Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Writing Contests

This is topic Writing Contests in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Teraen (Member # 8612) on :

So I am sure we all know about the Writers of the Future contest, as it is the pre-eminent, bragging rights if you win contest. I also know that there are a bunch of other contests out there, with varying levels of professionalism and rewards and stuff...

So I figured I would start this thread to list a few contests when fellow writers stumble across them, as a short resource for those of us who like the idea of being able to submit to a venue where we can have our manuscript directly read (or at least STARTED to be read...) without relying solely on a query letter... And, any contest wins would surely be a feather in the cap of any writer to add to said query letters. I recognize that some websites like Ralan.com list contests, but their selection is rather thin right now.

So, for my contribution, I will add the first contest I ever entered, the Random house contest for first novels for children. My first novel was a fantasy-ish work for juveniles, and I was proudly rejected from the contest. But, since the award is publication, I figured it is a pretty good contest to spread around (realizing that although it isn't primarily for speculative fiction, they do accept entries from all genres targeted to that age range...)

EDITED TO ADD TO LIST:

http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/writingcontests/
A writing contest for kid-length first time novels. Prize is publication and $9,000 prize money ($1,500 award and $7,500 advance)

http://www.writersofthefuture.com/
The Writers of the Future contest. 'Nuff said.

[This message has been edited by Teraen (edited December 07, 2009).]

Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :

On The Premises

http://www.onthepremises.com/current_contest.html

It's a poor man's WotF. A quarterly issue that is open to all writers. The top prizes are respectable and the editors will offer you a critique for rejected submissions (for a small fee).

They also have mini-contests with a small cash prize for all that subscribe to their free newsletter.

Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :

Terean - I looked at the Random House contest you mention and it sounds really great, but I had a few questions. Have you read much about the contest? The mid-grade part of the contest has had only two winners in the last 9 years, I believe, which struck me as really odd. Are they just not getting good submissions and choosing not to pick anything, or does the contest only run some of the time?

Also - do you have any sense of whether they accept genre fiction? My read of the rules was that the novels need to be set in North America (which presents a problem for me, since my novels take place ABOVE North America. Way, way, way above in geo-synchronous orbit and/or outer space.

Thanks for the ideas either way, always good to see what else is out there.

I don't participate in them, but I know Writer's Digest runs a number of contests, though most have some sort of entry fee I believe.

I also know that Glimmer Train has contests every quarter, again a reading fee is charged ($15 for them I think.) They often use a trigger or theme for their contests.

Posted by Teraen (Member # 8612) on :

KayTi, yeah, they don't have winners every year. It seems to me a sort of backdoor submissions policy. If they don't find anything good enough in their slush pile of contest submissions, they don't give an award. But I figured I'd post it anyways.

Also, about taking place in North America... It all depends on what someone is writing. SciFi on another world, or a Fantasy world obviously won't work. But not all speculative fiction requires new worlds. Like, I have this great idea for a boy who doesn't know he is a wizard getting recruited into a wizard school in California, where he learns he is the only surviving victim of an evil wizard who killed his parents...