance of the individual conscience; and his work with refugees.
The title for this year’s essay is “Communal solidarity and individual freedom: antagonists or allies?” and the application form can be found here.
Free to enter
Top prize: GBP 1,000
Deadline: September 4, 2020
The QueryLetter.com Writing Contest
Can you write a blurb for a hypothetical book?
This writing contest is all about book blurbs. The twist? We want blurbs about completely made-up, nonexistent books. Get creative!
Write and submit a back cover blurb of 100 words or fewer that sets the stage for a novel, establishes the characters, and raises the stakes in a way that makes readers want to find out more.
The award:
One prize of $500 to the best blurb.
Requirements:
Your blurb must be original. Any submissions found to contain plagiarism will be disqualified.
Submissions must be 100 words or fewer. Please run a spellcheck and proofread carefully.
You can apply from anywhere in the world. No purchase is necessary to enter this contest.
In applying, you grant us permission to publish your blurb entry on the QueryLetter.com blog.
Please apply by noon (US Eastern time) on September 15, 2020.
Troubadour International Poetry Prize 2020
Poems: Poems may be submitted from any country & must be in English, must each be no longer than 45 lines, must show title & poem only, must not show poet’s name, must be the original work of the entrant (no translations) & must not have been previously published; no text alterations accepted after submission; no limit on number of poems or number of subsequent submissions.
Submission: Email only, no postal entries: email your poems as attachments (.doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf only) to [email protected]; include in email: Poet’s Name & Address, Phone Number, List of Titles, Number of Poems, Total Fees, & PayPal Receipt Number.
Fees: £5/€6/$7 per poem (Sterling/Euro/US-Dollars only); payment via PayPal (see below, PayPal account not required).
Deadline: Submit by midnight (your local time) on Mon 28 Sep 2020; prize-winners will be contacted in week commencing Mon 16 Nov 2020.
Prizes:
- first prize £2,000
- second prize £1,000
- third prize £500
- plus 20 commendeds
Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest
Fee: $15.00 per poem
Length limit: 250 lines maximum per poem. No restriction on age of author. Authors from all countries eligible except Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Crimea (due to US government restrictions).
Prizes:
- TOM HOWARD PRIZE: $3,000 for a poem in any style or genre
- MARGARET REID PRIZE: $3,000 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style
- The top two winners will also receive two-year gift certificates from Duotrope (a $100 value)
- Honorable Mentions: 10 awards of $200 each (any style)
- Top 12 entries published online
Deadline: September 30, 2020
Established in 2015 to nurture the unique and vibrant channels through which fiction has carried us, the Red Hen Fiction Award is for a fresh and original story of fiction with a minimum of 150 pages. The awarded fiction manuscript is selected through an annual submission process which is open to all authors.
Award details
$1000
Book publication by Red Hen Press
Final Judge: Cai Emmons
Deadline: September 30, 2020
Notes: Entry fee is $25.00. Name on cover sheet only, with a 150-page minimum. Entries will be accepted via Submittable only.
Find websites that pay writers in 2020
OCTOBER
Communication Arts Interactive Competition
Enter the most prestigious design competition for interactive media, the Communication Arts Interactive Competition. Any interactive project created for digital distribution on desktop, interactive installation, handheld device, online service or the World Wide Web is eligible.
A wide range of content is accepted, including e-books.
Deadline for free entry is October 9, 2020. Entries from October 10-23 are $10 each.
Dreame Writing Academy Competition: $100,000 in Cash Prizes!
Enter Dreame Writing Academy Competition for Your Chance to Win!
Dreame Writing Academy Competition Free-entry No Genre Limitation
Follow your passion for writing and enter the competition today – No entry fees.
The Overall Grand Prize Winner will win up to $45,000!
Free writing courses are provided weekly.
Promotional opportunities will be awarded to FIRST PLACE Winner as well.
Prizes:
Session One:
(Winners announced on October 30, 2020 )
1st Place: $15000
2nd Place: $5000
3rd Place: $3000
(4th-10th place): $1500 Each
Session Two:
(Winners announced on February 25, 2021)
1st Place: $30000
2nd Place: $10000
3rd Place: $6000
(4th-10th place): $3000 Each
Timing and Wordcounts:
Dreame Writing Academy starts on July 15, 2020, and ends on January 14, 2021.
To Win Session One Prizes: entries must have more than 80,000 words before October 14, 2020.
To Win Session Two Prizes: entries must have more than 200,000 words before January 14, 2021.
Pulp Literature editors collect stories like ravens in the woods, swooping down on what catches our eye and bringing the treasures — sometimes sparkling, sometimes grisly, but always fascinating — home to our nests. Want feedback on your story? Get a professional critique from one of the Pulp Literature editors for only $25 more. Show us your most scintillating treasures in the form of short fiction up to 2500 words in length and you could be the one bringing home $300 to line your nest!
Contest opens: 1 September 2020
Deadline: 15 October 2020
Winner notified: 15 November 2020
Winner published in: Issue 30, Spring 2021
Prize: $300
Entry fee: $20
Editorial critique: $25
Earlybird fee (before 15 September): $15
Entry fees include a 1-year digital subscription to Pulp Literature
This contest is for previously unpublished short fiction between 500 and 2500 words in length. Multiple entries welcome. Total entries limited to 200.
