For those of you who enjoy entering writing contests, but don't want to spend much money on entry fees, I hear you! I don't think that I have ever entered a contest with an entry fee, as my goal is to earn money from my writing, not pay out money to have my work judged.
Beware, though, writing contests are probably not the best way to make money off your writing. I enter to get my name out there, for fun, and yes, I do secretly hope to win.
I have not entered all of the contests on this list, but I have done my best to pick out legitimate, good looking contests that young writers are eligible for.
When searching for writing contests, look each one over very carefully. There are writing scams out there. Use your common sense and listen to your gut. If something feels wrong, it probably is. Steer quickly away. There are plenty of other writing contests out there to choose from.
Quotes are from the contest sites themselves.
January
# GWstorieseverywhere
Contest Deadline: Not specified. I assume the last day of January.
Entry Fee: FREE
Special Requirements: Entry must be "original and unpublished."
Theme: Lists
Age Category: None found
Prizes: One Gotham Writers class of your choosing (excluding premium classes). Your entry will also be posted on GothamWriters.com.
This contest is run monthly. A max of 25 words, and no more than 280 characters. This includes all spaces, and the hashtag #GWstorieseverywhere. Gotham Writers gives a new theme for each month. January's theme is Lists. Once your story is complete, you post it on Twitter - oh, my bad - X, with the above hashtag.
Please do take the time to read their blog post with tips on writing a winning entry in this contest. You can find it here.
The full guidelines are found right here.
Clash of the Query Letters
Contest Deadline: January 31, 2024
Entry Fee: $5 (+$20 for optional feedback)
Special Requirements: None
Theme: None
Age Category: None found
Prizes: 1st Place, $700 CAD; 2nd Place, $200 CAD; 3rd Place, $100 CAD. "All three finalists will be published on the Chopping Blog and receive complimentary access to our new craft book, 'Immersion and Emotion: The Two Pillars of Storytelling.'"
One single spaced page, maximum of 500 words. Will be judged by Michelle Barker.
"Original, unpublished, unrepresented work only."
You can read the full guidelines here.
Prime Number Magazine 53-Word Story Contest
Contest Deadline: January 15, 2024, 12:00 pm Eastern Time
Entry Fee: FREE
Special Requirements: No poetry allowed
Theme: Contest prompt changes monthly. Here is January's:
"At midnight local time, everyone in the USA crossed over into a new year. In China, the new year begins somewhere between January 21 and February 20. Regardless of your calendar, at some point a new year arrives, and with it, many hope for a better life, a fresh start, peace for all.
Write a 53-word story about a beginning"
Age Category: None found
Prizes: Winner will receive one free book from Press 53. Their story will be posted on the 53-Word Story Contest page until next month's winner replaces it. The winner's story will also be published in the next issue of Press 53 Magazine, along with the author's photo and 53 word bio. It doesn't hurt to have this bio and photo ready to go in case you win.
Only one submission per person.
"Stories sent as attachments, or images embedded in the email, will not be considered." Paste your story in to the body of the email.
53 words or less. Stories only, no poetry. Hyphenated words count as a single word. Titles do not count towards your 53 words. Thank goodness!
This is a recurring contest, and you may enter each month.
You can (and should) read the full guidelines here.
RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers
Contest Deadline: January 14, 2024, 11:59 pm PT
Entry Fee: None
Special Requirements: Must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and must have been published in a literary magazine or anthology, but unpublished in book form.
Theme: None
Age Category: None
Prizes: Winners, $10,000, Finalists, $2,500
There are two categories. Poetry and Short Fiction.
Limit ten pages of poetry.
The fiction category has a limit of 2,500 words.
You may not submit two pieces in either category, but you may submit one piece to each category, two submissions in total.
You can find the full guidelines for both categories here. Read them over carefully, as there is quite a bit of information that you should know, which is not listed in this summary.
New Brunswick Writing Competition
Contest Deadline: March 31, 2024
Entry Fee: Varies by category.
Special Requirements: Must be a resident of New Brunswick, or an WFNB member.
Theme: None. There are eight categories to choose from: Fiction Manuscript, Short Fiction, Poetry Manuscript, Single Poem, Books for Young People, Teen Writers, Narrative Nonfiction, and Screenplay. Submission fees vary for each category.
