I had great fun this month getting together with other winners at the Connecticut Press Club Awards evening, emceed by best-selling author Jane Green. (Winners in the photo, L-R: Rendezvous members Alison McBain, Elizabeth Chatsworth and Mitzy Sky.) I was thrilled to see so many winners from the Writers Rendezvous – for which I take credit, since I kept nagging people until they entered! And accepting my first-place awards for this website and for my social media campaign for a book launch, which I won in conjunction with my social media maven, Kiana Stockwell, was lovely too. With awards in mind…
As I’ve mentioned before, Poets & Writers Magazine has a huge searchable database of writing contests, so I looked up a couple ending this month to encourage you to search for your own, and submit! You can’t be an award-winning writer, if you never submit work for consideration. 
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Lascaux Review online and in print is given annually for a work of flash fiction. This contest accepts previously published stories, and you should submit up to three stories of no more than 1,000 words each with a $15 entry fee by June 30. All entries are considered for publication. Complete guidelines here.
Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Los Angeles Review are given annually in these categories: an unpublished poem (up to 50 lines), a short story or essay (up to 2500 words), or a flash fiction story (up to 1000 words). Deadline: June 30. Fee $20. Submission guidelines here.
A good place to see great sentences is among the entrants and winners of the monthly Gotham Twitter contest, where they give you a brief prompt and ask you to write a Twitter-length story. Winners get a free Gotham class. How to enter: each month the Gotham Writers Workshop invites you to post a story on Twitter for a chance to win a free class. (Many are online, so you needn’t be within striking distance of NYC.) Your story must be no longer than 25 words, with a maximum of 280 characters, including spaces and the hashtag #GWstorieseverywhere. Your stories (which can be true or made up) should relate in some way to these monthly “themes” – June: Camp, July: Kid stuff, and August: Dreamy.
Founded in 2010, Hippocampus Magazine is an online publication set out to entertain, educate and engage writers and readers of creative nonfiction. HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction Writers is an in-the-flesh extension of that three-fold mission. This three-day Pennsylvania writing conference has grown since its first annual event in 2015 and typically features 50+ notable speakers, engaging sessions in four tracks, interactive all-conference panels, author and attendee readings, social activities, networking opportunities, meals, and optional, intimate pre-conference workshops. August 12-14, Lancaster PA $489 if you register before June 30, $549 from July 1
The BookLife Prize is awarded in two annual writing contests (one for fiction, one for non-fiction) that seek to support independent authors and discover great books. The Fiction Contest is open for submissions through August 31, in five categories: Romance/Erotica; Mystery/Thriller; Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror; General Fiction; YA/Middle Grade. The Nonfiction Contest will open on October 1, 2022, through January 31, 2023 in four categories: Memoir/Autobiography; Self-Help; Inspirational/Spiritual; and Business/Personal Finance. The grand prize winner for both the Fiction and Nonfiction Contest of the BookLife Prize will receive $5,000 plus an author profile in Publishers Weekly.
All finalists receive a blurb from a bestselling/award-winning author or professional editor serving as a guest judge for the contest, as well as a mention in Publishers Weekly. Plus they each receive $1,000 worth of BookBaby’s Facebook + Instagram for Authors.
The cost to enter is $99 and here’s why it’s worth it, even if you don’t win. All entrants receive a Critic’s Report, which includes a score as well as a brief written critical assessment of their book by a Publishers Weekly reviewer. (Click here to see examples of Critic’s Reports.) You should be able to use some of their comments to write the blurb for your book, or quote it in promotional materials.
My friend Suzanne Craig-Whytock in Ontario, Canada, has launched DarkWinter Literary Magazine which focuses on short fiction and poetry with bite. They want your weird, your traditional with a twist, your humour, (they’re Canadian, hence the spelling!) your dark thoughts, or your elation. They’re open to anything—just make it interesting. Keep it under 2000 words for prose and 500 words for poetry (they’ll accept more than one short story or poem as long as combined they are under the requested word count). Submission details here.
Storied-Stuff currently posts two new stories, two days a week: Monday and Friday. They publish true stories of between 250-300 words about cherished objects from childhood (or beyond) that you have kept or wish you still had. Before submitting take a look at some of the stories previously posted. Here’s a post from my writing friend Reed Ide, to give you some idea.
There’s more to come on Monday – stay tuned!
