To keep us all in the know, here are some upcoming contests you may want to check out:
Library Journal’s Self-Published E-book Awards: Deadline: July 31 (must be received by this date). $1,000 prizes for self-published e-books in each of 5 genres: Romance, Mystery, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Young Adult. Author must be over 18 and hold the copyright, including the rights to digital distribution. Sponsored by Library Journal, a magazine for librarians about technology developments in library science. Enter online.
Richard J. Margolis Award: Deadline: July 1. Creative Nonfiction. A $5,000 stipend and a month-long residency at the Blue Mountain Center a writers’ and artists’ colony in the Adirondacks in Blue Mountain Lake, New York, to a promising new journalist or essayist whose work combines warmth, humor, wisdom, and concern with social justice. Send
at least two nonfiction pieces (published or unpublished), up to 30 pages total, with a short biographical note including a description of your current and anticipated work. Sponsor accepts entries via email or postal mail.
L Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Award: Deadline: June 30. Short Fiction. Free contest for emerging writers of short science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Awards quarterly prizes of $1,000 plus an annual $5,000 grand prize for one of the four winners. Send one story per quarter, maximum 17,000 words. See website for eligibility rules. Entrants may not have professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium.
Drue Heinz Literature Prize: Deadline: June 30. Free contest for an unpublished book-length collection of short fiction (150-300 double-spaced pages) includes $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Open to writers who have published a book-length collection of fiction or at least three short stories or novellas in nationally distributed magazines or journals; online and self-publication does not count.
Roll of Thunder Publishing Contest: Deadline: June 21 (must be received by this date). Free contest awards a book publishing contract with Penguin Random House, including a $35,000 advance, royalties, and an option for a second children’s/YA novel, for a complete children’s fiction manuscript about diversity written by a US writer of color aged 18+ who has not previously published any work of fiction in any medium. Entries must be intended for readers ages 8-14. Limit one manuscript (25,000-75,000 words) per author. Named after Mildred D. Taylor’s 1976 young adult novel about racial discrimination, this contest from Penguin Young Readers and We Need Diverse Books seeks emerging, diverse voices in children’s literature that celebrate “courage, love, and pride.”
If something sounds appealing, I hope you’ll take a closer look — as we all write on.
