40 Free Writing Contests: Legitimate Competitions With Cash Prizes

Fiction and nonfiction composing contests 2021. All set to share your personal or distinct essay with the world? Whether youre a rookie or more established author, youre most likely eligible for a few of these contests. There are a lot of totally free writing contests that encourage and encourage unlimited creativity with real cash benefits and career-advancing possibilities! Considered that it can be difficult for an author to understand where to find them, we did the legwork for you. We discovered 40 trustworthy, well-reviewed, totally free writing contests for poets, fiction authors, essayists and more. With countless dollars in cash rewards and numerous chances to secure a publishing agreement, youre sure to find the ideal complimentary writing contest for your work. Have you ever Googled “composing contests”? Great deals of requirement “reading expenses” or prizes– like seeing your work in print– that you can only receive if you pay for it. Some legitimate contests do charge little entry expenses, nevertheless regularly a cost can be a caution for a rip-off, so those might be the ones you want to avoid. ( And if youre still starving for more opportunities, we also have posts on authors grants and composing fellowships.). Here are some fiction and nonfiction writing contests worth thinking about. 1. L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. Whatever your feelings about L. Ron Hubbards work and method, the prizes for this routine contest are absolutely nothing to sneeze at. Every 3 months, winners make $1,000, $750 and $500, plus an extra yearly grand prize of $5,000. Due dates: Quarterly on March 31, June 30 and September 30. Submissions ought to be brief stories or novelettes (approximately 17,000 words) in the genre of science fiction or dream, and amateur and new authors are welcome to utilize. 2. Inkitt. This shop publishing business offers cash benefits and promotional bundles to winning authors. Send a book of 10,000 words or more in any fiction genre (no fanfic or poetry). Due date: See specific contest pages. Inkitts making up contest runs month-to-month and gives authors the chance to win money rewards approximately $300, special book badges and marketing bundles while showcasing their books to Inkitts audience of more than 3 million users. Winners are identified by Inkitts unique algorithm based upon total reader engagement. Disclosure: Inkitt is a marketing partner of The Write Life. We hold our marketers to high requirements and vetted this contest comparable to others on this list. 3. Drue Heinz Literature Prize. Due date: Annual submissions require to be postmarked in between May 1 through June 30. You can win $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press with this prize, given for a collection of short fiction. You might send an unpublished manuscript of stories, two or more novellas or a mix of novellas and brief stories. Your total word count ought to be in between 150 and 300 typed pages. You must also have actually currently released a book-length or special work of fiction “with a trustworthy publisher,” or no less than 3 stories or novellas in nationally-recognized journals. 4. St. Francis College Literary Prize. Considered that 2009, this biennial literary award has honored mid-career authors who have in fact just recently released their 3rd, Fourth or 5th work of fiction. The winner gets $50,000 and may be invited to the St. Francis College campus in Brooklyn, New York, to deliver a discuss their work or teach a small fiction workshop to St. Francis students. Due date: Biennially; the contest is not provided in 2021 due to the pandemic and very little school gain access to. 5. Young Lions Fiction Award. This $10,000 award acknowledges “young authors,” which the rules define as any author aged 35 or more vibrant. Send any novel or collection of quick stories released or scheduled to be published in the fiscal year. Works must be made up for adults; kids or YA pieces are disqualified. Due date: Submissions for 2021 are open since May 2021; due date is TBA. 6. Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prizes. Amongst the best-loved little presses in the ingenious writing world, Graywolf Press hosts a range of contests for both recognized and up-and-coming authors. Graywolf also supplies smaller sized fiction and nonfiction rewards, with categories turning by year; 2020 was a nonfiction year, so fiction is up in 2021. These awards consist of a considerable advance– $12,000 in previous years– as well as publication with Graywolf. Deadline: Contest is held each year with rotating categories; the 2021 due date is TBA. 7. The Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans. Hosted by the prominent Iowa Review, the Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award is used to U.S. military veterans and active-duty members composing in any classification about any topic. Manuscripts of as much as 20 pages will be accepted, and the first-prize winner will get $1,000 and publication in the Review. A 2nd area prize of $750 is also offered, in addition to three runner-up rewards of $500 each. Due date: Biennially. The next contest will be held in 2022. 