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Scriptation Showcase
Showcase Script Competition
Genres: Script Writing and Short Story
The Scriptation Showcase is a screenwriting contest that offers exposure to Hollywood industry professionals. Winners' scripts are circulated to directors, showrunners, and producers. The contest includes analysis and feedback on submissions through ScreenplayIQ.
Top Prize:
$1,000
Additional prizes:
$500 cash for best script in each category
💰 Entry fee: $59
📅 Deadline: July 20, 2025
Hastings Book Festival Short Story Competition
Hastings Book Festival
Genres: Short Story
An annual competition for short stories, inviting entries from writers worldwide. The contest emphasizes creative writing with no thematic restrictions.
Top Prize:
£250
Additional prizes:
2nd: £100 | 3rd: £50
💰 Entry fee: $10
📅 Deadline: July 07, 2024 (Expired)
Stringybark Open Short Story Award 2024
Stringybark Publishing
Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Short Story, Crime, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Science Fiction, Thriller, and Young Adult
The Stringybark Open Short Story Award 2024 is a literary competition that invites entries of original short stories. Stories must relate to Australia in some way, with a maximum length of 1500 words. The award aims to encourage writers and promote Australian storytelling.
Top Prize:
$500
Additional prizes:
2nd: $300 | 3rd: $150
💰 Entry fee: $15
📅 Deadline: February 25, 2024 (Expired)
Ethos Literacy Annual Short Short Story Contest
Ethos Literacy
Genres: Fiction, Flash Fiction, and Short Story
The contest invites participants to write a story of exactly 100 words on topics like envy, eyeglasses, nightmares, or turtles. It is open to all ages, including international writers. Winning stories will be published in an e-zine.
Top Prize:
$200
Additional prizes:
6 cash prizes of $100 each + publication in digital magazine, inclusion in webcast
💰 Entry fee: $10
📅 Deadline: February 01, 2024 (Expired)
2024 Spring Prose & Poetry Contest
Onyx Publications
Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Thriller
The contest awarded prizes for both prose and poetry categories, with multiple winners for each.
Top Prize:
$500
Additional prizes:
Second place: $150 Third place: $75 Winner also gets publication and author interview on Story Discovery podcast.
💰 Entry fee: $12
📅 Deadline: May 05, 2024 (Expired)
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, and Short Story
The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize celebrates emerging voices in life writing, poetry, and fiction. It supports writers who have not published book-length works and offers a platform for diverse backgrounds. Winners receive a £1,000 cash prize and publication in Wasafiri.
Top Prize:
£1,000
Additional prizes:
Publication in Wasafiri magazine, mentoring through Chapter and Verse or Free Reads, career discussions with The Good Literary Agency, and a one-year print subscription.
💰 Entry fee: $15
📅 Deadline: September 30, 2024 (Expired)
Goldilocks Zone
Sunspot Literary Journal
Genres: Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Script Writing, and Short Story
The contest invites short stories, novel excerpts, graphic novels, and poems that showcase excellence in craft with reader appeal. It accepts literary or genre works without restrictions on theme.
Top Prize:
$100
Additional prizes:
Publication for the winner; publication offered to runners-up and finalists.
💰 Entry fee: $5
📅 Deadline: April 30, 2025
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Romance, and Short Story
The Booksie 2024 Short Story Contest invites writers to submit original short stories, with a maximum length of 5,000 words. The contest offers a grand prize of $500, along with badges for winners encoded on the blockchain. The contest aims to promote creativity and originality across all genres.
Top Prize:
$500
Additional prizes:
Gold winner badge, optional publication contract worth $100. Runners-up receive $100 cash and a silver winner badge
💰 Entry fee: $7
📅 Deadline: August 31, 2024 (Expired)
Moment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest
Moment Magazine and Karma Foundation
Genres: Fiction and Short Story
The Moment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest invites unpublished stories that focus on themes relating to Judaism or Jewish culture. Established in 2000, it has featured renowned judges and offers cash prizes for outstanding works.
Top Prize:
$1,000
Additional prizes:
Up to three prizes may be awarded.
