Keeping Tabs on Competitions and Entries

 

How do you keep tabs on both the writing competitions coming up, and those you’ve already entered? I have my own methods of dealing with both, which I find very useful.

For the competitions I might want to enter, I buy a cheap paper month-to-a-page calendar on which I write just the competition name. At a glance I can see what’s coming up, and when I might want to put some time aside to enter something.

For the competitions I’ve entered, I keep an Excel spreadsheet. On this I have ten columns which I label:

Date of entry / Title of story / Competition name / Theme / Word limit / Closing date / Number of words on my entry / Result / Website Address / Other Information

The information is entered in black. Entries that are not successful are changed to red. Those that are successful I make blue. I hope this, or your own adaptation, might work for you too.

 

Here’s hoping for more blue entries than red for you in 2019. Good luck!

 

 

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Rolling competitions:

 

Writers’ Forum Short Story Competition

Theme: Open. 1,000 to 3,000 words

Prize: £300 / £150 / £100

Closing date:  Rolling

Entry: £3 subscriber / £6 non

Details

 

Flash 500 Fiction Competition

Theme: Open, 500 words max

Prize: £300 / £200 / £100

Closing date:  Next deadline 31 March 2019

Entry: £5 / £8 for 2

Details

 

Closing soon:

 

International Sci Fi / Fantasy Short Story Competition

Theme: 1,200 – 7,500 words

Prize: $75 / $50 / $25

Closing date: 7 February 2019

Entry: $4

Details

 

ChipLitFest Short Story Competition

Theme: Open, up to 2,000 or up to 5,000 words

Prize: £500 / £100 / £50

Closing date:  7 February 2019

Entry: £5 or £8

Details

 

The Sunday Times Short Story Award

Theme: Open, up to 6,000 words, unpublished, or published before 1 January 2018

Prize: £30,000 / 5 x £5,000

Closing date:  15 February 2019

Entry: Free

Details

 

The Scottish Arts Short Story Competition

Theme: Open, up to 2,000 words

Prize: £1,000 / £500 / £250

Closing date:  28 February 2019

Entry: £10

Details

 

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March competitions:

 

The BBC National Short Story Award

Theme: Open, up to 8,000 words

Prize: £15,000 / 4 x £600

Closing date:  9am on 11 March 2019

Entry: Free

Details

 

Writing Magazine Short Story Competition

Theme: Character driven story, 1,500 – 1,700 words

Prize: £200 / £50

Closing date:  15 March 2019

Entry: £4 (subscribers) £6 (non subscribers)

Details

 

Harpers Bazaar Short Story Competition

Theme: “Liberty”, up to 2,000 words

Prize: Two night stay at Brownber Hall, Yorkshire

Closing date:  15 March 2019

Entry: Free

Details

 

Limnisa Short Story Competition

Theme: Story inspired by “You’re Next” photo, up to 1,500 words

Prize: Writer’s retreat in Greece

Closing date:  30 March 2019

Entry: Free

Details

 

The Henshaw Short Story Competition

Theme: Open, up to 2,000 words

Prize: £200 / £75 / £25

Closing date:  31 March 2019

Entry: £6

Details

 

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April competitions:

 

ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize

Theme: Open, 2,000 to 5,000 words

Prize: $5,000 / $3,000 / $2,000 / 3 commended to share $2,500

Closing date:  15 April 2019

Entry: $25 (non subscriber), $15 (subscriber or student)

Details

 

Shooter Short Story Competition

Theme: Open, up to 5,000 words

Prize: £500

Closing date: 21 April 2019

Entry: £7 / £10 for 2

Details

 

Swanwick Writing for Children Competition

Theme: Up to 1,000 words

Prize: Fully inclusive week at 2019 Swanwick Summer School

Closing date:  30 April 2019

Entry: £6

Details

 

Swanwick Short Story Competition

Theme: Open, up to 1,000 words

Prize: Fully inclusive week at 2019 Swanwick Summer School

Closing date:  30 April 2019

Entry: £6

Details

 

Tom Howard / John H Reid Fiction and Essay Contest

Theme: Open, up to 6,000 words

Prize: $2,000 / 10 x $100

Closing date:  30 April 2019

Entry: $20

Details

 

Bristol Short Story Prize

Theme: Open, up to 4,000 words

Prize: £1,000 / £500 / £250 / 17 x £100

Closing date:  1 May 2019

Entry:  £9

Details

 

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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. Her first book, Danger for Daisy, was published by My Weekly Pocket Novels at the end of 2018. Apart from the RNA, she’s also a member of the Society for Women Writers and Journalists. Francesca runs a writing blog along with RNA member Elaine Roberts called Write Minds.

 

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