Upcoming Writing Contests

The following is a list of upcoming writing contests. Be sure to carefully review any contest before entering. Pay close attention to the terms, rights, fees, prize money, judges and rules. You can also view a list of just the poetry contests and a list of writing contests for kids. You can also view a list of all the contests here.

We also recommend reading Alex Keegan's article about increasing your chances of winning writing contests.

New American Fiction Prize
New American Press runs the contest which is awarded each year to a full-length ficiton manuscript. It can be a short story collection.
Deadline: June 15, 2024
Prizes: $1,500

L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest
The quarterly contest awards cash prizes of $1000, $750 and $500 are awarded every three months. It is open to original science fiction, fantasy and dark fantasy up to 17,000 words in length.
Deadline: June 30, 2024
Prizes: $1,000 cash top prize