💰 Entry fee: $25
📅 Deadline: November 01, 2024 (Expired)
The Book of the Year Awards
The Independent Author Network
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Thriller, Young Adult, Crime, and Short Story
The 11th Annual IAN Book of the Year Awards is an international contest open to all authors with 75 fiction and non-fiction categories. Winners share cash prizes totaling $6,000, including a Grand Prize of $2,500.
Top Prize:
$2,500
Additional prizes:
Minimum cash prizes of $1,000, $500, and $250 for first, second, and third places in each category respectively
💰 Entry fee: $49
📅 Deadline: August 16, 2025
Season Themes
HAVOK Publishing
Genres: Fantasy, Flash Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Thriller
Season Themes is a flash fiction contest that invites authors to create stories inspired by monthly themes and prompts. Each theme features a specific character prompt that authors must incorporate into their stories, allowing for creative interpretations across various genres.
Top Prize:
$100
Additional prizes:
Publication in an anthology. Potential for larger gift card wins.
📅 Deadline: January 17, 2025 (Expired)
Autumn 2024 Short Story Battle
Writing Battle, Inc.
Genres: Fiction, Short Story, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, and Thriller
A competitive writing platform for storytellers featuring stories judged by industry professionals. The Autumn Battle involves writing a 2000-word story in seven days.
Top Prize:
$2,000
Additional prizes:
$2000 prize for 4x Genre Winners; $500 prize for 4x Genre Runner-ups.
💰 Entry fee: $39
📅 Deadline: January 31, 2024 (Expired)
The Letter Review Prize for Books
The Letter Review
Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story, and Flash Fiction
The Letter Review Prize aims to celebrate new writing and support writers globally. It offers various categories including Short Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Unpublished Books, awarding the best entries with monetary prizes and publication opportunities.
Top Prize:
$1000 USD shared by 3 winners
Additional prizes:
Publication in Letter Review
💰 Entry fee: $25
📅 Deadline: December 31, 2024 (Expired)
Letter Review Prize for Short Stories
Letter Review
Genres: Fiction and Short Story
The Letter Review Prize for Short Stories is part of a broader contest that includes categories for essays, nonfiction, poetry, and unpublished books. Winners are typically announced every three months and all submissions are considered for publication.
Top Prize:
$1000 prize pool
Additional prizes:
Publication for winners
💰 Entry fee: $20
📅 Deadline: January 01, 2025 (Expired)
Youth Writing Contest
Vancouver Writer's Fest
Genres: Children's and Short Story
The Youth Writing Contest is an annual event organized by the Vancouver Writers Fest for students in British Columbia. It accepts short stories and personal essays, with two categories for different grade levels. It's supported by the Emily Carr University of Art + Design.
Top Prize:
$200
Additional prizes:
1st prize for high school and $100 for elementary, both with publication in the Books & Ideas Newsletter
💰 Entry fee: $0
📅 Deadline: May 31, 2024 (Expired)
Fabula Press Short Story Contest
Fabula Press
Genres: Fiction, Short Story, Horror, Mystery, and Science Fiction
The Fabula Press Short Story Contest encourages exceptional storytelling across genres, with no specific theme. Participants can submit entries for both free and paid categories. Winning stories may be published in an anthology.
Top Prize:
$500
Additional prizes:
2nd place: $250 3rd place: $100 Stories selected for publication: $75
📅 Deadline: June 11, 2024 (Expired)
Artificial Intelligence Competition
New Beginnings
Genres: Essay, Non-fiction, Science Fiction, Science Writing, and Short Story
There is no topic relating to technology that brings more discussion than artificial intelligence. Some people think it does wonders. Others see it as trouble. Let us know your opinion about AI in this competition. Include experiences you have had with AI. 300-word limit. Winners will be selected January 1, 2024. Open to anyone, anywhere.
Top Prize:
$100 CA
Additional prizes:
Publication
💰 Entry fee: $5
📅 Deadline: December 15, 2023 (Expired)
Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize
Desperate Literature
Genres: Fiction, Flash Fiction, and Short Story
The Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize aims to celebrate new short fiction, providing visibility for winners through cash prizes, residencies, and publication opportunities in various literary journals. It welcomes stories under 2000 words, with a commitment to supporting authors by connecting them with agents and opportunities.
