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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...)
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.
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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.
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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...