There are a lot of great contests coming up in September, some with hefty prizes.
The Sunday Times is offering £30,000.00 for a winning short story. Published books can win £10,000.00 and $35,000 in two of these contests, and there are also substantial prizes for short works.
The Silver Linings contest is giving $2000, and Life Lessons is awarding $3,000 for personal essays. There are also prizes for poetry, fiction, and non-fiction.
Good luck!
____________________
Good Housekeeping "Silver Linings" Contest. "Tell us about a time when a wrong turn took you to the right place or you found unexpected happiness at the end of a long road." Restrictions: Open to anyone age 21 or older who is a legal resident of the United States, the District of Columbia, or Canada (excluding Quebec). Genre: Story of 1,500 to 2,500 words. Prize: $2000. Deadline: September 1, 2015. Read more details here.
Helen Schaible International Shakespearean / Petrarchan Sonnet Contest. Genre: Poetry. Prize: First Prize $50. Second Prize $35. Third Prize $15. Deadline: September 1, 2015. Read more details here.
Hudson Review Short Story Contest. Genre: Short stories 10,000 words and under. Prize: First prize is $500, second and third are $250 each. Deadline: September 1, 2015. Read more details here.
Payton James Freeman Essay Prize is sponsored by the Freeman Family and the Drake University Department of English. Restrictions: Open to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Prize: $500 and publication in The Rumpus magazine. Genre: Unpublished non-fiction essay of up to 3500 words on the subject: THE STUPID LITTLE THING THAT SAVED ME. Deadline: September 1, 2015. Read more details here.
Jerwood Awards for Nonfiction. Sponsored by Royal Society of Literature. Restrictions: UK and Irish citizens and those who have been resident in the UK for the past three years are all eligible. Genre: Open to writers engaged on their first commissioned works of non-fiction. Prize: £10,000.00 and two awards of 5,000 pounds each. Deadline: September 7, 2015. Read more details here.
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program. Restrictions: Publishers recommend writers making a strong literary debut. Authors cannot submit their own work to the program; self-published writers and titles published via print-on-demand or available only as NOOK books are also ineligible for submission. Genres: Literary fiction, short story collections and literary non-fiction, such as travel essays, memoirs, or other non-fiction with a strong narrative will be considered. Books should be intended for an adult or a young adult audience. Prize: $35,000 to six writers. Deadline: September 10, 2015. Read more details here.
Princemere Poetry Prize. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $300. Deadline: September 14, 2015. Read more details here.
Drake Emerging Writer Award. Restrictions: Authors must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and must agree to attend and participate in the reading at Drake University in April 2015 to receive the award. Genre: First published book of poetry. Prize $1,000. Deadline: September 15, 2015.
Ethnographic Poetry Award. Sponsored by The Society for Humanistic Anthropology. Genre: Poetry associated with any of the five fields of anthropology: Archaeological, Biological, Linguistic, Sociocultural and Applied. Prize $100. Deadline: September 15, 2015. Read more details here.
Past Loves Day Story Contest. Genre: Personal essay. Nearly everyone has memories of a former sweetheart. Write your true story of an earlier love, in no more than 700 words. Tell us about someone whose memory brings a smile or a tear, or both. Prize: First Prize: $100; Second Prize: $75; Third Prize: $50. Deadline: September 17, 2015. Read more details here.
Life Lessons Essay Contest. Restrictions: Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, age 19 or older at time of entry. Genre: Personal essay. Would your world now be completely different—even unthinkable—if, at some point in the past, you hadn’t made a seemingly random choice? Tell us about it. Prize: $3,000. Deadline: September 21, 2015. Read more details here.
Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. Restrictions: Open to authors from anywhere in the world, as long as they have a previous record of publication in creative writing in the UK and Ireland. Stories must be previously unpublished, or first published after 1 January 2015. Genre: Short story. All entries must be 6,000 words or under and entirely original. Prize: £30,000.00. Deadline: September 24, 2015. Read more details here.
L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest is held four times a year. Restrictions: 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 six cents per word, and at least 5,000 copies, or 5,000 hits. Genre: Short stories or novelettes of science fiction or fantasy. Prizes: $1,000, $750, $500, Annual Grand Prize: $5,000. Deadline: September 30, 2014. Read more details here.