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
Submission guidelines are as follows:
- Books must be published in 2020.
- Authors must be living American permanent residents.
- Books must be published by a juried commercial, academic, or small press. No self-published books are accepted.
- There are no submission fees or application forms.
- Advanced reading copies or proofs are eligible for submission for books that will be published in November or December of 2020.
- All submissions must be received by October 31, 2020.
- Please send an easy to read PDF of each book to the following email address for forwarding to the judges. You are invited to send as many books as you like, and you are encouraged to send available books as soon as possible.
City Limits Publication – Various Categories
Poems of Political Protest Contest
Short Story Contest
Novel Contest with Cash Prize and Publishing Contract!
City Limits 2020 Poetry Contest: Words, Words, Words
And more!
UNESCO and Idries Shah Foundation – “World Tales” Short Story Competition
With the aim to foster imagination, resourcefulness and ingenuity, UNESCO and the Idries Shah Foundation (ISF) launch the World Tales Short Story Competition in close collaboration with the International Coalition of Inclusive and Sustainable Cities of UNESCO (ICCAR). Young teenagers from all over the globe are invited to write about challenges of today and tomorrow in the format of a short story, and share their perspectives.
The theme of this 2020 First Edition is “Once upon a time in my future”.
Who is eligible?
Participants must be between 12 and 18 years old (inclusive). The Competition is open to all regardless of their nationality or city of residence.
How to participate?
Entries must be:
- Short stories of 250 to 500 words;
- Typed in English or French using Arial 12-point Regular font;
- Original unpublished works of fiction;
- Stories on the potential for future societies to be fair, inclusive, peaceful, resilient, sustainable and/or tolerant.
Attention: please note that entries not respecting all of the requirements will not be considered.
Deadline: October 15, 2020
NOVEMBER
Poems of Political Protest Contest
Short Story Contest
Novel Contest with Cash Prize and Publishing Contract!
City Limits 2020 Poetry Contest: Words, Words, Words
And more!
John Steinbeck Award for Fiction
Awarding one of the richest purses among literary magazines—$1,000 for the winning story—the John Steinbeck Award for Fiction recognizes exceptional works of fiction. Aesthetically, we are open to most styles and approaches, including experimental and literary. All works should be stand-alone short stories, not chapters of a longer work. Please limit prose submissions to 5,000 words.
The contest reading fee is $20, which includes a free copy of the latest edition of Reed. (Please note that submitters with US addresses on file will receive print copies of the journal, whereas those with overseas addresses will receive digital copies.) Multiple submissions are accepted as separate entries. Contest submissions not selected for final judging may still be considered for publication in the magazine.
Deadline: November 1, 2020
Inkitt’s Writing Contests regularly give authors the opportunity to share their books with readers around the world and showcase their talents.
Our monthly cash prizes give you the chance to win money and exclusive book badges for your writing!
Each month one grand prize winner, and two runners up will be selected.
1st prize: $300, an exclusive badge for your book cover and Inkitt social media feature!
2nd prize: Exclusive 2nd place book badge and Inkitt social media feature!
3rd prize: Exclusive 3rd place book badge!
PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers
The PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers recognizes 12 emerging writers each year for their debut short story published in a literary magazine, journal, or cultural website, and aims to support the launch of their careers as fiction writers.
Each of the 12 winning writers receives a cash prize of $2,000, and the independent book publisher Catapult will publish the 12 winning stories in an annual anthology entitled Best Debut Short Stories: The PEN America Dau Prize, which will acknowledge the literary magazines and websites where the stories were originally published.
Deadline: November 15, 2020
WOW! Women On Writing Fall 2020 Flash Fiction Contest
WOW! hosts a (quarterly) writing contest every three months, and has done so since 2006. The mission of this contest is to inspire creativity, great writing, and provide well-rewarded recognition to contestants. The WOW Flash Fiction Contest has awarded over $80,000 in cash to writers since its inception. The contest is open globally; age is of no matter; and entries must be in English. We are open to all styles and genres of flash fiction, although we do encourage you to take a close look at our guest judge for the season (upper right hand corner) if you are serious about winning.
WORD COUNT:
Maximum: 750
Minimum: 250
The title is not to be counted in your word count. We use MS Word’s word count to determine the submitted entry’s word count.
Deadline: November 30, 2020
ServiceScape Short Story Award 2020
Calling all short story writers: Are you a short story writer interested in gaining more exposure and a bigger audience for your creative work? Would an extra $1,000.00 USD in your pocket be a great thing right now?
If so, our ServiceScape Short Story Award is the perfect way to achieve both. For this award, any genre or theme of short story is accepted. All applicants should submit their original unpublished work of short fiction or nonfiction, 5,000 words or fewer, to be considered. Along with receiving an award for $1,000.00 USD, the winner will have his or her short story featured within our blog, which reaches thousands of readers per month. Rules and exclusions apply.
Deadline: November 30, 2020
DECEMBER
Phyllis Smart-Young Prize in Poetry and the Chris O’Malley Prize in Fiction
The finest unpublished short story and finest group of three unpublished poems will be awarded $1,000 with publication in an issue of The Madison Review. Writers may submit one entry per genre (one short story and/or group of three poems).
These contests are open every Fall Semester from November 1st to January 1st.
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