Just to keep you in the publishing loop and pique your interest, here are some upcoming contests you may want to consider entering:
North Street Book Prize: For self-published books in Mainstream/Literary Fiction; Genre Fiction; Creative Nonfiction. Three top winners will receive $1500 each, support for BookBaby’s high-quality publishing services, and $1500 in marketing advice (see New Prize for more details). Deadline: June 30, 2015
The 2015 Rattle Poetry Prize: To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the annual Rattle Poetry Prize has doubled. It is now offering $10,000 for a single poem, which will be published in the magazine’s winter issue. Ten finalists will also receive $200 each and be eligible for the $2,000 Readers’ Choice Award, which will be selected by subscriber and entrant vote. Winners will be judged by a blind review by the editors to ensure a fair selection and the entrance fee is only a one-year subscription to the magazine. Entries are accepted via mail and online. For complete guidelines, visit http://www.rattle.com. Deadline: July 15.
The Masters Review Short Story Award for New Writers: The prize is $2,000 plus publication and consideration by Curtis Brown Literary Agency. Second place will win $200 and third place, $100 — and both will also be considered for publication. No guidelines, just submit your best writing under 6,000 words. Emerging writers only (have not published or self published a novel at the time of submission). Short story collections are not novels and therefore if you’ve published one, you qualify and may enter. Previously unpublished work only. Deadline: July 15, 2015.
Glimmer Train: Glimmer Train’s fiction open submissions call welcomes all subjects, themes, and writers. First place wins $2500 and publication in Glimmer Train Stories. Second place wins $1,000. Deadline: June 30, 2015.
University of Pittsburgh Press: The Drue Heinz Literary Prize has no entry free but is open only to writers who have published a novel, a book-length collection of fiction or at least three short stories or novellas in magazines or literary journals. The winner will be awarded $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Eligible submissions include an unpublished manuscript of short stories; two or more novellas, or a combination of the two. Submissions must be at least 150 pages and no more than 300. Over the years, the judges for this award have included Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, and Raymond Carver. Deadline: June 30, 2015.