We’ve talked a lot about how important it is to get professional reviews to maximize exposure for your independently published book. Another great way to get exposure and gain credibility for your book is to submit your self-published book to book contests. A number of SDP Publishing’s authors have had some great success with both professional reviews and book contests. However, you don’t have to limit yourself to book contests!
Another great way to gain credibility as a writer/author is by submitting to other types of writing contests. Maybe you haven’t finished your book yet or are in between books. There are lots of great contests and journals that are accepting submissions right now for many different types of work, including fiction, non-fiction, fan and flash fiction, essays, short stories, and poetry. These types of contests can help you keep your writing and publishing momentum going. Below is a list that we put together to help you as you think about submitting your work. The following contests have submission deadlines in August and September. We will continue to keep you updated on writing contests in the coming months.
Some of the contests have nominal entry fees and specific deadlines for entry, which you need to pay attention to. We’ve tried to include them here to the best of our ability.
2013 Cobalt Writing Prizes
Submission Deadline: August 15, 2013
Fee: $10
Details:
2013 has been a very busy year for Cobalt. As you may know, we are now utilizing Kickstarter to fund the launching of our book press. We also hosted a baseball writing prize and just released our first all-baseball issue (two parts, on cobaltreview.com). Unfortunately, we didn’t have as much time to get the word out for our 2013 Writing Prizes. In an effort to make the contest more competitive, deadlines have been extended for 30 days (August 15) and entry fees have been discounted 25%. Win money, get published, and support our new press! Submit today www.cobaltreview.com/submit.
Book Contests: Prose & Poetry
Submission Deadline: August 15, 2013
Fee: $20
Details:
Subito Press is now reading for our annual Book Prize for full-length collections of poetry & prose. Julie Carr is the final judge in poetry and Stephen Graham Jones is final judge in prose. Reading fee is $20. There is no page limit for either of our contests. The winning manuscript will be published in October 2014. More info here: subitopress.submittable.com/submit.
Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival Poetry Contest
Submission Deadline: August 15, 2013
Fee: $20
Details:
A single entry is 2-4 unpublished poems of any theme with combined length of up to 400 lines. Prize: $1,000, public reading, VIP Festival pass ($500 value) at 28th annual Festival (March 19-23, 2014), and publication. Judge: Robert Pinsky. Poetry Contest, 938 Lafayette Street, Suite 514, New Orleans, LA 70113. Guidelines and online submission:www.tennesseewilliams.net/contests.
Eat This Poem Launches Inaugural Poetry Contest
Submission Deadline: August 15, 2013
Fee: Free
Details:
Are you a hungry writer? Submit your poems to Eat This Poem’s inaugural contest! Poem must have food reference of some kind. Guidelines and prizes listed on website www.eatthispoem.com/contest.
Submit to Gold Line Press’ 2013 Poetry & Fiction Chapbook Competitions
Submission Deadline: August 31, 2013
Fee: $15
Details:
Submit to Gold Line Press’s Fiction and Poetry Chapbook Competitions! Send 7,500-15,000 words of fiction, 20-30 pages of poetry. Writers of winning chapbooks receive $500, and 10 copies of the perfect-bound chapbook with ISBN. Gold Line sends an additional 30 to respected literary venues for review. Reading period is July 15-August 31. Trinie Dalton to judge fiction, Susan McCabe to judge poetry. Visit www.goldlinepress.com for complete guidelines.
Gulf Coast’s Barthelme Prize for Short Prose Now Accepting Entries
Submission Deadline: August 31, 2013
Fee: $17
Details:
Gulf Coast is now accepting entries for the 2013 Barthelme Prize for Short Prose, judged by Robert Coover. The contest is open to pieces of prose poetry, flash fiction, and micro-essays of 500 words or fewer. Established in 2008, the contest awards its winner $1,000 and publication in the journal. Two honorable mentions will also appear in issue 26.2, due out in April 2014, and all entries will be considered for paid publication. All entrants will receive a one-year subscription to Gulf Coast with their contest fee. Entries accepted both online and via postal mail. Visit gulfcoastmag.org/contests for more information.
