Writing Competition: Fool for Poetry Chapbook Competition

1st Prize: €1,000

2nd Prize: €500

Both winners will win a chapbook publication and 25 complimentary copies.

The winning poets are also offered a reading and three nights' accommodation at the Cork International Poetry Festival.

The competition is open to new, emerging and established poets from any country. One of these winners will be the highest scoring manuscript entered by a poet with no solo collection (full-length or chapbook) previously published. Up to 25 other entrants will be publicly listed as "highly commended".

Manuscripts can be between 16 and 24 pages in length, in the English language and the sole work of the entrant with no pastiches, translations or versions. The poems can be in verse or prose.

There is an entrance fee of €25 for each manuscript. Entrants may enter more than one manuscript. Once entered, no alterations can be made to the submission. Simultaneous submissions are accepted but please notify us immediately should your manuscript be accepted elsewhere. The winners will be selected by a panel of renowned poets.

The winning chapbooks will be published by Southword Editions and launched at the Cork International Poetry Festival. It will be offered for sale internationally through our own website, Amazon, and in selected independent book shops.

Deadline: August 31st 2021

A Brief History

The Munster Literature Centre established the Fool for Poetry Chapbook Competition in 2005. The competition offered writers the opportunity to have their poems published in a high quality production from the Munster Literature Centre's publishing branch, Southword Editions. The winners also receive cash prizes. The competition did not run from 2010-13. It was reintroduced in 2014.

More information here.

Call for Submissions from Immigrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees: The Other Side of Hope

Deadline July 31, 2021

We admire, respect, and are friends with writers and poets from all walks of life. However, the other side of hope exists to serve, bring together, and celebrate the refugee and immigrant communities worldwide. 

To help promote and showcase writing from these communities, fiction and poetry are open to refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants only.

We accept nonfiction, reviews, and interview submissions by anyone as long as the subject matter sheds light on the refugee and immigrant life.

We offer £100 per published author in the print issue, and £50 per published author in the online issue. Asylum seekers will receive a £100/£50 online gift card (we will try to get one of your choice). The authors we publish in print will also receive one complimentary copy of the issue in which their work appears. Presently, we do not accept translations.

Complete guidelines here.

Call for Submissions: The Society of Misfit Stories

The Society of Misfit Stories is a journal published three times a year. We are interested in all speculative genres (horror, fantasy, science fiction, slipstream, steampunk, magical realism, etc), as well as mysteries, thrillers, and action-adventure stories.

Stories should be between 5,000-20,000 words in length.

Payment details:

Previously published short stories: $25 for the non-exclusive, perpetual right to publish the story in the assigned issue.

Original, unpublished short stories: $50 for non-exclusive, perpetual rights to publish the story in the assigned issue.

Send Submissions to:

misfits@bardsandsages.com

Full guidelines here.

Call for Submissions from Teen Writers to Age 22: Blue Marble Review

We welcome submissions from students ages 13-22. Please take a look at our submission guidelines, and fill out the form below. We look forward to reading your work.

What to Send:

Blue Marble Review is published four times a year and accepts submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, essays, opinion pieces, travel writing, photography and art on a rolling basis. We are looking for new work that hasn’t been published anywhere else either online or in print. 

Contributors published online in Blue Marble Review will receive $25 per published piece, $75 for cover art. 

For our complete guidelines and to submit, visit our submission page.

Call for Submissions: CHOEOFPLEIRN PRESS

CHOEOFPLEIRN PRESS seeks submissions of poetry, 1-act plays, short screenplays, art, and photography for publication in our Autumn journal, Rushing Thru the Dark.

The deadline is August 29.

See our website for our submission guidelines.

Call for Submissions: Book of Matches

Deadline: August 10, 2021

 

Book of Matches is always interested in protest—interested in protest against the unknowing alive in human existence, in protest against the knowing, too. In essence, Book of Matches both celebrates what burns against the dark, and the assurance of how little it illuminates before going out. Send us your most meaningful lies, your real lives, and the poetry of both that we may see a bit more clearly the stormy seas around us all. Book of Matches desires neither COVID, nor overtly political work.