Age Category: None
Prizes: Winners, $10,000, Finalist, $2,500
You may submit multiple pieces to a category, but each time it is necessary to pay the applicable fee.
You can find the full guidelines here. Read them over carefully, as always.
February
2024 Amazon Canada First Novel Award
Contest Deadline: "No later than 5:00 p.m. (EST) on February 4, 2024"
Entry Fee: FREE
Special Requirements: None
Theme: None
Age Category: 13-18 (+separate adult novel category)
Prizes: Winner gets $5,000, five additional finalists receive $500 each.
Submit a short story under 3,000 words.
There is also an Adult category for novel manuscripts, but I am choosing not to include that here, as I am listing contests that most teens will be eligible for.
You can read the full guidelines here.
The guidelines are a bit longer than normal for this one, sprinkled with a bit of legal language, so I would recommend reading them over with an adult you trust, who knows a bit more about that than you do.
You can find the submission button on this page. Make sure you hit the button in the Youth Short Story Category section, and not the Adult Novel Category.
# GWstorieseverywhere
Contest Deadline: Not specified. I assume the last day of February.
Entry Fee: FREE
Special Requirements: Entry must be "original and unpublished."
Theme: Cabin Fever
Age Category: None found
Prizes: One Gotham Writers class of your choosing (excluding premium classes). Your entry will also be published on GothamWriters.com.
Yes, I just listed this contest in the January section, but remember, it s run monthly. All of the same rules apply here, but the theme has changed. For February, you are writing a story to the theme of Cabin Fever.
Again, please do take the time to read their blog post with tips on writing a winning entry in this contest. You can find it here.
The full guidelines are found right here.
Honest Holiday Haiku Contest 2023
(The Gotham Writers site says "2023" in the title, but the contest is run in 2024. Nevertheless, I am using the title they have provided on their website.)
Contest Deadline: "February 29, 2024, 11:59 pm Eastern Time"
Entry Fee: FREE
Special Requirements: Entry must be "original and unpublished."
Theme: Honest Holiday Haiku
Age Category: None found
Prizes: Winner will receive a free Gotham Writers class of their choice. Premium classes excluded. The winner's "honest holiday haiku" will also be published on GothamWriters.com.
If you are the winner, Gotham Writers will let you know by March 18, 2024.
No word count is listed, because this is a haiku poetry only contest. Three lines: five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables. If you would like to learn more about writing your own haiku, please see my short guide here, and take a look at the winning haikus posted in the full guidelines for the Gotham Writers Honest Holiday Haiku Contest.
For help with learning to write your own haiku, see my blog post Learning Poetry: Haiku.
CBC The First Page
Contest Deadline: Uncertain. Sometime in February.
Entry Fee: FREE
Special Requirements: Only full-time Canadian students in Grades 7 to 12 are eligible for this contest.
Theme: "How will the world leaders of today impact the world of tomorrow? Who will be the biggest name in pop culture in the future? How will climate change impact the protagonist's life?"
Age Category: "This contest is open to all Canadian residents who are full-time students enrolled in Grades 7 to 12. Entries will be judged in two age categories: Grades 7 to 9 and Grades 10 to 12."
Prizes: "The winner of each category will receive a one-year subscription to OwlCrate, which delivers monthly boxes of books and literary-related goodies. The school library of each winner will also receive a donation of 50 books."
"Your entry can be 300-400 words in length. Your entry also needs a title, but the title is not included in the word limit. Your entry can be written in any genre."
The contest post says that when submissions open, the link to submit will be up there too. Here is the link to their post. Keep checking to see when submissions open up.
The Synopsis Skirmish
Contest Deadline: Uncertain. Sometime in February.
Entry Fee: $5.00 (+$30.00 for optional feedback)
Special Requirements: None.
Theme: None.
Age Category: None.
Prizes: First Prize: $700, Second Prize: $200, Third Prize: $100
500 words max.
"Original, unpublished, unrepresented work only."
I am fairly certain that this contest is opening again this year. Last year, the submission period began sometime in February and closed on May 31. Check the Darling Axe Synopsis Skirmish contest page for updates. You can find it here.