Competition Monthly: September 2020
14 September 2020
Whichever competitions you’re entering, it’s worth having a look at the winning entries from previous years, which are often featured on the websites. Sometimes you can purchase anthologies with the winning entries. With novel prizes, you can investigate what kind of books have won. They’ll give you a feel for what kind of entry is favoured, whether it’s literary, general, light, funny, quirky, dark and whether they prefer happy endings or are okay with ambiguous or non-happy endings. It’s also worth having a look at what genres the judges write in (if they are writers, of course).
This month there are three competitions which are free to enter, so worth having a look at, especially if you’re new to writing contests.
Good luck to you all in your competition endeavours.
Click August 2020 for posts detailing further competitions closing in October.
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Rolling Competitions
Writers’ Forum Short Story Contest
Theme: Open, 1,000 – 3,000 words
Prizes: £300 / £150 / £100
Closing date: ongoing
Entry: £6 / £3 for subscribers
Ongoing competitions
Retreat West Monthly Micro Fiction Competition
Theme: New prompt on first Monday of each month, 100 words exactly
Prizes: 30% of entry fees and publication / 20% of entry fees and publication / free entry to the next month’s competition. Winner is decided by a vote
Closing date: Around one week after the prompt is posted.
Entry: £4
Closing soon
Grindstone 2020 International Novel Prize
Theme: Any genre, YA or older, opening 3,000 words for finished or part completed novel
Prizes: £1,000 / £500 / 4 x £100
Closing date: 28 September 2020
Entry: £20
October Competitions
Bath Flash Fiction Award
Theme: Open, 300 words max
Prizes: £1,000 / £300 / £100 / 2 x £30
Closing date: 11 October 2020 (plus two other dates in the year)
Entry: £9
Writing Magazine Dystopian Short Story Competition
Theme: Explore the idea of ‘what if’ to create future or aternative worlds, 1,500 – 1,700 words
Prizes: £200 / £50
Closing date: 15 October 2020
Entry: £6 / £4 subscribers
Retreat West Short Story Prize
Theme: Open, 1,500 – 3,000 words
Prizes: £400 / £250 / £150 / £20 shortlisted
Closing date: 25 October 2020
Entry: £10
Retreat West Flash Fiction Prize
Theme: Open, 500 words max
Prizes: £350 / £200 / £100 / £15 shortlisted
Closing date: 25 October 2020
Entry: £8
Bedford International Writing Competition
Theme: Short stories, open theme, up to 3,000 words (Plus poetry and other comps)
Prizes: £500 / £150 / £100
Closing date: 31 October 2020
Entry: £6
Cranked Anvil Short Story Competition
Theme: Open, 1,500 max
Prizes: £150 / £75 / £30
Closing date: 31 October (and quarterly)
Entry: £5 (discount for further entries)
Flash 500 Novel Opening Chapter and Synopsis Competition
Theme: Opening chapter 3,000 words max plus one page synopsis, for published, self-published and unpublished authors
Prizes: £500 / £200
Closing date: 31 October 2020
Entry: £10 (discount for further entries)
The McKitterick Prize
Theme: A first novel, unpublished or published between 1 January and 31 October 2020, by an author 40 or over on 31 October
Prizes: £4,000 / £1,000
Closing date: 31 October 2020
Entry: Free
Overcome Writing Competition
Theme: ‘Overcoming’, 2,000 words max.
Prizes: £500 plus 2nd prize to be announced
Closing date: 31 October 2020, 11pm
Entry: £5
ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award
Theme: Short story, 5,000 words max, by writers who’ve had at least one story accepted for publication
Prizes: £1,000
Closing date: 31 October 2020
Entry: Free
Southport Writers’ Circle Open Short Story Competition
Theme: Open, 2,000 words max
Prizes: £150 / £80 / £30
Closing date: 31 October 2020
Entry: £3 / £10 for 4
November Competitions
Craft Flash Fiction Contest
Theme: 1,000 words max
Prizes: $1,000 / 4 x $150
Closing date: 1 November 2020
Entry: $20 for up to 2 entries
The Caledonia Novel Award
Theme: Open, YA or adult novel at least 50,000 in length, published or unpublished author
Prizes: £1,500
Closing date: 1 November 2020
Entry: £25
The 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Theme: Open, 2,000 – 5,000 words, by writers from the Commonwealth. Stories in other stated languages also accepted
Prizes: £5,000 for overall winner, £2,500 for a winner from each region.
Closing date: 1 November 2020
Entry: Free
Writing Magazine 500-Word Short Story Competition
Theme: Open theme
Prizes: £200 / £50
Closing date: 15 November 2020
Entry: £6 / £4 subscribers
London Independent Story Prize
Theme: Open: short stories 1,500 words max; flash fiction 300 words max
Prizes: £100 for each category
Closing date: Different priced deadlines, up to 29 November 2020
Entry: Flash fiction £6 – £9.50 and short story £10 – £15.50, depending on date of entry
Retreat West Novelette-in-Flash Prize
Theme: Short novel, 3,000 – 8,000 words, made up of 500 word flash fiction chapters
Prizes: £150 / £100 / £50, plus publication of all three in a collection
Closing date: 29 November 2020
Entry: £14
Cranked Anvil Flash Fiction Competition
Theme: Open, 500 words max
Prizes: £100 / £25, plus publication
Closing date: 30 November 2020 (and quarterly)
Entry: £3 / £5 for 2
The Bath Children’s Novel Award
Theme: Children’s or YA novel by unpublished or independently published authors
Prizes: £3,000, plus other prizes for runners up
Closing date: 29 November 2020
Entry: £28
Aeon Award
Theme: Speculative fiction, 10,000 words max
Prizes: €1,000 / €200 / €100
Closing date: 30 November 2020
Entry: €8.50
Hastings Writers Room First 1,000 Words Novel Competition
Theme: First 1,000 words of a psychological, crime or gothic horror novel
Prizes: £100 / £50
Closing date: 30 November 2020
Entry: £7
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Francesca Capaldi Burgess has been placed or shortlisted in a dozen competitions including Winchester Writers’ Conference, Retreat West, Meridian Writing, Wells Festival Book for Children, Writing Magazine and The People’s Friend serial competition. She’s had stories and a serial published in magazines worldwide and her fourth DC Thomson pocket novel is due out in December. Her first historical saga, published by Hera Books this year, is called Heartbreak in the Valleys . Apart from the RNA, she’s also a member of the Society for Women Writers and Journalists. Francesca runs a writing blog with RNA member Elaine Roberts called Write Minds.