 

Please begin submissions here.

Call for Submissions: WhimsicalPoet

Deadline: Rolling

WhimsicalPoet seeks all forms of art, flash fiction, and poetry that surprises, challenges, chills, endears, and evokes a strong emotional response from readers. We love word mavericks, independent thinkers, and creators who strive toward mastery and truth to expose threads of the human experience. Looking for fresh voices and also established artists.

Send up to 5 pieces in a Word or Google doc to:

WhimsicalPoet.com@gmail.com

or submit via Google Forms using the link on our submission page. Some poetry will be published on a rolling basis and featured on our website. We also release a quarterly digital/print digest. Please include a short bio.

Call for Submissions to Anthology on the Theme of the "Utah Monolith": The Very Center of the World: Stories of the Utah Monolith

THE “UTAH MONOLITH” was discovered in a remote canyon in southern Utah in the fall of 2020. In a year full of so much bad news, news of the metal discovery was embraced the world over as good news—or at least weird news. Those who trekked to see it and those who stayed home in COVID-19 quarantine all wondered, what was this thing? Who or what was responsible for placing it in the red rock canyon deep in the heart of the American West? For what purpose? Who removed it in the middle of one dark night? Why?

 

Editors for The Very Center of the World: Stories of the Utah Monolith are seeking short stories that attempt to answer those questions and to raise even more.

 

Deadline: August 31.

 

For more information, go to the website.

 

or contact by e-mail:

 

language.is.a.superpowerATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Call for Submissions to Anthology: Muddy Backroads: Stories From Off the Beaten Path

MADVILLE PUBLISHING seeks stories up to 5,000 words for a new anthology, Muddy Backroads: Stories From Off the Beaten Path. What happens when a character is in a situation or place far from his, her, their norm? Edited by Luanne Smith, Jodi Angel, and Bonnie Jo Campbell. Previously published material accepted.

$10 submission fee goes toward cash prizes in a contest for best story and 2 honorable mentions, judged by Alan Heathcock.

Deadline: August 15.

Submit here.

Call for Submissions on Themes of Medicine, Illness, and the Body: The Medical Literary Messenger

We seek original, thought-provoking, and unpublished work related to medicine, illness, and the body. If you have a question about what constitutes previous publication, please contact us. We consider simultaneous submissions, but please inform us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

All submissions should be made electronically through our online submission page. Please review our guidelines below.

The Medical Literary Messenger does not provide payment for works published in the journal. Copyright reverts to the author upon publication.

General Submission Requirements

• Submissions should be routed through the online online submission page.

• Submissions may be printed anonymously at the author's request. You will find more information about this process on our online submission page.

• When submitting work, please ensure that all documents are de-identified.

• If you are submitting more than one item (e.g., two poems), please submit each separately.

Submission Requirements by Genre

FICTION: Submissions should be limited to 3,000 words.

ESSAYS/NON-FICTION: Submissions should be limited to 2,000 words.

POETRY: You may submit 1 - 4 titled poems.

PHOTOGRAPHY/VISUAL ART: Images should be high resolution in .jpg format. Please submit a short description of the image.

Call for Submissions: Bright Flash Literary Review

Welcome to Bright Flash Literary Review, an online literary journal.

Submission guidelines: Flash fiction (50-word minimum), fiction, and memoir will be considered. 1500 word maximum for all submissions. Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Please notify us ASAP if your work is accepted elsewhere. Translations not accepted.

Submit only one piece at a time and wait for a response before submitting again.

Please include a short third-person biographical statement in the event that your work is accepted. This is very important!

Average response time is 30 days. If you have not heard from us in more than 60 days, feel free to follow-up.

If your work is accepted, please wait six months before submitting again.