Lee & Low Books New Voices Award is sponsored by Lee &Low Publishers. Restrictions: The contest is open to writers of color who are residents of the United States and who have not previously had a children’s picture book published. Genre: Children's books - fiction, nonfiction or poetry. Prize: $1,000. Deadline: September 30, 2015. Read more details here.
Authors First Writing Contest is sponsored by Authors First, located at P.O. Box 4331, Stamford, Connecticut 06907. Restrictions: The contest is open to international submissions from aspiring writers anywhere in the world. However, if the novel or story has been published in any form (including any self-publishing outlets), then it is ineligible for entry in the Contest. Genres: Novels of at least 40,000 words and short stories less than 20,000 words. Prize: Novels: Publishing contract with The Story Plant, $5,000, An iPad Mini, One year’s supply of books from The Story Plant. Short stories: A contract to publish the story in the Authors First anthology (to be published by The Story Plant) with a pro-rated share of royalties. Deadline: September 30, 2015. Read more details here.
Eric Hoffer Award for Short Prose. Restrictions: The contest is open to everyone. Genre: Works of short prose less than 10,000 words, previously unpublished, or published with a circulation of less than 500. Prize: $250. Deadline: September 30, 2015. Read more details here.
Intergeneration Short Storytelling Contest. Restrictions: The contest is open to everyone. Genre: Stories must be original, unpublished, and include at least two generations. Stories may not exceed 300 words (not including title). Prize: $100. Deadline: September 30, 2015. Read more details here.
Iowa Short Fiction and John Simmons Short Fiction Awards. Genre: Short story collection. The manuscript must be a collection of short stories in English of at least 150 word-processed, double-spaced pages. Prize: Publication by the University of Iowa Press, royalties. Deadline: September 30, 2015. Read more details here.
Jerry Jazz Musician Fiction Contest. Genre: Short fiction. Prize: $100. Deadline: September 30, 2015. Read more details here.
Student Travel Writing Contest. Restrictions: Open to currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students, students who have graduated within the past year, and students currently on leave from school. Genre: Personal essay about living/working abroad. Prize: 1st Place: $500; 2nd Place: $150; 3rd Place: $100; Runner-up: $50. Deadline: September 30, 2015. Read more details here.
The Sunday Times is offering £30,000.00 for a winning short story. Published books can win £10,000.00 and $35,000 in two of these contests, and there are also substantial prizes for short works.
The Silver Linings contest is giving $2000, and Life Lessons is awarding $3,000 for personal essays. There are also prizes for poetry, fiction, and non-fiction.
Good luck!
____________________
Good Housekeeping "Silver Linings" Contest. "Tell us about a time when a wrong turn took you to the right place or you found unexpected happiness at the end of a long road." Restrictions: Open to anyone age 21 or older who is a legal resident of the United States, the District of Columbia, or Canada (excluding Quebec). Genre: Story of 1,500 to 2,500 words. Prize: $2000. Deadline: September 1, 2015. Read more details here.
Helen Schaible International Shakespearean / Petrarchan Sonnet Contest. Genre: Poetry. Prize: First Prize $50. Second Prize $35. Third Prize $15. Deadline: September 1, 2015. Read more details here.
Hudson Review Short Story Contest. Genre: Short stories 10,000 words and under. Prize: First prize is $500, second and third are $250 each. Deadline: September 1, 2015. Read more details here.
Payton James Freeman Essay Prize is sponsored by the Freeman Family and the Drake University Department of English. Restrictions: Open to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Prize: $500 and publication in The Rumpus magazine. Genre: Unpublished non-fiction essay of up to 3500 words on the subject: THE STUPID LITTLE THING THAT SAVED ME. Deadline: September 1, 2015. Read more details here.
Jerwood Awards for Nonfiction. Sponsored by Royal Society of Literature. Restrictions: UK and Irish citizens and those who have been resident in the UK for the past three years are all eligible. Genre: Open to writers engaged on their first commissioned works of non-fiction. Prize: £10,000.00 and two awards of 5,000 pounds each. Deadline: September 7, 2015. Read more details here.
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program. Restrictions: Publishers recommend writers making a strong literary debut. Authors cannot submit their own work to the program; self-published writers and titles published via print-on-demand or available only as NOOK books are also ineligible for submission. Genres: Literary fiction, short story collections and literary non-fiction, such as travel essays, memoirs, or other non-fiction with a strong narrative will be considered. Books should be intended for an adult or a young adult audience. Prize: $35,000 to six writers. Deadline: September 10, 2015. Read more details here.
