Upcoming Prizes and Contests for Writers!

Ex LibrisCall for Submissions, Career Builders, Contests, Publications

From literary magazines to opportunities for publishing and industry recognition, check out these upcoming contests for writers! (Entries closest to the top of the list are the most time-sensitive.) Information below is copied from each competition’s webpage.

  1. Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Competition
  • Deadline: October 15, 2024, 11:59 PM PST
  • What:
    • The Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Competition is a catalyst for writing careers. Recent winners and honorable mentions have subsequently been recognized among the finalists for the PEN/Hemingway Award, the National Book Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. (NOTE: there is a submission fee for this contest)
  • Guidelines/Prize Offering(s):
    • We welcome short fiction of no more than five thousand words. Entries are vetted by a team of professional readers, and awards are adjudicated by our guest judge.
    • First prize is $1,000 and publication at the magazine’s website as a special online supplement to the Spring 2025 edition; second prize is $500; and third prize is $250.
    • Additionally, the three prizewinners and seven honorable mentions are considered for representation by participating talent agencies: William Morris Endeavor; ICM; the Wylie Agency; Aragi, Inc.; Regal Literary; Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency; Markson Thoma Literary Agency; Inkwell Management; Sterling Lord Literistic; Aitken Alexander Associates; Barer Literary; the Gernert Company; Janklow & Nesbit Associates; and the Georges Borchardt Literary Agency.
  • Submission Page: https://www.all-story.com/story-entry/

2. Cinematic Prose Writing Competition

  • Deadline: October 31 [regular]
  • What:
    • Hollywood loves adapting novels and short stories into feature scripts and TV shows – is yours next? This year’s jury includes literary managers, book agents, and producers. (NOTE: there is a submission fee for this contest)
  • Guidelines/Prize Offering(s):
    • Our jury is looking for great stories with potential to be adapted for the screen. Now accepting novels, short stories, novellas, true stories, biographies and everything in between! Benefits of the program include:
      • Grand Prize Winners will receive an opportunity to develop their project with a manager at Intellectual Property Group.
      • One selected winner will get their script produced with innovative multimedia company Crazy Maple.
      • There’s an additional project development opportunity with Verve Talent & Literary Agency.
      • Winners and select finalists receive introductions to book agents, literary managers, producers and more.
      • Our exclusive Script-to-Screen Partner Crazy Maple Studio is a next-gen publisher of immersive and interactive mobile serial fiction stories. They will grant one eligible writer a paid writing opportunity to develop the winning IP (short story or manuscript) into an episodic series to be produced for ReelShort.
      • This year’s Grand Prize Winner will receive development meetings with Associate Manager Joe Haar of Intellectual Property Group.
  • Submission Page: (click here, then press “ENTER NOW” in header of page)

3. Narrative Magazine Fall 2024 Story Contest

  • Deadline: November 26, 2024, 11:59 PM PST
  • Guidelines:
    • Our fall contest is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. We’re looking for short shorts, short stories, essays, memoirs, photo essays, graphic stories, all forms of literary nonfiction, and excerpts from longer works of both fiction and nonfiction. Entries must be previously unpublished, no longer than 15,000 words, and must not have been previously chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest. As always, we are looking for works with a strong narrative drive, with characters we can respond to, and with effects of language, situation, and insight that are intense and total. We look for works that have the ambition of enlarging our view of ourselves and the world. (NOTE: there is a submission fee for this contest)
    • [read general guidelines here: https://www.narrativemagazine.com/submission-guidelines]
  • Prize Offering(s):
    • First Prize is $2,500, Second Prize is $1,000, Third Prize is $500, and up to ten finalists will receive $100 each. All entries will be considered for publication.
  • Submission Page: https://www.narrativemagazine.com/submission