8. New Voices Award. Deadline: Submissions for 2021 will be accepted May 1 to July 31. . The winner gets $2,000 cash and a fundamental publication contract, and an extra Honor Award winner will get a cash prize of $1,000. You might send approximately 2 manuscripts. Supplied by Lee & & & Low Books, an award-winning kidss book publisher, this award is used for a formerly unpublished kidss picture book manuscript of no higher than 1,500 words composed by an author of color or Indigenous/Native authors whos a resident of the U.S 9. Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. For 15 years, this contest has in fact provided existence for emerging African American fiction writers and allows them to focus on their writing by awarding a $15,000 cash prize. Qualified authors require to send a work of fiction, such as a short or novel story collection, published in the financial year. (Galleys for publication within the year are also accepted.). Due date: Annually; the due date for 2021 is August 15, 2021. 10. PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Due date: The 2021 submissions are closed. In 2022, submissions will be accepted from July 1 to October 31. Honoring the finest work of fiction published by an American author in a single , this award has really been supplied to the similarity John Updike, Philip Roth and Ann Patchett. Books, novellas and collections of narratives are all eligible. The winner gets a significant money benefit– up to $15,000 in the past– and an invite to inspect out at the award ceremony in Washington, D.C. Plus, there are no submission charges or application kinds to deal with; just send a PDF of each book (as lots of as you d like) to awards@penfaulkner.org. 11. PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Narratives of roughly 12,000 words are qualified and should be released in the fiscal year preceding the year in which the award is offered. In addition, keep this in mind: Submissions are only qualified if sent out by an editor. Authors might not send their own work. Due date: Contest is open each year between June and November. This contest needs you to have really presently released a narrative in a literary publication or journal or cultural site. If youve made your launching (nevertheless gone no additional), you may be eligible for the generous money benefit of $2,000, which is yearly awarded to 12 emerging authors, whose works are then published together in an anthology. 12. Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. Due date: Annual submission window is September 1 through December 31. Submissions need to be launched in the previous year (so books launched in 2020 are eligible for the 2021 award). Fiction and nonfiction authors who have really just recently released a book that “contribute [s] to our understanding of racism and our gratitude of multiculturalism” are gotten approved for this award, which uses $10,000 cash in addition to media and promotion opportunities. Plus, winners get their prize at a ceremony in Cleveland. 13. Marfield Prize (aka National Award for Arts Writing). Due date: Annually in the last quarter of the year; the 2021 due date is November 16 to December 31. Supplied by the Arts Club of Washington, this award seeks to honor nonfiction books that handle the “visual, literary, media, or performing arts.” The prize is $10,000 and might be granted to works of criticism, art history, bios and memoirs, and essays. 14. W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction. Due date: Annually on December 1. This competition is for you if youre a war enthusiast. It grants $5,000– and a 24-karat-gold-framed citation of accomplishment– to the really best piece of fiction set throughout a duration when the U.S. was at war (war may either be the main plot of the piece or merely offer the setting). Submissions may be ya or adult books. 15. Friends of American Writers Chicago Awards. Due date: Annually in December; the 2022 due date is TBA. Authors need to live in the state of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota or Wisconsin– or they need to set their book in one of those locations. Reward amounts differ from year to year, however you do not have to problem with an application and all winners are honored at the companys May luncheon. FAW provides 2 yearly awards: an Adult Literature Award for literary fiction or nonfiction, and a Young Peoples Literature Award for a childrens/ YA book. 16. Hektoen Grand Prix Essay Contest. Due date: Annually; September 15, 2021 is one of the most existing due date. Hektoen International, an online journal devoted to medical humanities, offers two rewards each year for essays of no higher than 1,500 words: $5,000 is awarded to the winner and $2,500 to the really first runner-up. Qualified subjects are broad so long as they have a relation to medicine, and numerous consist of art, history, literature, education and more. 17. Biopage Storytelling Writing Contest. Essays of approximately 5,000 characters (roughly 1,000 words) will be accepted, and today theyre searching for stories of COVID-19 quarantine life. The grand benefit winner will get $300, and 5 runners-up will be given $100 each. The contest is free to get in, nevertheless youll need to sign up for a Biopage account to be certified. Theres no declining it: social media is a huge part of our 21st-century lives. Its easy to get utilized to limiting our communications to 280-character and emoji-strewn bits, which is why this marketing firm is hosting an essay writing contest to “remind individuals of the benefits of composing.”