Top Prize:
€2,000 + a week’s residency at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, consultation with Literary Agent Charlotte Seymour, manuscript assessment with The Literary Consultancy.
Additional prizes:
2nd and 3rd place: €1000, publication in a limited edition anthology, and participation in events.
💰 Entry fee: $20
📅 Deadline: December 04, 2024 (Expired)
Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award
Killer Nashville
Genres: Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Novel, Poetry, Science Fiction, Script Writing, Short Story, and Thriller
The Silver Falchion Award honors the best books published in 2024 across various genres, including mystery, thriller, suspense, and romance. The competition aims to recognize quality storytelling and is open to all published authors.
Top Prize:
$250
💰 Entry fee: $85
📅 Deadline: April 01, 2025
Edinburgh Short Story Award
Scottish Arts Trust
Genres: Crime, Humor, Romance, and Short Story
The Edinburgh Short Story Award is open to writers worldwide, welcoming stories of any genre. The award offers substantial cash prizes and the opportunity for publication in The Edinburgh Anthology. It emphasizes inclusivity through bursaries for underrepresented writers.
Top Prize:
$3,000
Additional prizes:
2nd: £500 | 3rd: £250 | Publication in the anthology for top twenty stories
💰 Entry fee: $12
📅 Deadline: February 28, 2025
Spring Microfiction Battle
Writing Battle
Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult
The Spring Microfiction Battle is part of the Writing Battle series, where participants write stories based on prompts. Participants receive feedback from peers and industry judges.
Top Prize:
$1,500
Additional prizes:
Genre Runner-up (x4): $375 Feedback by industry professionals. Various merchandise and opportunities for additional exposure in the community.
💰 Entry fee: $20
📅 Deadline: May 03, 2024 (Expired)
Bridport Short Story Prize
Bridport Arts Centre
Genres: Fiction and Short Story
Gail Honeyman was shortlisted in our competition and went on to write Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, winning the Costa debut novel award. All the winning and highly commended pieces are entered into the Sunday Times Audible competition, top prize £30,000. UK based writers are entered into the BBC short story competition. That's not all, literary agent A.M. Heath reads all the shortlist and considers representation. Long story short? You are 5,000 words away from success.
Top Prize:
£5000
Additional prizes:
£1000 for 2nd, £500 for 3rd
💰 Entry fee: $17
📅 Deadline: May 31, 2025
Folly Short Story Prize 2024
Folly Journal
Genres: Fiction, Humor, and Short Story
The Folly Short Story Prize aims to celebrate accessible, entertaining, and well-written stories. The prize launched in 2023, recognizing innovative and edgy writing. The winner of the 2024 contest will be featured in Folly's second issue.
Top Prize:
$1000 NZD
Additional prizes:
Runner-up: $500 NZD | Winner published in Issue 2 of Folly
💰 Entry fee: $6
📅 Deadline: April 30, 2024 (Expired)
Drue Heinz Literature Prize
University of Pittsburgh Press
Genres: Novella and Short Story
The Drue Heinz Literature Prize recognizes and supports writers of short fiction, requiring eligible authors to have published a book-length collection or at least three short stories/novellas in commercial magazines. Manuscripts are judged anonymously by national writers.
Top Prize:
$15,000
📅 Deadline: June 30, 2025
South Warwickshire Literary Festival Writing Competition
South Warwickshire Literary Festival
Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, and Short Story
The competition features three categories: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry. Participants must submit original works under specific word limits and guidelines. Each entry is judged anonymously by experienced authors.
Top Prize:
£50
Additional prizes:
Up to two commended pieces may be invited to read at a literary festival.
💰 Entry fee: $4
📅 Deadline: March 29, 2024 (Expired)
Creative Writing NZ Short Story Prize 2024
Creative Writing NZ
Genres: Short Story
The Creative Writing NZ Short Story Prize 2024 is an international competition open to entrants worldwide. Entries can be on any subject, theme, or genre, with a maximum of 3000 words. Judged anonymously, the winner will receive $1,000, and two runners-up will each receive $200, along with free online courses and publication on the website.
