Welcome to the second part of the January update for writers. It includes some workshops and contests, with the deadlines for entering.

Westport Writers Workshop continues to offer several onetime workshops, including many free options. For screenwriters, they have added a handful of new opportunities, from a free table read on January 28 with one of their students, to a pitch party, on February 4 for your movie or TV idea, to a three-week intensive with Matt Ember that starts on March 4 on how to make Short Films. Check here for a complete list of all the winter one-time workshops they are offering.

Thanks to member Alison McBain (The New Empire) for recommending these contests:

The Book Pipeline: Adaptation contest is looking for published books (fiction and nonfiction), graphic novels/comics, and short stories for film & TV development. Both traditional and self-published material accepted. Judging criteria is based on concept originality, feasibility for adaptation in the current marketplace, and overall writing talent. Their first deadline is February 15, (check the website for others) and the winner wins $5000.

Booklife is presenting the second of a series of virtual Indie Author Forums on February 25. The BookLife Indie Author Forum is a conference for self-published, hybrid-published, and indie-press-published authors and those looking to explore the various paths in the ever-evolving world of self-publishing. This one-day event allows current and future indie authors to tap the expertise of Publishers Weekly and BookLife for industry insights and the most up-to-date information on how to best publish and market their books. It runs from 11-5:30pm ET and covers a range of topics related to book marketing and the craft of writing. There will be breakout sessions for various genres. Check this page for the full schedule. Great value at $9 (early bird) or $127. Recordings of the conference will be available. Register here.

Booksie have recently launched their Pet Flash Fiction Contest. They’re asking for true stories about pets. The comp is open until February 28. 300 words max. $4.99 entry fee. $250 top prize.

Book Pipeline also runs a contest for unpublished books with $20,000 in prize money. The 2023 Book Pipeline Unpublished contest includes eight categories of fiction and nonfiction: literary, mystery, thriller, sci-fi/fantasy, romance/women’s fiction, young adult, middle-grade picture books, and nonfiction. Select publishers and agents get a first look at the top selection for each category. The first deadline is March 10. Check the website for others.

Globe Soup is a British website that runs regular 7-day writing challenges. Sign up for their mailing list to find out when the next competition starts. For their current one, all participants will be randomly assigned a science fiction trope. As soon as you receive your assignment, you’ll have until the closing time, 23:59 (UK time), March 6, to write and submit a short story of up to  5,000 words. All we ask is that your story has your assigned science fiction trope woven into the plot somehow. How much prominence you give to the assigned trope is up to you, but it must be a significant part of the plot. Prize: £1,000. Find out more here

The 22nd annual Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest, sponsored by Winning Writers, will award a first prize of $2,000, a second prize of $500, and ten Honorable Mentions of $100 each. The winner will also enjoy a two-year gift certificate from their co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value). The top 12 poems are published on their website. Whether your poem is published or unpublished, or even if it has won a prize in a different contest, you may submit it to the contest. Free to enter. Deadline April 1. Submit here.

Alison’s own publication, Scribes *MICRO* Fiction, takes rolling submissions of 100 words or fewer, Read some of the entries here, to get an idea of what they like.

The Westport Library provides a useful list of writing resources on its website. Topics include articles about writing, places to look for contests, information on Connecticut writing organizations, and books by Connecticut authors. Check out the full list here. And let them know if you think they’re missing something useful. They’ll be happy to add it.

A list of 29 best literary journals for new writers to submit to from Ardor Lit Magazine, an online literary journal that pays for accepted work. Their list tends to include literary journals, so these may not reflect your kind of writing. But you won’t know if you don’t look!

Sandra Beckwith wrote this article for her website Build Book Business. Here’s the kicker. Half of the article was written by A.I. and then edited by the author. Shockingly, it’s really well done…

Thanks for reading!