. Due date: July 31, 2021. 18. St. Martins Minotaur/ Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition. Deadline: Annually in the very first quarter of the year; the due date for 2022 is TBA. Writers 18 and older who have never ever had actually an unique published (in any genre) are eligible for this reward, granted to a preliminary book-length manuscript where “murder or another serious crime or criminal activities is at the heart of the story.” The winner gets a publication agreement with Minotaur Books and an advance of $10,000 against future royalties. 19. ServiceScape Short Story Award. ServiceScape, a platform matching freelance authors, editors and graphic designers with customers (i.e. a great place to search for paid composing work!) supplies an annual Short Story Award of $1,000 to a winning fiction or nonfiction work of 5,000 words or less. The winner will likewise have their story included on the ServiceScape blog website, which sees thousands of readers monthly. Due date: November 30, 2021. 20. Stowe Prize. This biennial reward of $10,000 honors an American author whose adult fiction or nonfiction work has had an effect on a vital social justice issue (as did Harriet Beecher Stowes unique Uncle Toms Cabin). Deadline: Biennially; the 2022 deadline is TBA. 21. The Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction. Innovative nonfiction essays of no greater than 5,000 words on any topic are qualified for factor to consider for this award, whose winner receives $250 and publication in Lunch Ticket, the literary and art journal produced by the MFA community of Antioch University Los Angeles. Functions requires to not have been published somewhere else. Award winners are needed to send a 100-word bio, present image and a quick note thanking the Woods household for their kindness and support. Due dates: Biannual reading periods remain in February for the Summer/Fall issue and in August for the Winter/Spring problem. 22. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms Essay Contest. Each year, this Canadian company uses 3 rewards, varying from $500 to $1,500, to the essay with the most thoughtful, well-reasoned arguments around a specific human-rights theme. (For example, 2019s prompt was, “Should universities authorities student routines at personal events?”. Due date: 2021 contest requirements and due date TBD. The contest is open to Canadian college and university trainees, and essays must be 2,500 words or less in length. 23. Make up the World. Due date: Monthly. Contests differ every month, but theres a $100 benefit for the winner and $50 for the runner-up (plus $50 for the finest peer-reviewer). All 3 are included on Write the Worlds blog website in addition to comments from a visitor judge. And thinking about that monthlys trigger is from a different classification, establishing authors get a possibility to examine out different designs. For young writers ages 13-18, these cool contests also work as mini workshops. Acknowledging that “an extremely first draft is never ever ideal,” submissions really get peer review by authors, composing instructors and other professionals and authors are offered the chance to revise their pieces based upon this feedback before submitting them for last benefit consideration. 24. Prose. Prizes are usually in between $100 to $200 and word counts are low– some as low as under 150, some as high as 500. Even if all you obtain from the prompt is a possibility to bend your brain, its not a bad offer. Due date: Weekly and month-to-month. Stuck with authors obstruct and looking for a way to start your escape? Prose supplies weekly barriers indicated to stimulate your creativity; many are merely for pleasurable, however look for the weekly numbered challenges released by Prose (rather than neighborhood members or sponsors) for an opportunity to win money. 25. The Restless Books Prize For New Immigrant Writing. Due date: Annually; the due date for 2021 has actually passed. The 2022 submission due date is TBA. First-generation immigrants have an opportunity to win $10,000 and publication by Restless Books for informing their stories (genuine or thought of). The contest turns each year in between fiction (brief or distinct story collection) and nonfiction (narrative, essay collection, narrative nonfiction). In 2021, it will go to a work of nonfiction of a minimum of 25,000 words; 2022 will be fiction. 26. AFSA National High School Essay Contest. Runners-up get a rather sweet offer, too– a $1,250 prize cash and a total scholarship to participate in the International Diplomacy Program of the National Student Leadership Conference. The U.S. Institute of Peace and the American Foreign Service Association sponsor this annual high school essay contest, where the winner gets a $2,500 cash reward, an all-expense paid journey to Washington, D.C., and a full-tuition paid voyage with Semester at Sea upon the students registration at a certified university. Essays need to be in between 1,000 and 1,250 words and have to react to all elements of the prompt in addition to reveal an understanding of the Foreign Service. Due date: The 2021 deadline has in fact passed; the 2022 deadline is TBA. 27. Science-me a Story. Due date: The 2021 due date has actually passed. The contest is usually open mid-February to mid-March. Born in 2018, the Society of Spanish Researchers welcomes preliminary and skilled authors to compose a 100-word blurb for a hypothetical book. This may sound actually easy, nevertheless your blurb has to quickly hook readers and make them wish for more information. Open to anybody over 18 throughout the world, your fictional or authentic narrative for this rivals ought to be either in English or Spanish and “established from the goal of scientific dissemination to main school” to get the cash benefits: ₤ 150, ₤ 100 and ₤ 50. 28. VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Due date: Annually; the 2022 contest runs July 1 through December 20, 2021. Virginia Commonwealth University sponsors this award that honors an outstanding introducing novel released in the preceding fiscal year. While you may have published previous books in a various kind, the submission must be your first launched book marketed as a novel. The award is a $5,000 cash prize, and the winning author needs to concur to take part in the award celebration, normally scheduled for November. 29. Daisy Utemorrah Award. Due date: The 2021 due date has passed; 2022 due date TBD. The Daisy Utemorrah Award is for an unpublished manuscript of junior or YA fiction made up by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals currently living in Australia. Kindly supported by the Copyright Agencys Cultural Fund and the State Government of Western Australia, the winner of the award receives $15,000 and a publishing contract with Magabala Books. 30. Ultimate Meal Plans Nutrition Scholarship. Due dates: January 30 (awards in March) and July 31 (awards in September). College student studying kinesiology, nutrition or exercise-science fields: youre going to be all over this one. Two times each year, the Ultimate Paleo Guide (aka the really finest paleo resource on the internet) awards $500 scholarships to 2 deserving students who fulfill all eligibility requirements– in addition to compose an 800-word essay about why you selected your field, a result you d like to make in your profession, a trouble youve handled and more. 31. Insecure Writers Support Group Annual Anthology Contest. As long as you stay with these requirements, The Insecure Writers Support Groups yearly contest welcomes your 5,000- to 6,000-word (formerly unpublished) creative story. Prior to you send it off, make specific your story is polished and formatted! Plus, the rewards arent too shoddy– winning stories will be customized and released, authors will get royalties, and the leading story will even get to offer the anthology its title. Due dates: September 1, 2021. 32. Brief Fiction Prize. One winner will get a $1,000 reward in addition to a scholarship to the 2022 Southampton Writers Conference. This writing rivals is for you if youre an undergrad at a college in the U.S. or Canada. (Traditionally, this contest has actually motivated candidates with an Asian background, however anyone is invited to use.) Submissions must disappear than 7,500 words. Due date: June 1, 2021. 33. Bacopa Literary Review Contest. Each year, it opens submissions for pieces in 4 categories: fiction, imaginative nonfiction, poetry and prose poetry. Place gets $300, and the 2nd benefit in each of the 4 categories gets $100. Curious about possibilities for poets? Your stanzas– rhyming or not– may be worth a fair quantity of money in these poetry rivals. Deadline: May 31, 2021. Poetry contests 2021. Have a look at these poetry writing contests. 34. Black Voices in Childrens Literature Writing Contest. This contest is open to Black authors who are over the age of 18 andresidents of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota or Wisconsin. Its hosted by Strive Publishing and Free Spirit Publishing and seeks to fill the requirement for Black representation in kidss and young individual books. Original board and picture books for kids aged 0-4 and image books for ages 4-8 are certified, supplied they include contemporary, practical Black characters and culture and focus on character development, confidence, neighborhood and other aspects of positive youth advancement. 3 prizes, varying from $250 to $1,000, will be approved, and the extremely top place winner will be “seriously thought about” for publication, though its not guaranteed. Deadline: September 20, 2021. 35. James Laughlin Award. Due date: Annual submission window is January 1 through May 15. This is the award for you; its offered for a 2nd book of poetry due to come out in the approaching year if youre presently a launched poet. The winner gets $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid week-long residency at The Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. In addition, copies of the winning book are dispersed to 1,000 members of the Academy of American Poets. 