Princemere Poetry Prize. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $300. Deadline: September 14, 2015. Read more details here.
Drake Emerging Writer Award. Restrictions: Authors must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and must agree to attend and participate in the reading at Drake University in April 2015 to receive the award. Genre: First published book of poetry. Prize $1,000. Deadline: September 15, 2015.
Ethnographic Poetry Award. Sponsored by The Society for Humanistic Anthropology. Genre: Poetry associated with any of the five fields of anthropology: Archaeological, Biological, Linguistic, Sociocultural and Applied. Prize $100. Deadline: September 15, 2015. Read more details here.
Past Loves Day Story Contest. Genre: Personal essay. Nearly everyone has memories of a former sweetheart. Write your true story of an earlier love, in no more than 700 words. Tell us about someone whose memory brings a smile or a tear, or both. Prize: First Prize: $100; Second Prize: $75; Third Prize: $50. Deadline: September 17, 2015. Read more details here.
Life Lessons Essay Contest. Restrictions: Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, age 19 or older at time of entry. Genre: Personal essay. Would your world now be completely different—even unthinkable—if, at some point in the past, you hadn’t made a seemingly random choice? Tell us about it. Prize: $3,000. Deadline: September 21, 2015. Read more details here.
Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. Restrictions: Open to authors from anywhere in the world, as long as they have a previous record of publication in creative writing in the UK and Ireland. Stories must be previously unpublished, or first published after 1 January 2015. Genre: Short story. All entries must be 6,000 words or under and entirely original. Prize: £30,000.00. Deadline: September 24, 2015. Read more details here.
L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest is held four times a year. Restrictions: 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 six cents per word, and at least 5,000 copies, or 5,000 hits. Genre: Short stories or novelettes of science fiction or fantasy. Prizes: $1,000, $750, $500, Annual Grand Prize: $5,000. Deadline: September 30, 2014. Read more details here.
Lee & Low Books New Voices Award is sponsored by Lee &Low Publishers. Restrictions: The contest is open to writers of color who are residents of the United States and who have not previously had a children’s picture book published. Genre: Children's books - fiction, nonfiction or poetry. Prize: $1,000. Deadline: September 30, 2015. Read more details here.
Authors First Writing Contest is sponsored by Authors First, located at P.O. Box 4331, Stamford, Connecticut 06907. Restrictions: The contest is open to international submissions from aspiring writers anywhere in the world. However, if the novel or story has been published in any form (including any self-publishing outlets), then it is ineligible for entry in the Contest. Genres: Novels of at least 40,000 words and short stories less than 20,000 words. Prize: Novels: Publishing contract with The Story Plant, $5,000, An iPad Mini, One year’s supply of books from The Story Plant. Short stories: A contract to publish the story in the Authors First anthology (to be published by The Story Plant) with a pro-rated share of royalties. Deadline: September 30, 2015. Read more details here.
Eric Hoffer Award for Short Prose. Restrictions: The contest is open to everyone. Genre: Works of short prose less than 10,000 words, previously unpublished, or published with a circulation of less than 500. Prize: $250. Deadline: September 30, 2015. Read more details here.
Intergeneration Short Storytelling Contest. Restrictions: The contest is open to everyone. Genre: Stories must be original, unpublished, and include at least two generations. Stories may not exceed 300 words (not including title). Prize: $100. Deadline: September 30, 2015. Read more details here.
Iowa Short Fiction and John Simmons Short Fiction Awards. Genre: Short story collection. The manuscript must be a collection of short stories in English of at least 150 word-processed, double-spaced pages. Prize: Publication by the University of Iowa Press, royalties. Deadline: September 30, 2015. Read more details here.
Jerry Jazz Musician Fiction Contest. Genre: Short fiction. Prize: $100. Deadline: September 30, 2015. Read more details here.
Student Travel Writing Contest. Restrictions: Open to currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students, students who have graduated within the past year, and students currently on leave from school. Genre: Personal essay about living/working abroad. Prize: 1st Place: $500; 2nd Place: $150; 3rd Place: $100; Runner-up: $50. Deadline: September 30, 2015. Read more details here.
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