If your work is declined, please wait 30 days before submitting again. Repeated violations of our guidelines may result in being blocked from our site. Authors retain rights to their work, but are strongly advised to honor other publication’s guidelines concerning previously published work. We accept submissions from writers 18 years of age or older.

We are a non-paying market, but also do not charge submission fees.

Submit your work here.

Writing Competition: Southern Humanities Review Editors' Chapbook Prize for Fiction

Southern Humanities Review Editors' Chapbook Prize for Fiction 

Deadline: July 7, 2021

A prize of $1,000 and publication of 100 copies of a bound chapbook is given annually for up to three short stories or a short novella of fiction. This year’s judge is Ron A. Austin. Each entrant may submit up to three short stories or one novella. Each entry may be from 12,500 – 25,000 words.

General entry fees will cost $20. BIPOC entry fees will cost $10.

From Ron: "What reality sucks oxygen out of your cerebellum, rattles the prison bars of your ribcage, charges your skin electric? What will you say to end this world and welcome something new?"

Call for Submissions to Anthology on Meaning and Ethics of Place: Interim

Interim is looking for women’s writing that explores the meaning and ethics of place in the broadest sense of the word, writing that seeks location as dwelling and indwelling simultaneously so as better to know what it means to belong somewhere. Speaking of the house, in The Poetics of Space Bachelard claims “all really inhabited space bears the essence of the notion of home.”

Send poems, essays, flash fiction, and/or hybrid forms that play with notions of place for our fourth all women’s print anthology, forthcoming in December, 2021. Because we believe the truth is experimental, we’ll especially appreciate work with innovative approaches.

Deadline: Sep. 2, 2021

Call for Submissions: About Place Journal

Deadline: July 15, 2021

Each issue of About Place Journal, the arts publication of the Black Earth Institute, focuses on a specific theme. From 5/15 to 7/15 we'll be accepting submissions for our Fall 2021 issue When We Are Lost / How We Are Found. Our mission: to have art address the causes of spirit, earth, and society; to protect the earth; and to build a more just and interconnected world. We publish prose, poetry, visual art, photography, video, and music which fit the current theme.

More about this issue's theme and our submission guidelines here.

Call for Submissions: Mudroom

MudRoom Open for Submissions for Summer Issue

Deadline: August 1, 2021

MudRoom is open for submissions until August 1st! We are seeking poetry and prose in all their forms.

Submissions are free, and we pay 15 dollars per accepted piece.

MudRoom is somewhere between where you’ve come from and where you’re going. We believe in the liminal, the dirty, the messy, and the mundane. We publish four issues of prose and poetry a year, as well as interviews with writers and book reviews.

Writing Competition on Themes of Life in Southern New Mexico: Desert Exposure

Desert Exposure continues its longstanding writing contest.

Submit your best article, short story, essay, poem or other piece of writing by Aug. 15.

Entries must be previously unpublished and will be judged on quality and how well they express some aspect of life in southern New Mexico. Please limit entries to a maximum of two. Maximum length per entry is 4,000 words.

There are two categories: Prose and poetry Prizes include publication, four $25 runner-up prizes and a $100 grand prize. Include name, postal address and email if you have one. Entries cannot be returned. Winners will be featured in the October and November issues of Desert Exposure.

No entry fee. 

Mail entries to:

Desert Exposure
1740-A Calle de Mercado
Las Cruces, NM 88005

or email to:

contestATdesertexposureDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Questions? Call 575-443-4408 for more information.

Writing Competiton: Petrichor Reprint Award

$5 ENTRY FEE. 

Deadline August 31, 2021. 

First place wins $500, personalized Lucite, recording of the winning story in audio and publication. Second place wins $100, and publication of the recorded piece. Third place wins $50, and publication of the recorded piece. Runners-up (five), semi-finalists (ten), and honorable mentions (five) will be announced on the Petrichor website and considered for publication.

An hour of audio is roughly 9,000 words. 

Visit the website for more information. Submit your work here.