4. Black Fox Literary Magazine

  • Deadline: November 30, 2024, 11:59 PM EST
  • Guidelines:
    • Black Fox is accepting submissions for its Fall 2024 Black Fox Prize. The theme for this round is “Fragments of Time.” We are open to loose interpretations of the theme in any genre, as always.
    • When we think of time, we often think of a ticking clock. But time is more than merely seconds, minutes, hours, or measurements. Time also has the power to shape our lives. It can be a fleeting moment, a seemingly endless stretch, or a loop. Time can be a guardian of memories, the signal for change, and the constant that connects us to the world around us.
    • For this contest, we’re looking for writers to explore the intricacies of time: How does it mold us, ruin us, or set us free? Is time a friend or an enemy? Does time heal or wound? Whether it’s traveling through centuries, racing against the clock, or pausing in a single, spectacular moment, we want work that investigates the mysteries, difficulties, joy, or wonder of time.
    • Please submit your strongest fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, and we will choose one winner that we feel interprets the theme best.
    • Please make sure your manuscript is double-spaced with 12-point font. Submissions should be no more than 5,000 words. For poetry, send up to three poems in the same document. For flash fiction, send up to two stories in the same document. Author’s name and page number should appear in the top right-hand corner of every page. We also ask that you specify the category/genre of your work in the cover letter.
    • (NOTE: there is a submission fee for this contest)
  • Prize Offering(s):
    • The prize is $325 and publication in the Winter 2025 issue. All submissions are considered for publication in the Winter 2025 issue.
  • Submission Page: https://blackfoxlit.submittable.com/submit

5. Disquiet International Literary Program Prize

  • Deadline: January 6, 2025, 11:59 PM EST
  • About/Prize Offering(s):
    • One grand prize winner will receive a full scholarship, accommodations, and travel stipend to attend the tenth annual DISQUIET International Literary Program in Lisbon (June 22-July 4, 2025).
    • Genre winners will receive a tuition waiver for DISQUIET 2025 in addition to publication.
    • Winners who are unable to attend the progam in Lisbon may elect to receive a $1000 cash prize in lieu of the tuition waiver.
    • Please note that your contest entry does not guarantee placement in the DISQUIET program. If you’d like to be considered for participation in the program program regardless of the outcome of the contest, please submit a general application by December 2, 2024.
  • Guidelines:
    • Entries are accepted in ficton, nonfiction, and poetry. One winner in each category will be published in Granta.com (fiction), NinthLetter.com (non-fiction) or The Common (poetry).
    •  Only previously unpublished work in English can be submitted. We accept entries from all ages 18 and over, from all countries, by authors who have not yet published a full-length book in any genre. You do not have to have published anything to be eligible. Chapbooks and other shorter publications will not effect eligibility.
    • Entries should be the work of a single author.
    • All entries should be in a standard typeface and 12pt font and in .pdf, .doc or .odt format.
    • For fiction: ONE short story or novel excerpt, maximum 25 (double-spaced) pages per entry.
    • For non-fiction: ONE nonfiction piece or book excerpt, maximum 25 (double-spaced) pages per entry.
    • For poetry: No more than SIX poems per entry, up to 10 pages total.
    • (NOTE: there is a submission fee for this contest)
  • Submission Page: https://disquietinternational.submittable.com/submit

6. The Black List 2025 Unpublished Novel Award

  • Deadline: June 27, 2025
  • About/Prize Offering(s):
    • The Unpublished Novel Award celebrates stellar unpublished manuscripts in seven genres: Children’s & Young Adult, Crime & Mystery, Horror, Literary Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Thriller & Suspense. A panel of esteemed, shortlist judges with backgrounds in book publishing, film, and television will select one exceptional manuscript in each genre to receive a $10,000 grant to support it on the journey to publication. Judges include LeVar Burton, Marie-Helene Bertino, Radhika Jones, Tananarive Due, Mike Flanagan, and Roxane Gay.
  • Guidelines: (read here)
    • (NOTE: there is a submission fee for this contest; however, any writer who receives a manuscript evaluation on this site (cost $150) has the option to opt into consideration for this award for free. Recipients will retain all rights to their manuscript and will be free to sell them whenever and wherever they please. (Manuscripts cannot be under contract at any point during award consideration; self-published novels will not be accepted).
  • Submission Page: (click here. Participants must first create an account before submitting their work.)