36. African Poetry Book Fund Prizes. Deadlines: See specific reward pages. The Brunel International African Poetry Prize is a new reward that offers ₤ 3,000 to a poet who was born in Africa, or has African parents, who has not yet had a full-length book of poetry launched. (U.S. individuals qualify.) To send, youll require 10 poems. The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets uses $1,000 and a publication arrangement for a book-length collection of poetry by an as-yet-unpublished African author. The APBF awards 3 prizes each year for African Poetry. The Luschei Prize for African Poetry uses $1,000 for a book of initial African poetry released in the previous year. 37. Tufts Poetry Awards. Claremont Graduate University provides two awards each year to poets they consider to be “outstanding.” The Kate Tufts Poetry Award grants $10,000 for a released really first book of poetry that reveals pledge. The Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award grants a mammoth $100,000 for a published book of poetry by a mid-career or established poet. Due date: 2021 deadlines not yet revealed. 38. Graywolf Press Walt Whitman Award. Due date: Submissions for 2021 have in fact passed; 2022 submission due date TBD. Graywolf Press is similarly amongst the publishers of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, “a very first book award dedicated to the discovery of extraordinary manuscripts by Black poets.” Winners get $1,000 and Graywolf releases every 3rd winner of the benefit. The Walt Whitman Award is a $5,000 prize granted, in addition to publication, to an American poet with a winning extremely first book manuscript. She or he likewise gets an all-expenses-paid six-week residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy. 39. Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. Deadline: April 1, 2022. Now in its 21st year, this humor contest desires your finest published or unpublished work for a grand reward of $2,000; runners-up are approved $500 and 10 honorable talks about will get $100 each. Writers of all ages from competent countries can send an original, funny poem with 250 lines or less, and it requires to be an English. 40. The Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize. Winning Writers. Searching for more possibilities to send your work? Here are a couple of outstanding sites to watch on for writing contests. This composing rivals is searching for the finest piece of unpublished themed writing. The winner gets a ₤ 10,000 money reward, second place gets ₤ 3,000 and 3rd location gets ₤ 2,000. Where to discover more real, free writing contests. A number of the contests discovered on our list came highly suggested by this site, which assembles a few of the really best complimentary literary contests out there. Together with a broad variety of suggested contests for authors of all stripes, Winning Writers also keeps in mind some contests and services to prevent– which is simply as advantageous! They also use a handful of contests themselves, including the North Street Book Prize. Due date: Applications for 2021 have actually closed. Follow the Alpine Fellowship on Instagram for updates. Poets & & & Writers . links. About the Author: Farrah DanielFarrah Daniel has actually been composing professionally for three years, meddling subjects like financing, micromobility, travel and more. Take a look at more of her work at farrahdominique.com.Website. Hosted by the distinguished Iowa Review, the Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award is used to U.S. active-duty members and military veterans making up in any classification about any topic. Provided by Lee & & & Low Books, an acclaimed kids book publisher, this award is attended to a previously unpublished kids image book manuscript of no greater than 1,500 words composed by an author of color or Indigenous/Native authors whos a resident of the U.S. Image through Viktoriia Hnatiuk/ Shutterstock The preliminary version of this story was composed by Kelly Gurnett. We updated the post so its much better for our readers. Another terrific source for legitimate writing contests we looked for suggestions from when compiling this list, Poets & & & Writers veterinarians competitors, awards, contests and grants to make certain theyre following genuine practices and policies. . The winner gets $2,000 money and a standard publication agreement, and an extra Honor Award winner will get a prize money of $1,000. For 15 years, this contest has really used direct exposure for emerging African American fiction authors and allows them to focus on their writing by granting a $15,000 cash benefit. Another terrific source for genuine composing contests we spoke to when assembling this list, Poets & & & Writers vets competitors, grants, awards and contests to make sure theyre following genuine practices and policies. Another terrific source for legitimate writing contests we looked for guidance from when compiling this list, Poets & & & Writers vets rivals, awards, grants and contests to make certain theyre following authentic practices and policies. Its worth examining out regularly as it consists of both annual and one-time contests. For 15 years, this contest has really used existence for emerging African American fiction writers and allows them to focus on their writing by awarding a $15,000 prize cash. The contest rotates each year between fiction (distinct or short story collection) and nonfiction (narrative, essay collection, narrative nonfiction). For 15 years, this contest has actually offered direct exposure for emerging African American fiction authors and enables them to focus on their writing by granting a $15,000 money benefit. Another terrific source for authentic composing contests we spoke with when assembling this list, Poets & & & Writers vets competitions, awards, contests and grants to make sure theyre following genuine practices and policies.