Writing Competition: The Cincinnati Review Robert and Adele Schiff Awards

 

The Cincinnati Review invites submissions for the annual Robert and Adele Schiff Awards. One poem, one piece of fiction, and one piece of literary nonfiction will be chosen for publication in our prize issue, and winning authors will receive $1,000 each. All entries will be considered for publication in The Cincinnati Review.

RULES

Writers may submit up to 8 pages of poetry, 40 pages of a single double-spaced piece of fiction, or 20 pages of a single double-spaced piece of literary nonfiction, per entry. Previously published manuscripts, including works that have appeared online (in any form), will not be considered. There are no restrictions as to form, style, or content; all entries will be considered for publication. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable under the condition that you notify us if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere. As the contest is judged anonymously, no contact information may appear anywhere on the manuscript file. Files that do include identifying information will be rejected unread, and entry fees will not be refunded (though you’ll still get your free subscription).

TO ENTER

The entry fee is $20, and includes a one-year subscription to The Cincinnati Review. Multiple submissions are welcome and come with additional yearlong subscriptions, which can be used to extend your original subscription or given as gifts. All entrants with an international address will receive an e-book subscription. (If you live at a US address and would prefer an e-book subscription, please write that in the “comments” field as you submit your entry.)

We will be accepting submissions only via our online submission manager, through which you’ll pay the entry fee. Again, please do not include the writer’s name or any identifying information in the manuscript file. Instead, in the “comments” field at the bottom of the entry page, enter the writer’s name, mailing address, telephone number, email, and the title(s) of the submitted work(s). Also, be sure to use the “genre” tab to indicate whether your submission is poetry, fiction, or literary nonfiction.

SUBMISSION PERIOD

The 2021 contest will run from June 1 to July 15 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Winners will be notified in October, and an announcement will appear on our website. Winning entries will be published in the Summer 2022 issue, which comes out in May.

Call for Submissions: Southwest Review

Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Please notify us immediately if the work has been accepted elsewhere. SwR does not consider work that has been published previously.

Due to the volume of submissions, the editors cannot respond with suggestions or comments.

SwR is published quarterly. Authors receive nominal payment upon publication and five gratis copies of the issue(s) in which their work appears.

Thank you very much for your interest in the Southwest Review. We look forward to reading your work.

Deadline: Aug. 31, 2021

For more information and to submit your work, go here. 

Book Awards for Midwestern Authors: Friends of American Writers Chicago

Each year FAW recognizes new emerging Midwestern authors or those whose novels or non-fiction writing are set in the Midwest. Each year the Literature Awards Committee reads and reviews dozens of books for selection of the current year award winners. We review books September through April, with the winners celebrated at our May Luncheon. Books are eligible for review based on the following criteria. Send in your book and become a FAW Literary Award Winner!

• The author must be a resident (or previously have been a resident for approximately five years) of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota or Wisconsin; or the locale of the book must be in a region identified above.
  

• The books can be fiction or creative non-fiction.

• Self-published (vanity press) and e-Books are not eligible.

• The book must be published in the calendar year prior to the awards year. Currently we are evaluating books published during the 2020 year.

• The author must not have published more than three books under his/her own pen name, with up to and including the third book being eligible for consideration. If an author has more than one book published during that year, we will consider all of them.

• Books nominated for the award must be submitted to the FAW Awards Committees by December 10, 2020. No applications are necessary. Forward your submission to one of the designated Literary chairs as early as possible (Aug - Dec). Send two copies of each book along with a short biographical material regarding the author. 

• We also give awards to YA books. The eligibility requirements are the same.
  

• Questions? Send an email to: 

infoATfawchicagoDOTorg (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Mailing address for Literature Awards:

Karen Pulver
FAW Literature Award
748 Western Ave
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137

Email address for Literature Awards:

lit_chairATfawchicagoDOTorg (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

For information on how to submit to the Young People's Literature Award, contact Angela Gall, Young People's Chair at:

infoATfawchicagoDOTorg (Change AT to @ and DOT to .)

