I’m going to keep this one short and sweet, since I’m sure you’re still recovering from the recent festivities, and gearing up for New Year’s.
Member Alison McBain (The New Empire) regularly compiles a list of poetry-reading events and places to submit your poetry. If you’re a poet, you need to subscribe to her newsletter, but to see whether this might be helpful for you, check out the latest version, which includes publications with submissions open until January 15.
You can also find details of lots of free-to-enter poetry and prose contests by reading the Winning Writers November newsletter. The WW newsletter is well worth subscribing to, and it’s free to sign up for.
The Urban Tree Festival writing competition is open for entries until March 13 to very short poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, including memoir and personal essays. 250 words max. €6 entry fee. €250 top prize. Shortlisted writers will be published in CANOPY, a limited edition illustrated chapbook anthology, as well as an audio anthology.
Fiction Factory has two new competitions open for submissions. They include a Poetry Competition: 40 lines max, £4 entry fee, with a top prize of £100 plus critiques and mentorship, closes March 1 and a First Chapter + Synopsis Competition: 5,000 words plus synopsis, £18 entry fee, with a top prize of £500, that includes an appraisal and your story read by literary agent, closes March 31.
Fusilli Flash Fiction is continuing to run their regular competitions, but they have launched a new contest for young writers. Details for both comps are the same except for the age limit – one is under 16s, the other is 16+ with no top limit. 200 words max. Free to enter, with rolling submissions. Winners are published on their website and promoted on social media. Every time 100 stories are received, a winner is announced.
Some publishers open and close their doors to submissions on a routine basis. It can be hard to determine if they are open or shut to submissions, and when you should submit. The following list from Authors Publish, includes 20 publishers who are always open to submissions from writers without agents or previous publishing experience. All of these publishers meet their guiding principles. And all of their reviews link to the publishers’ submission guidelines.
The 8th To Hull And Back humorous short story competition is currently open for entries. 2,500 words max. £13 early bird entry fee in place until March 2023. £15 to enter after that. Closes June 30. Top prize is £1,200. All shortlisted entrants receive a cash prize and are published in an anthology.
Chris Fielden, from whom I got some of these contests, has hundreds more writing competitions and publishing opportunities listed on his website. You can find them all here.
If you’re looking for someone to critique your writing, and you don’t have a critique group, try Scribophile, one of the largest and most active writing groups online. It’s an online critiquing website, where you submit your writing for critique and comment on other people’s writing in return.
There’s more than one way to sell your books. Brian Jud and his team at Book Marketing Works can help sell your books in bulk to special markets like corporations (nonfiction), associations, schools, and the military.
If you’ve you’re planning to publish, or have already done so, Rob Eagers of Wildfire Marketing offers several Free e-books in exchange for joining his mailing list. They include: Find Readers and Sell Your Books on a Shoestring, Mastering Book Hooks for Authors, and The Ultimate Book Marketing Plan Template. He’s a specialist in Amazon marketing, among other things, and these books should be a help in getting started.
Finally – something to make you smile from the New Yorker: What to Expect When You’re Expecting to Publish Your First Book
See you in 2023!