Top Prize:
$1,000
Additional prizes:
Two runners-up will receive $200 each and a free online course. Winner will also receive a free online course and publication on the website
💰 Entry fee: $9
📅 Deadline: April 30, 2024 (Expired)
Vocal Challenges
Creatd
Genres: Essay, Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, and Short Story
Vocal Challenges invite writers to enter themed storytelling contests for a chance to win cash, prizes, experiences, and more.
Top Prize:
$500
Additional prizes:
2nd place: $200, 15 runners-up: $15 each
💰 Entry fee: $15
📅 Deadline: January 11, 2025 (Expired)
The Big Moose Prize
Black Lawrence Press
Genres: Fiction, Novel, Poetry, and Short Story
The Big Moose Prize awards an unpublished novel, open to all writers. The winner receives publication, a cash award of $1,000, and ten copies of the book.
Top Prize:
$1,000
Additional prizes:
Publication of the novel and ten copies
💰 Entry fee: $28
📅 Deadline: January 31, 2025
Parsec Short Story Contest
Parsec Inc.
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction, and Short Story
The Parsec Short Story Contest aims to encourage non-professional writers to explore speculative fiction in genres like science fiction, fantasy, and horror. The theme for 2025 is 'ROOTS', and submissions should relate to this theme. The contest has no entry fee and supports young writers through a special Youth Story Prize.
Top Prize:
$200
Additional prizes:
2nd: $100 | 3rd: $50
💰 Entry fee: $0
📅 Deadline: March 31, 2025
Writer's Digest Annual Writing Competition
Writer's Digest
Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, and Short Story
Enter our 91st Annual Writing Competition for the chance to have your work be seen by editors and agents! Almost 500 winners will be chosen. The top winning entries of this writing contest will also be on display in the Annual Writer’s Digest Competition Collection. [$20 for a poetry entry, $30 for a manuscript entry]
Top Prize:
$5,000
Additional prizes:
Grand prize winner receives $5000. In each category: 1st, $1000; 2nd, $500; 3rd, $250; 4th, $100; 5th, $50; 6th through 10th, $25 gift certificate. 1st place winners receive a one year subscription to Writer's Digest magazine + tutorials.
💰 Entry fee: $30
📅 Deadline: May 05, 2025
Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction
University of North Texas Press
Genres: Short Story, Flash Fiction, and Novella
The Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction is an esteemed competition for unpublished collections of fiction. The contest is open for submissions of flash fiction, short stories, or novellas, with a total manuscript length of 100 to 200 book pages.
Top Prize:
$1,000
💰 Entry fee: $25
📅 Deadline: June 30, 2025
Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition
Crime Writers Association
Genres: Fiction and Short Story
The competition seeks the best unpublished short mystery story of up to 3,500 words, adhering to Margery Allingham's definition of a great mystery. It is open to both published and unpublished authors worldwide.
Top Prize:
£500
Additional prizes:
Two passes to Crimefest & a selection of books
💰 Entry fee: $22
📅 Deadline: February 28, 2025
Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition
Munster Literature Centre
Genres: Short Story
An annual short story competition dedicated to Seán Ó Faoláin, one of Ireland’s notable story writers. The competition is open to original, unpublished, and unbroadcast short stories in English.
Top Prize:
$2,000
Additional prizes:
2nd Place: €500 Four runners-up: €300 Publication in Southword for all
💰 Entry fee: $19
📅 Deadline: July 31, 2024 (Expired)
F(r)iction Short Story Contest
Brink Literacy Project
Genres: Fiction and Short Story
The F(r)iction Short Story Contest is open for submissions. It celebrates unique and boundary-pushing literature. The winning story will be published in F(r)iction's print collection or online blog, and the contest encourages experimental writing.
Top Prize:
$1,000
📅 Deadline: May 02, 2025
Creative Writing Award for Short Fiction
Aesthetica Magazine
Genres: Fiction and Short Story
The Creative Writing Award celebrates outstanding new writing talents in poetry and short fiction, offering a platform for authors globally to showcase their work. It emphasizes innovation in content and form across any theme.
Top Prize:
$2,500
Additional prizes:
Publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual One-year subscription to The London Magazine, Granta, and Mslexia Consultation with Redhammer Management Six-week writing short stories course from Curtis Brown Creative
💰 Entry fee: $18
📅 Deadline: August 31, 2025