Call for Submissions on Theme of Infrastructure: Sleet

Call for Themed Submissions: Infrastructure

Deadline: July 31, 2021

Sleet is now open for Winter 2021 submissions. We welcome all fine writing and are especially hunting for pieces which celebrate infrastructure, both external and internal. How do you define infrastructure? What supports you, and where do you turn for strength and comfort? Our submission window will remain open until July 31, 2021. Sleet’s Winter Infrastructure edition will debut in November 2021.

See submissions page for guidelines.

Call for Submissions on Halloween Theme: Parhelion Literary Magazine

Halloween Submissions Open! Parhelion Literary Magazine

Deadline: September 9, 2021

Parhelion is accepting short story and flash submissions for our annual Halloween Issue. We're looking for wonderfully creepy, give-me-the-shivers, keep-me-up-at-night stories—bonus if the setting is Halloween/fall. Think James' TheTurn of the Screw or Jackson's The Lottery. Or, the way ghosts haunt the living in Jesmyn Ward's Sing Unburied Sing. Send us your best work!

Call for Submissions: The Hole in the Head Review

 

You Need This Like a Hole In The Head

The Hole in the Head Review is a vibrant online journal of poetry and art that is attracting an international audience and submissions from new and established poets, including Richard Blanco, Denise Duhamel, Richard Foerster, Kimberly Cloutier Green, Larkin Warren, Marie Harris, Michael Hettich, Marilyn A. Johnson, Maurya Kerr, Stuart Kestenbaum, Kenneth Rosen, Betsy Sholl, Charles Simic, David Weiss, J.D. Whitney, and Baron Wormser, plus a host of photographers, painters, collagists, textile and tattoo artists...even lure makers.

Call for Submissions: Volney Road Review

Volney Road Review Paying for Prose, Poetry, Art, and Comics

Deadline: July 31, 2021

Volney Road Review is paying $10 per accepted piece. Send us your best prose, poetry, art, photography, and comics for issue 4.1.

Submissions are open until July 31, 2021.

Writing Competition: CRAFT First Chapters Contest

CRAFT First Chapters Contest

GUIDELINES:

Open May 3, 2021 to June 30, 2021

• CRAFT First Chapters Contest entries are open to all fiction writers; CRAFT is a market for adult literary fiction

• International submissions are welcome

• Excerpts of book-length fiction only—please submit the first chapter or chapters* of your unpublished novels/novellas, completed or in progress

• Please do not submit short stories or nonfiction

• Please submit work in English only

• 5,000 word count maximum*

• We review adult literary fiction, but are open to a variety of genres and styles

• Previously unpublished work only—we do NOT review reprints for contests (previously published includes any form of self-publishing, blogs, personal websites, social media, etc.)

• We allow simultaneous submissions—writers, please notify us and withdraw your excerpt if your work is picked up elsewhere

• We allow multiple submissions—please submit each excerpt as a separate submission accompanied by an entry fee

• $20 entry fee per entry

• All submissions must be made via Submittable

• Please, please, double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 pt font

• Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable), and a summary of your book-length project

• We do not require anonymous submissions

• We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason

• Additionally, we do not tolerate discrimination in the writing we consider for publication: work we find discriminatory on any of the bases stated here will be declined without complete review (you will be refunded, less Submittable’s fee)

*Your entry may include more than your first chapter, up to 5,000 words total, but should contain complete sections—please do not leave us hanging mid-paragraph just to maximize word count—and must be the first chapter(s) of your book-length project, as if you were querying agents or publishing houses.


THE FINE PRINT:

• Friends, family, and associates of the judge are not eligible for consideration for the award

• Our collaboration with editorial professionals and agents in the judging and awarding of our contests does not imply an endorsement or recognition from their agencies/houses/presses/universities/etc.

