June 2018: Competition Monthly
18 June 2018
Flexing our nonfiction muscles in competitions can be good practice for all the blogs and interviews we undertake as authors.
Most of you reading this will spend much of your time inventing stories for a cast of fictional characters. Even if you’ve never written a true life piece for a magazine or newspaper, there are times when you need to create some nonfiction. It could be for a blog, an interview or a quippy comment on Twitter or Facebook to promote yourself or your books. There’s a chance to flex those nonfiction muscles this month in a Writing Magazine competition that invites us to use our story telling talents to create something factual.
It’s hard to write when the sun is shining and you’re stuck in your writing garret. If you’d like to relive a recent holiday and give yourself a chance to win £200 (and ultimately, a £1,000), the Telegraph’s ongoing ‘Just Back’ competition could be for you. If you haven’t been on that holiday yet, remember to make some notes and take some photos when you do go, and enter the free competition when you return.
Apart from these two nonfiction comps, there’s a nice selection of contests for short stories, novels and flash fiction this month. There’s even a bit of fun added with the limerick competition. It’s quite cheap at £5 for four limericks, so why not have a go?
Have fun and good luck everyone
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Rolling competitions:
Writers’ Forum Fiction Competition
Theme: Open. 1,000 – 3,000 words
Prize: £300 / £150 / £100
Closing date: Rolling
Entry: £3 for subscribers, otherwise £6
The Telegraph Just Back Travel Writing Competition
Theme: Feature article on travel experience. 500 words max
Prize: £200 (£1,000 if chosen as the annual winner)
Closing date: By midnight on Wednesday to be considered for publication ten days later.
Entry: Free
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Closing Soon:
Win Your Way to NAWG Festival Competition
Theme: ‘Unity’. 1,500 – 1,700 words
Prize: Weekend at NAWG Fest 2018 / Mini critique worth £100
Closing date: 30 June 2018
Entry: Free to NAWG members, otherwise £5
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July competitions:
Penfro Book Festival’s First Chapter Competition
Theme: Open. First chapter up to 3,000 words
Prize: Consultation with Richard Davies of Parthian Books plus a report / 2 x consultations with R Davies
Closing date: 13 July 2018
Entry: £10
Writing Magazine 1,000 Word Short Story Competition
Theme: Open
Prize: £200 plus publication in magazine / £50 plus online publication
Closing date: 15 July 2018
Entry: £4 subscribers, otherwise £6
Cinnamon Press Annual Debut Fiction Prize
Theme: Open, adult and crossover novels (no children’s). First 10,000 words of novel / novella or 3 stories
Prize: One year’s mentoring worth £1,000
Closing date: 31 July 2018
Entry: £12
To Hull and Back Humorous Short Story Competition
Theme: Open, but must contain an element of humour. 2,500 words max
Prize: £1,000 / £500 / £250 / 3 x £50 / 14 x £25
Closing date: 31 July 2018
Entry: £11
The Writers Bureau Limerick Competition
Theme: Open
Prize: £100 plus WB course / 2 x £50
Closing date: 31 July 2018
Entry: £5 for up to 4 limericks
Stroud Book Festival Flash Fiction Competition
Theme: Open. 500 words max
Prize: £500 / £250 / £100
Closing date: 31 July 2018
Entry: £5 (£3 each additional entry)
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August competitions:
The Costa Short Story Award
Theme: Open. Up to 4,000 words. Looking for bold and original stories.
Prize: £3,500 / £1,000 / £500
Closing date: 3 August 2018 (opens 2 July)
Entry: Free
Writing Magazine Creative Nonfiction Competition
Theme: Article / Memoir / Slice of Life. 1,500 – 1,700 words.
Prize: £200 plus publication in magazine / £50 plus online publication
Closing date: 15 August 2018
Entry: £4 subscribers, otherwise £6
Kindle Storyteller Prize
Theme: For authors who publish a book in any genre to KDP between 1 May and 31 August.
Prize: £20,000 / Kindle E-reader for each finalist
Closing date: 31 August 2018
Entry: Free
Exeter Short Story Prize and Trisha Ashley Award
Theme: Open. 10,000 words max. Humorous stories will be put forward for the Trisha Ashley Award
Prize: £500 / £150 / £100. For Trisha Ashley Award £200
Closing date: 31 August 2018
Entry: £12
Exeter Flash Competition
Theme: Open. 750 words max
Prize: £200 / £100 / £50
Closing date: 31 August 2018
Entry: £6
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Francesca Capaldi Burgess has been placed or shortlisted in a number of competitions including Winchester Writers’ Conference, Twyford Writers, Chorley & District Writer’s Circle, Retreat West, Cordelia.net, Meridian Writing, Flash a Famous Phrase, Wells Festival and Writing Magazine. She’s had stories and a serial published in magazines worldwide and in three anthologies, including Diamonds and Pearls and 100 Stories for Haiti plus a few articles and even a poem. She is a member of the RNA New Writers’ Scheme and the Society for Women Writers and Journalists. Francesca runs a writing blog along with RNA member Elaine Roberts called Write Minds.
