Competitions to Enter in November

Tags

Aeon Award, Against the Grain Poetry Press, Bath Children's Novel Award, black cats, Caledonian Novel Award, Cornerstones, Everything With Words Urban YA Competition, Fish Short Story Competition, Inktears Short Story Competition, Mother's Milk Books, Nanowrimo, Sylvia Plath, The White Review Poets Prize 2018

 

With Hallowe’en imminent, here is a spooky/lucky black cat for you. The chair on which Gizzy is conducting her radiator worship was purchased from an antique shop in Edenbridge, then humped laboriously back to the car park at the far end of the High Street. My plan was to recline in it for late afternoon reading of Jane Austen. Fat chance…

Everything With Words independent children’s publisher wants entries for its Urban YA Competition, for a debut novel set in today’s urban, multi-cultural Britain. The winner will receive £1,000, plus possible publication. Novels should be between 40,000 and 700,000 words and may be written by agented or unagented writers, but must be the author’s first novel for YA readers. Send novel and a 500-word summary, with “YA competition” in subject line. Closing date is 30 November and THERE IS NO ENTRY FEE, so what do you have to lose? Details: wwweverythingwithwords.com

The Against the Grain Poetry Press (which publishes three collections each year) is inviting original unpublished entries for its Poem Competition 2018. The winning entry will be submitted to the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem, and will be awarded £100. There are second and third prizes of £50 and £25. Entry fee is £5 for two poems, or £10 for five poems. Closing date is 30 November. Details: atgcompetition@gmail.com

Indie press Mother’s Milk Books is inviting submissions of dark fairy tales for the fifth in the series of their popular annual anthology The Forgotten and The Fantastical. Stories should be up to 5,000 words and may be set in the present day or in any fantastical or sci-fi setting. Entry is free, but submitting writers are asked to buy a copy of one of the previous books in the series through the website and to include the invoice number with their submission. Each accepted author will be paid £20 and will receive a complimentary book and the chance to read at the book launch in Nottingham. Closing date 30 November. Details: submissions@mothersmilkbooks.com

Arkbound Short Story Competition for stories between 500 and 1,000 words on the theme of ‘time‘. Prizes: £100, £50, £25, 3 x £20. Entry fee: £3. Arkbound will sponsor entries from disadvantaged people. Closing date 1 November. Details: competitions@arkbound.com

Caledonia Novel Award for the first 20 pages, plus 200-word synopsis, of a novel by an unpublished writer. Prize: £1,000, plus trophy. Entry fee: £25. Closing date 1 November. Details: http://www.caledoniannovelaward

Fish Short Story Competition for stories up to 5,000 words. Prizes: 3,000 Euros for first; a week at Anam Cara Writer’s Retreat in West Cork, plus 300 Euros expenses for second; 300 Euros for third. Entry fee: 20 Euros for the first, 10 Euros thereafter. Closing date 30 November. Details: info@fishpublishing.com

Inktears Short Story Competition for stories between 1,000 and 3,500 words. Prizes: £1,000, £100, 4 x £25. Entry fee £7.50. Closing date 30 November. Details: http://www.inktears.com

Aeon Award for short stories up to 10,000 words ‘in any spec fic genre’.

Ely Amnesty Group Short Story Competition for stories up to 1,500 words on the theme of ‘hope’. Prizes: £50, publication. Entry fee: £5. Closing date

National Novel Writing Month is an annual internet-based creative writing project that takes place during November. Participants attempt to write a 50,000 word manuscript between 1 November and 30 November. Although there is no monetary prize, participants can get on-line support, pep-talks, and can even get involved in local events. This could be a brilliant way to get started on a new novel project.  Details: https://nanowrimo.org

Literary magazine The White Review is inviting entries for The White Review Poets Prize 2018. The winner will receive £1,700, expert professional advice and will be published in the Review. To enter, submit between five and ten pages of original and unpublished poetry. The entry fee is £12. Closing date 6 November. Details: http://www.thewhitereview.org.

As ever, let me remind you to check entry details with care before submitting in case I’ve got something wrong…!

And finally, to also remind you that even rejections give something positive back, is that brilliantly encouraging quote from Sylvia Plath:

 

Competition Opportunities in November

Tags

Bath Children's Novel Award, Congleton Players, Erewash Writers Free Entry Competition, Fish Publishing, Nanowrimo, National Novel Writing Month, Speldhurst Village Scarecrow Competition

I’m a couple of days late with this – for which, my apologies, I was off on my broomstick – but here are some competitions worth entering in November.

Bath Children’s Novel Award, for 7-17 years. 5,000 words plus synopsis. Entry fee £25. Prizes: £2,000; £500 Cornerstones voucher. Deadline: 19 November. Details: bathnovelaward.co.uk/childrens-novel-award

Erewash Writers Free Entry Competition. Poem: 40 lines. Flash Fiction: max 500 words. Story: 1,500-2,000 words. Theme: Live in the Moment. Entry, as said, is free, but is limited to two entries max per person. Prizes: £25 story; £10 poetry/flash fiction, plus publication. Deadline: 23 November. Details: erewashwriterscompetition.weebly.com/2017-free-entry-themed-writing-competition.html

Fish Short Story Prize 2017.  Word limit, 5,000. Entry fee: 20 Euros. 10 stories will also be selected to go into the 2018 Fish Anthology. First prize: 3,000 Euros. Second prize: Week at Anam Cara Writers Retreat, plus 300 Euros. Third prize: 300 Euros. Fish also have an on-line short story writing course and a critique service. Details: http://www.fishpublishing.com

Congleton Playwriting Competition for one-act plays from new and emerging playwrights with a running time of 20-30 minutes (3,500-4,000 words). Ideally plays should have between two and six characters, but monologues will be considered. Shortlisted plays will be performed at the Congleton Players One-Act Play Festival in 2018, and the writer of the play voted the audience’s favourite will get £150. ENTRY IS FREE. Deadline: 30 November. Details: http://congletonplayers.com/

There are also always competitions to enter in Writer’s Magazine and Writers’ Forum.

And, finally, November is National Novel Writing Month, the challenge to use November to get your word count up to 50,000 words and your book properly under way. Although this started on November 1st, you can still sign up. There are badges for reaching important targets and a prize draw for people who get successfully to the end. Along the way are pep talks, support and the chance to meet fellow writers on-line. Details: https://nanowrimo.org

 

The picture, incidentally, was one of my entries into the annual Speldhurst Village Scarecrow Competition. It didn’t win, nor did it get placed (maybe it should have been featured in my Rejection Diaries), but was great fun to create. My friends tell me the likeness is remarkable, apart from the hair length.