• If you write YA, we recommend checking out the first chapters contest at Voyage

• Check out our 2019 winners for examples of the work we are reading for

• As we only consider unpublished writing, and will publish the winning excerpts in December, anything under contract to publish prior to March 22, 2022 should not be entered

AWARDS:

Winner: $2,000 award and a full manuscript critique of the novel or novella, up to 100K words, by The Artful Editor

Runners-up: $500 and $300 award respectively for the second and third place finalists
Agent query workshop for the winner and runners-up by Beth Marshea of Ladderbird Literary Agency—Beth will offer feedback on the first 5,000 words of the project, the summary, and a query letter

Publication of the top three excerpts in CRAFT, each with an introduction by Masie Cochran

Publication of an author’s note (craft essay) to accompany the excerpt by each of the writers
All entrants will receive an exclusive digital compilation next winter that will include: the winning excerpts with the guest judge’s introductions and the winners’ craft essays; excerpts from the finalists’ entries; excerpts from craft essays; and more 

More information here.

Writing Competition: Ruminate's The Waking's Flash Prose Prizes

The Waking's Flash Prose Prize - Nonfiction and Fiction

2021 Judge: JJ Peña

Contest Deadline: July 1, 2021

The Waking is an online literary magazine and part of the Ruminate creative community that houses high-quality literary writing about what it’s like to be human. This art can be beautiful, it can be strange, we just ask that it feels true.

Final Judge: JJ Peña (pronouns: he/they) is a queer, burrito-blooded writer living & existing in El Paso, Texas. JJ is the winner of Blue Earth Review's 2019 flash fiction contest, Cutbank's 2019 Big Sky, Small Prose contest, & Mythic Picnic's 2020 Postcard Prize. JJ's work is included in the Best Microfiction 2020 anthology & Wigleaf’s Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions (2020). JJ is a 2021 Periplus fellow, holds a BA in both English and Anthropology, and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso. JJ's stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Washington Square Review, Cincinnati Review, Massachusetts Review, & elsewhere. JJ serves as a flash fiction reader for Split Lip magazine
Guidelines

• $6.30 entry fee (this means 5 dollars for The Waking after Submittable's cut).

• Word limit: 1,000 words (per piece)

• You may send up to TWO flash pieces in the same genre per entry.

• The submission deadline for the prize is midnight July 1, 2021

• You may only upload one document, so please make sure to include both poems in the same document.

• $500 cash prize and publication on The Waking will be awarded to the winner of each genre.

• All entries will also be considered for publication in The Waking.

• All submissions must be anonymous: please remove your name, bio, and any contact info from the file that you submit, including contact info in the file name.

• All submissions must be submitted via Submittable. We will not accept mail or email submissions. We do not accept previously published entries. You may enter simultaneously submitted work as long as you notify us immediately if the work is accepted elsewhere.

• Close friends and students (current & former) of the final judge, JJ Peña, are not eligible to compete. We define student as someone who has taken one semester-long course or more with the judge. Also not eligible to compete are: friends or family of The Waking staff, past first-place winners of any Ruminate Prize, and past judges of any Ruminate prize. Writers who have been previously published in The Waking are welcome to enter.

• If cost is prohibitive, please email:

 cherie@ruminatemagazine.org 

for more information about entry scholarships.

• All funds raised from the tip jar will be used to sponsor contest submissions or pay our contributors.

Call for Science Fiction Submissions: StarShip Sofa

 What do we want?

In a word: science-fiction. From the soft, social science fiction to the weird pulpy stuff to the vigorous hard SF and YA adventure. We welcome all sub-genres and all variety of punks in all their colours. From high-octane action to quiet philosophical stories, we’re after it all.Science fiction is a rich and diverse genre, push it’s boundaries as far as you can go.

We welcome translations and are very interested in stories that take place/written by authors outside the US/Anglo-sphere, as well as as alternative movements and styles. These include (but not limited to) “non-Western” science fiction, Chinese SF, Soviet speculative fiction, Afro-futurism, etc.