The Backwaters Prize
Submission Deadline: August 31, 2013
Fee: $25
Details:
The Backwaters Press offers The Backwaters Prize: publication of a book-length (up to 80 pg.) manuscript of poetry. Deadline extended to August 31st! Prize $1000 cash, perfect-bound publication and distribution of winner. 2013 Final Judge: Lola Haskins. See website www.thebackwaterspress.org for complete details and to submit.
The 10th Annual USA Best Book Awards
Submission Deadline: Enter before August 31, 2013, and receive a bonus four-month full-color listing on USABookNews.com; Final Entry Deadline is September 30, 2013. (All entries must be postmarked on or before September 30, 2013.)
Fee: $69
Details:
The 10th Annual USA Best Book Awards are specifically designed to not only garner MEDIA COVERAGE & BOOK SALES for the winners & finalists but to PROMOTE awarded books to the PUBLISHING & ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES! The publishing industry is rapidly evolving and The 2013 USA Best Book Awards puts your book in the center of the action! A printed book is no longer just a printed book.
http://www.usabooknews.com/2013usabestbookawards.html
Gemini Magazine 5th Annual Flash Fiction Contest
Submission Deadline: Postmark/Email submission deadline: August 31, 2013
Fee: $4 entry fee ($3/each additional).
Details:
Knock us out in 1,000 words or less! $1,000 prize. Any subject, style, or genre. Entries are read blind, so everyone gets an equal chance. Second place: $100. Four honorable mentions: $25 each. All six winners will be published online in the October 2013 issue of Gemini. Read previous winners and enter at www.gemini-magazine.com/contest.html.
Short Story Award for New Writers
Submissions Deadline: August 31, 2013
Details:
Open to any writer whose fiction has not appeared in a print publication with a circulation greater than 5,000. 1st place has been increased to $1,500 and includes publication in Glimmer Train. 2nd/3rd: $500/$300, consideration for publication. Results announced November 1. Word count generally ranges 1,500-5,000, though up to 12,000 words is fine. One of the most respected short-story journals in print, Glimmer Train is represented in the Pushcart Prize, O. Henry, New Stories from the South, New Stories from the Midwest, and Best American Short Stories anthologies. Submit online: www.glimmertrain.org.
Red Hen Press Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award
Submission Deadline: August 31, 2013
Fee: $25
Details:
Established in 1998, in honor of the poet Benjamin Saltman (1927-1999), this award is for a previously unpublished original collection of poetry. Awarded collection is selected through an annual competition, which is open to all poets. This year’s final judge will be Mark Doty. Award is $3,000 and publication of the awarded collection by Red Hen Press. Name on cover sheet only, 48 page minimum. Send SASE for notification. Entries must be postmarked by August 31. For address and complete guidelines see website: redhen.org/awards-2/bsa/.
Black Warrior Review’s Ninth-Annual Contest is now open!
Submission Deadline: September 1, 2013
Fees: Each entry is $15 and comes with a one-year subscription to BWR.
Winners in each genre receive a $1,000 prize and publication in BWR 40.2, our Spring/Summer 2014 issue. For more information please visit bwr.ua.edu.
Naugatuck River Review 5th Annual Narrative Poetry Contest
Online submission deadline: September 1, 2013
Fee: $20 contest fee includes a .pdf of the journal
Details:
Naugatuck River Review’s Fifth Annual NARRATIVE POETRY CONTEST will be judged by Susan Deer Cloud. First prize is $1,000, second prize $250, third prize $100. Go to naugatuckriverreview.com/contest for guidelines and to link to our online Submission Manager. All winners, finalists and semi-finalists will receive a print copy and be published in the journal. Susan Deer Cloud is the author of five books of poems, most recently Borscht Belt Indian, New and Selected, and Braiding Starlight.
Les Figues Press: NOS (Not Otherwise Specified) Book Contest
Submission deadline: September 15, 2013
Fee: Reading fee: $25
Details:
Guest judge Aimee Bender will select a manuscript of 64-250 pages for publication by Les Figues Press. Eligible submissions include previously unpublished manuscripts of poetry, novellas, prose poems, innovative novels, anti-novels, short story collections, lyric essays, hybrids, and work not otherwise specified. Prize: publication and $1,000; all entrants receive a Les Figues title of their choosing (anthologies excluded). Multiple and simultaneous submissions allowed. See www.lesfigues.com/submit/ for full guidelines.
Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards: A Short Story Competition from Writer’s Digest
Submission Deadline: Early-Bird Deadline: September 16, 2013; Deadline: October 15, 2013
Fee: $20 (early bird)
Details:
Choose your favorite genre and enter your best in 4,000 words or less. Genres include Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult Fiction, Romance, Crime, Horror
Prizes include:
- A chance to win the Grand Prize, including $2,500 and a trip to the 2013 Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City
- A chance to win one of the six $500 Category First Prize
- Get a feature about you in Writer’s Digest and on WritersDigest.com
- Win $100 off a purchase at www.writersdigestshop.com
- Receive a copy of the 2014 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market
http://www.writersdigest.com/popularfictionawards
The Second Annual Thomas Morton Memorial Prize in Literary Excellence
Submission Deadline: September 30, 2013
Fee: $10
Details:
The Puritan is proud to announce the return of the Thomas Morton Memorial Prize in Literary Excellence! Two winners in the fields of poetry and fiction will receive a generous prize package, including cash ($900/fiction and $600/poetry) and a collection of books (approx. $600 for each winner) from Canada’s most celebrated publishers (including Coach House Books, House of Anansi, ECW Press, and many more). The winning entries will also appear in The Puritan Issue XXIII: Fall 2013 and be honored at a launch party. See our website, www.puritan-magazine.com for submission details! Brave the frontier today!
Short Story Collection Contest, Georgetown Review Press
Submission Deadline: September 30, 2013
Fee: $25 entry fee
Details:
$1,500 and publication for a previously unpublished book of short stories. Manuscripts must be between 150 and 300 typed pages. Please include a cover letter that includes the manuscript’s title and the author’s mailing address, email address, and telephone number. Send to: Short Story Collection Contest, Georgetown Review Press, 400 East College, Georgetown, KY 40324. For full guidelines or to submit electronically, please go to our website: www.georgetowncollege.edu/georgetownreview/.
Diana Woods Memorial Award
Submission Deadline: September 30, 2013
Details:
Lunch Ticket is honored to serve as the host for the Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction. Creative nonfiction authors are invited to submit an essay on the subject of their choice. Winners will receive a cash prize and their work will be featured in the next issue of Lunch Ticket. Please visit lunchticket.org/the-diana-woods-memorial-award/ for submission guidelines. Reading period is August and September for publication in December.
Juniper Prize for Poetry
Submission Deadline: Submissions will only be accepted between August 1 and September 30
Fee: $25
Details:
The Juniper Prize for Poetry is awarded annually for an original manuscript of poems. The University of Massachusetts Press publishes the winning manuscript, and the author receives a $1,500 award upon publication. During even-numbered years (2014, 2016, 2018), the judges will consider only manuscripts by writers who already have published at least one full-length book of poetry. Chapbooks do not count as published books. During odd-numbered years (2013, 2015, 2017), and THIS is an odd-numbered year, the judges will consider only manuscripts by writers who have not previously published a book of poetry.
All manuscripts will be judged anonymously by a panel of distinguished poets. The competition is open to all writers in English, whether or not they are U.S. citizens. Mailed manuscripts must have a postmark between August 1 and September 30. http://www.umass.edu/umpress/contact/juniper-prize-poetry
If you’re interested in learning more about how to maximize your exposure and gain credibility through third-party reviews or by entering contests, contact SDP Publishing. We have extensive experience working with authors to submit their work to third-party reviewers and expanding their marketing potential.
SDP Publishing Solutions, LLC (formerly Sweet Dreams Publishing of Massachusetts) offers optimal publishing solutions for authors worldwide. From literary agency representation to worldwide marketing – including international rights – and independent publishing, we provide the best solutions for authors. Our services include developmental editing and copy editing, custom cover design and layout, book marketing, query letter and book proposals, literary agency representation, print and e-book development. We provide the best exposure for your book!
