August and September writing competitions

Here are some writing competitions that offer cash prizes or publication. Most require entry fees. Information given here is not complete nor have I vetted these competitions so please research the organizations before submitting. Sorry for the short notice on early August competitions!

August Deadlines

Deadline: August 3, 2008 Rose City Romance Writers 2008 Golden Rose entries of 55 total pages of a completed manuscript excerpt and synopsis (both judged). Completely electronic submission. $35.00 fee. Prize is exposure to editors and possible contract.

Deadline: August 8, 2008, The 5th Annual Gival Press Short Story Award , submissions of a previously unpublished original (not a translation) short story in English must be approximately 5,000 to 15,000 words of high literary quality, $1,000 prize, $25.00 fee.


Deadline: August 15, 2008, ERIAN PRESS and THE BEST BOOK AWARDS, $50 ENTRY FEE, Best Book Awards were established to recognize meritorious works by writers who self-published or had their books published by a small press or independent book publisher. POD books are eligible. Open to selected book length fiction and non-fiction titles with a 2007 or 2008 copyright, published in the English language and targeted for an adult audience in the North American market. Two Grand Prizes of $500.

Deadline: August 15, 2008, Warren Adler Short Story Contest , humor theme from satire to farce, from the whimsical to the uproarious, 1,000 - 2,500 words, entry fee up until August 1st is $15, after August 1st entry fee is $20.00. Five prizes: 1st Prize: $1,000, People's Choice Prize $500, remaining finalists receive $150 each.

Deadline: Aug 29, 2008 KATHERINE ANNE PORTER PRIZE IN SHORT FICTION, Prize: $1,000.00. Entry fee: $25.00. Entries can be a combination of short-shorts, short stories, and novellas, from 100 to 200 book pages in length (word count between 27,500 and 50,000). Material should be previously unpublished in book form.


Deadline: Aug 31, 2008, Glimmer Train is running monthly competitions, August--very short fiction up to 3,000 words, $15.00 fee $1,200 first place plus publication and copies other prizes $500/$300



September Deadlines


Deadline: Sept 1, 2008, American Literary Review, The winner in each category (Short Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry) will receive $ 1,000 and publication in our Fall 2009 issue. Short Fiction (limit 8,000 words), Creative Nonfiction (limit 6,500 words), one work per entry ($15), per work.

Deadline: Sept 1, 2008 MIGHTY RIVER SHORT STORY CONTEST Prize: $500.00 and publication in Big Muddy: A Journal of the Mississippi River Valley. Entry fee: $15.00, best short story relating to the Mississippi River, the River Valley, or a sister River: its landscape, people, culture, history, current events, or future. Semi-finalists will be chosen by a regional team of published writers. The final manuscript will be chosen by Susan Swartwout, publisher of Southeast Missouri State University Press.

Deadline: September 10, 2008, Hunger Mountain, The Vermont College Journal of Arts & Letters, Second Annual Hunger Mountain Creative Nonfiction Prize One $1,000.00 prize winner receives publication in the Spring 2009 Issue; two honorable mentions receive $100.00 each, $15.00 fee.

Late addition, deadline: Sept 15, 2008, Tony Hillerman Mystery Short Story Contest, Co-sponsored by Cowboys & Indians magazine, Seeking 2500 word unpublished mystery short stories set in the Western or Southwestern United States, Story must include at least one cowboy and/or Native American character, Prize: $1500 and publication in the March issue of the magazine.

Deadline: Sept 20, 2008, LITERAL LATTE ESSAY AWARDS, Prize: $1,000.00. Send unpublished essays, 8,000 word max. All styles and subjects. First Prize: $1,000. Second Prize: $300. Third Prize: $200. Include $10 reading fee per essay or $15 includes fee for 2 essay. All entries considered for publication.

Deadline: Sept 21, 2008, GLASS WOMAN PRIZE, for a work of short fiction or creative non-fiction (prose) written by a woman between 50 and 5,000 words. The top prize for the fourth Glass Woman Prize award is US $600 and possible (but not obligatory) online publication; two runners up prizes of $100 each. Subject must be of significance to women. Citerion is passion, excellence, and authenticity in the woman’s writing voice. Previously published work and simultaneous submissions are OK.

Deadline: Sept 30, 2008 Glimmer Train is running monthly competitions, Septerber is open fiction 2,000 – 20,000 words, $20.00 fee $2,000 first place plus publication and copies other prizes $1,000/$600

Break a leg!