The exception is that the SF element must be the backbone of the story. It cannot be an afterthought, or simple window dressing. It can be subtle, but it has to be the story’s foundation. If you take away the speculative element and the story still stands, then it’s not science-fiction and it is not for us.

We are also not interested in fantasy or supernatural horror stories. Genre labels are loose, but if the coal in the story’s engine is magic or supernatural based, we don’t want it. But if there are science-based elements, however soft, then it can be considered. If in doubt, send. Ultimately the best way to get a feel for what we want is to listen to the podcast itself. We favour rich world building, tight prose, complex characters, engaging dialogue and strong pacing, however you define it. 

Although we will consider all types of SF, second person is a very tough sell, as are stories that are preachy and didactic in nature. We’re not the place for fanfiction, fetishistic torture-porn, or total erotica (more stuff on that below). We don’t take well to gimmicky stories that lack a narrative, and as for yarns about werewolves, zombies, vampires… don’t even get us started. Seriously. It won’t end well.

* 

Adult content

Fiction should be free to explore any themes it wishes to, and that means going to some very dark places. There are no levels to the amount of violence, themes, sex, swearing, drugs, or otherwise adult themes in our stories. If it’s done right, nothing is taboo. If it’s part of the human experience, then it’s applicable to fiction.

However, we are not an erotica market, and torture-porn is unlikely to impress us. We don’t take well to blatant shock value. Whatever you’re sending, just make sure it’s thematically justified.

*

Rights and payment

StarShipSofa pays $50 USD flat rate per story. We only require nonexclusive, one time audio rights to play your story. Authors are paid for their stories on the 7th of the proceeding month.

More information about our guidelines and submitting here.

Writing Competition: Drue Heinz Literature Prize

 Drue Heinz Literature Prize

A prize of $15,000 and publication by University of Pittsburgh Press is given annually for a collection of short fiction. Writers who have published at least one previous book of fiction or a minimum of three short stories or novellas in nationally distributed magazines or literary journals are eligible.

Submit a manuscript of 150 to 300 pages between May 1 and June 30. 

There is no entry fee. 

Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Eligibility

1. The award is open to writers who have published a novel or a book-length collection of fiction with a reputable book publisher, or a minimum of three short stories or novellas in magazines or journals of national distribution. Digital-only publication and self-publication do not count toward this requirement.
   
2. The award is open to writers in English, whether or not they are citizens of the United States.
3. Current University of Pittsburgh employees and students, and former employees and students affiliated with the University within the last three years, are not eligible for the award.
4. Translations are not eligible if the translation was not done by the author.
5. Eligible submissions include an unpublished manuscript of short stories; two or more novellas (a novella may comprise a maximum of 130 double-spaced typed pages); or a combination of one or more novellas and short stories. Novellas are only accepted as part of a larger collection. Manuscripts may be no fewer than 150 and no more than 300 pages. Prior publication of your manuscript as a whole in any format (including electronic) makes it ineligible.
6. Stories or novellas previously published in magazines or journals or in book form as part of an anthology are eligible.
7. Manuscripts may also be under consideration by other publishers, but if a manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere and you wish to accept this offer, please notify the Press immediately. Manuscripts under contract elsewhere are no longer eligible for the Prize.
8. Authors may submit more than one manuscript to the competition as long as one manuscript or a portion thereof does not duplicate material submitted in another manuscript.
   

Dates for Submission

Manuscripts must be received during May and June. That is, they must be postmarked on or after May 1 and on or before June 30.

Call for Submissions: Driftwood Press

 

We Pay Contributors: Driftwood Press Submissions Open

Deadline: Year-round 

John Updike once said, "Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better." At Driftwood Press, we are actively searching for artists who care about doing it right, or better. We are excited to receive your submissions and will diligently work to bring you the best in full poetry collections, novellas, graphic novels, short fiction, poetry, graphic narrative, photography, art, interviews, and contests.

