Often overlooked, contests - especially smaller ones - are absolutely a way to get started as a writer. Here’s a sample of some of the upcoming contests that you might be interested in. Each has no more than a minor entry fee and provides a real prize for the winner, including publication. So if any of these possibilities trip your trigger, go for it!
15 May - ABA Journal / Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction (theme: “Illuminate the role of the law and/or lawyers in modern society.”)
25 May - Livingston Press - Novel-in-Verse
31 May - The Wolfe Pack - The Black Orchid Novella Award (theme: “The literary tradition of the Nero Wolfe series.”)
13 Jun - Grist - Imagine 2200 (theme: “Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors.”)
15 Jun - Sapiens Plurum - Short Fiction Contest (theme: ““Building Communities in the Face of Climate Change”)
30 Jun - The Fairy Tale Magazine - Flash Fiction Contest (theme: “Any subject as long as it is within the fairy tale or folktale genres”)
02 Nov - Chris Kennedy - Oaths of Valor (theme: “Deeds of valor centered around paladins and chivalry, and the oaths that bind them.”)
In addition - Authors Publish recently put out a list of 45 Themed Submission Calls and Contests for May 2023. Some of those are replicated above (and in the open call list for #TeamAndMore) but you may want to examine the full list to see if there’s anything else that you’d find acceptable.
Why Contests?
Like open-call anthologies, contests offer a chance for a first-time author to get their work in front of people. They also offer some unique opportunities and challengers for someone starting out on your writing journey.
The begin with, contests usually (but not always!) provide you with a theme - or at least some sort of direction as to what to write. That helps takes away some of the fear of staring at an empty page and wondering, “… now what?” Themed anthologies offer the same opportunity, of course, but tend to be more focused. For example, Wisecraft has several very specific open calls for their “Fantastic Schools” anthologies, centered around sports events and staff stories. Meanwhile, the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award contest has a much broader theme: “Adventure fantasy with heroes you want to root for.”
Contests also give you a deadline to shoot for. Anthologies do as well, but contests are often annual affairs - which means that their deadlines are (relatively) stable. The Baen FAA, for example, has a submission deadline at the end of May. If you’re interested in entering something for them next year, you don’t have to wait for them to post the information. You know when your story will be due and you know what the general theme will be, so you can plan your writing well in advance!
When it comes time to submit, most contests have no entry fees. A few do, but those are often a token amount ($10 or $20). For established contests, when there is an entry fee, you have the opportunity to go back and see how those funds were used. Many times they go toward running the contest itself, or support a charity or other cause that you might want to support anyway.
Speaking of cash… on the minus side, quite a few contests have no real prizes except for the honor of appearing in print. Again, a few do have small cash prizes or similar. The lack of prizes for a contest can be a plus, though! If the prizes are small or non-existent, you’ll will likely be competing with other amateurs, not the pros.
That element of competition is an issue, though. Some contests receive dozens - or even hundreds! - of entries. Then again, so do anthologies and magazines. So don’t let that dissuade you :) Many contests will provide a list of finalists or runners-up. Even if you don’t win, there is a certain amount of satisfaction in knowing that you were in the race and that you almost made the cut! Contest judges are like (and often are) editors, in that they have their own preferences and ideas about what makes a good story. So while a judge in a contest may think your story isn’t a right fit for them, it may well turn out to be the right fit elsewhere. That is exactly how I got my first story, “FedEx”, published in the anthology Supernatural Streets.
Open calls. Anthologies. Magazines. Contests. However you decide to take that first step into writing, they all have one important thing in common: you can’t submit a blank page. The advantage for all of these short story opportunities is that they give you a theme, a deadline, and a target to shoot for. This gives you the opportunity to start developing the habit of writing. Find a contest or an open call. Add it to your calendar now, set up some reminders - and start working toward your first publication!
Thanks, Sam. I love the Nero Wolfe stories. I think I’d like to try that. The ABA would probably not like what I’d write, though. 😈