Six Writing Contests to Enter in Summer & Fall 2024
/To complement the list I put together in January of Twelve Contests From Independent & University Presses That Offer Book Publication as the Prize, here are six more writing contests to consider this summer and fall sponsored by publishers and journals. Some of the deadlines are rapidly approaching, but there’s still time to enter. As always, do your due diligence by researching each publishing company and reading the fine print. Also be sure to consult Writers Beware, which explains how to assess contests and awards. And good luck if you enter!
LEE & LOW BOOKS’S NEW VISIONS AWARD
Description: “Writing Contest for YA and Middle Grade Novels and Graphic Novels by Authors of Color and Native Nations.”
Eligibility: “Open to writers of color and Native/Indigenous writers.” “Writers cannot have had a middle grade or young adult novel or graphic novel traditionally published.”
Prize: “Winners receive a standard publication contract, including Lee & Low Books’s basic royalties for a first-time author and an advance in the amount of $15,000.”
Deadline: June 30, 2024
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DRUE HEINZ LITERATURE PRIZE
Description: “Recognizes and supports writers of short fiction and makes their work available to readers around the world...Manuscripts are judged anonymously by nationally known writers.”
Eligibility: “Open to authors who have published a book-length collection of fiction or at least three short stories or novellas in commercial magazines or literary journals.”
Prize: “Winners receive a cash prize of $15,000, publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press, “and support in the nation-wide promotion of their book.”
Deadline: June 30, 2024
BELLEVUE LITERARY REVIEW’S GOLDENBERG PRIZE FOR FICTION
Description: “The BLR Prizes award outstanding writing related to themes of health, healing, illness, the mind, and the body.” “We seek character-driven fiction with original voices and strong settings…our word max is 5,000.” Author Wayétu Moore will judge, but judging is anonymous.
Eligibility: None specified except that “work previously published in print or electronically will not be considered” and they “do not publish genre fiction (romance, sci-fi, horror).”
Prize: “Winners are published in the spring issue of Bellevue Literary Review. For each genre, first prize is $1000 and honorable mention is $300.”
Deadline: July 1, 2024
THE CINCINNATI REVIEW'S ROBERT AND ADELE SCHIFF AWARDS
Description: “We provide a venue for writers of any background, at any point in their literary careers, at any age, to showcase their best writing. We are invested in finding both promising new and emerging voices and in sharing the exceptional work of more established writers.” “The contest is judged anonymously.”
Eligibility: “Writers may submit up to…10,000 words of a single double-spaced piece of fiction.” “Previously published manuscripts, including works that have appeared online (in any form), will not be considered.”
Prize: “One poem, one piece of fiction, and one piece of literary nonfiction will be chosen for publication in our prize issue, and winning authors will receive $1,000 each.”
Deadline: July 15, 2024
MSLEXIA'S WOMEN'S FICTION COMPETITION - CHILDREN'S AND YA AWARD (U.K.-based)
Description: “Our competition is open to unpublished novels of at least 20,000 words in any genre for children and/or young adult readers.” “Elle McNicholl (best-selling children’s novelist), Caroline Carpenter (Children’s Editor, Bookseller) and Clare Wallace (literary agent at Darley Anderson Children’s) will be deciding the winner.”
Eligibility: “We will accept entries from women of any age of any nationality from any country.” Novels must be at least 20,000 words.
Prize: First prize is £5,000. “Finalists receive manuscript feedback from The Literary Consultancy and personal introductions to literary agents.”
Deadline: September 23, 2024
THE CALEDONIA NOVEL AWARD (U.K.-based)
Description: “An Edinburgh-based, international writing competition for unpublished and self-published novelists [that accepts] all genres for adults and YA.” Alice Lutyens, literary agent at Curtis Brown, will judge.
Eligibility: “Open to unpublished or self-published novelists only...of any nationality and resident in any country.” Novels must be at least 50,000 words.
Prize: The top prize is £1,500 and an exclusive framed award
Deadline: October 15, 2024