We also offer our submitters a premium option to receive an acceptance or rejection letter within one week of submission; many authors are offered editorships and interviews. To polish your fiction, note our editing services and seminars, too.

Writing Competition: Puerto del Sol

The Puerto del Sol 2021 Prose & Poetry Contest

Deadline: September 1, 2021

Puerto del Sol will be accepting entries to our annual contest in poetry and prose between May 1 and September 1. Judges are Eileen Pollack in prose and Todd Dillard in poetry.

Winners receive $500 and publication.

$9 entry fee includes one-year subscription. All manuscripts entered will be considered for publication.

See website for complete guidelines.

Call for Submissions: 50 Give or Take

Submit Your 50-word Story to 50 Give or Take

Deadline: Rolling

50 Give or Take daily delivers micro-fiction of fifty words or less straight into your inbox. Please subscribe (it’s free!) to get an idea of what is published, before submitting your work. All accepted 50 Give or Take pieces will be published in a print collection at the end of every year, starting in 2021. All you have to do is submit your: 50-word story, one-line bio, website or social media URL, and a vertical photo of yourself to:

50giveortake@vineleavespress.com

Good luck!

Writing Competition: Sheila-Na-Gig Editions Poetry Chapbook Contests

Sheila-Na-Gig Editions Poetry Chapbook Contests: Accepts Submissions January 1– July 1 Yearly: 2021 is Sponsored by Duotrope!

Sheila-Na-Gig Editions invites entries for two chapbook-length poetry manuscript contests (one of these is for poets under age 30) January 1 through July 1, yearly

 Please follow the guidelines below to be eligible for the contests:

• Submit a chapbook-length poetry manuscript (40-60 pgs) via Submittable. Manuscripts will not be considered via email or snail mail.
  

• Poems may be previously published in journals or online, if you own the rights for reprints.

• Simultaneous submissions accepted. Please notify us immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere. Reading fees are not refundable.

• Work will be judged on the merits of the manuscripts alone. Please help us judge the work in a “blind” forum by following these next guidelines carefully:

• DO NOT include a bio or formal cover letter.

• DO NOT include an acknowledgments page for previously published work. If your manuscript is selected for publication, you may send along this information later.

• DO NOT include your name ANYWHERE on your manuscript or in the Submittable title of your submission. Submissions that reveal authors’ identities will be disqualified, and fees will not be refunded.

• SPECIAL REQUEST: If we have published your work at Sheila-Na-Gig online, PLEASE DO NOT include these poems in your manuscript. If your manuscript is selected, you may put these poems back in.

THE PRIZE:

Two manuscripts (one of these for poets under age 30, and one for “general” submissions) will be selected for publication by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions. For a sample volumes, check out https://sheilanagigblog.com/sheila-na-gig-editions/ 

$500 honorarium + 50% royalties

 Duotrope sponsored prize: The winner of each contest will receive a two-year membership subscription (worth $100) to Duotrope. If you don’t already use Duotrope to track your submissions and search for publishers, check them out: https://duotrope.com/ 

25 copies of the published manuscript (and 55% discounts on future orders)

All participants will receive a copy of the winning volume upon publication. International participants will receive ebook copies.

THE READING FEE: $20.00

THE SUBMISSION PERIOD: January 1 — July 1

THE JUDGE: Hayley Mitchell Haugen, Founder & Editor, Sheila-Na-Gig online & Sheila-Na-Gig Editions: https://sheilanagigblog.com/about/

RESPONSE TIME: As we judge the work, participants will be notified if their work is declined for further consideration. We will strive to make final decisions by August 1 each year.

THE FINE PRINT: Sheila-Na-Gig Editions reserves the right to not select winning manuscripts if none meet our standards for publication. In the case of this unlikely event, reading fees will be refunded. We really want to publish manuscripts, however! Familiarize yourself with the works on Sheila-Na-Gig online to get a sense of our aesthetic. We publish well-crafted free verse poetry and especially seek poems with excellent imagery and a strong sense of voice.