hello all,
complications from 1st wrist op
just had 2nd wrist and hand op
keep writing!
Cathy xxx
Here are some writing competitions and calls for submission, all with free, electronic entry.
As usual I’m passing these on in good faith but mistakes may be made, so do check all the submission guidelines carefully. Any info in quotes comes from the website itself and any dates at the start are deadlines. Also, I don’t know the sources personally, so do check them out for yourselves.
There are three headings (click/tap to jump straight to them):
If you aren’t a submitter (why not? Nothing to lose! Rejection is something we all share!) then the themes can make great writing prompts/exercises.
Although I mention only fiction or poetry, many publications accept non-fiction, art or other forms, so do check if interested. Good luck and do let me know of successes! The links are in the comments, and any dates at the start are deadlines.
Where possible, I have marked the relevant entries with ‘paying’, ‘contributor copy’ etc. However, you are best off checking the info for yourselves as I am not infallible and the info isn’t always available or clear. Please be aware that a contributor copy may be in print or digital format. Also, some publications offer several things, eg payment as well as a contributor copy. Where this is the case, I have assumed that payment is enough of an incentive, so I haven’t listed everything. It’s a rough guide and should be treated as such.
COMPETITIONS
14th Jul ‘Reality Show Madness! We are looking for flash in the vein of these reality shows with a heavy addition of the speculative. We are not looking for fan fiction.’ Theme: Eurovision/Singing and Talent Competitions PAYING https://apparitionlit.com/submissions/
15th Jul ‘The Kaidankai podcast is accepting original, unpublished stories with a haunted house theme to be read during August. The preferred word count is 1000 to 3000 words, but I’l consider stories outside that word count.’ PAYING https://www.kaidankaistories.com/submit.html
31st Jul Short story. PAYING https://www.crossingthetees.org/short-story-competition/
31st Jul ‘Send us your poems on any theme, of any length and of any style. Winners receive a range of fantastic prizes, including further mentoring and development opportunities from The Poetry Society, and former winners are among the most successful poets writing today. Entry is free to 11 – 17 year olds everywhere.’ PRIZES (UNKNOWN WHAT) https://foyleyoungpoets.org/
SUBMISSIONS WITH DEADLINES
Free submissions open on 1st of each month. ‘The Forge Literary Magazine publishes one prose piece per week selected by a rotating cast of editors… If there is no free link, we’ve hit our quota.’ PAYING https://forgelitmag.com/submit/
2nd Jul 800-2000 word story on the theme of Women & Girls. https://www.liarsleague.com/liars_league/writers.html
3rd Jul ‘At Fathom we publish articles, personal essays, profiles, interviews, book reviews, Bible exposition, theological and/or historical analysis, poetry, and short stories. The work we prefer often utilizes personal narrative to communicate the deeper aspects of the Christian faith and to draw our readers into the nuance surrounding an idea. Our standard articles fall between 1,000 and 1,600 words. Short stories should be at least 3,000 words. Poems vary in length and style.’ Theme: Goodness. https://www.fathommag.com/writing-for-fathom
7th Jul Cosy fantasy stories 3000-8000 words. PAYING https://wyngraf.com/submissions/
7th Jul Fantasy Flash Fiction. PAYING https://adamant.moksha.io/publication/lightspeed/guidelines
7th Jul ‘ We accept proposals from Australian writers only, for general, literary and commercial non-fiction – including history, current affairs, memoir and biography.’ https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/submissions
14th Jul ‘We publish primarily speculative fiction, from horror to hard science fiction to high fantasy to mysteries to magical realism to mainstream, but we have room for other types of fiction as well.’ Poetry, flash, and short fiction. PAYING https://www.daikaijuzine.org/guidelines
15th Jul ‘State secrets, family secrets, trade secrets, secret sins and secret loves, entrusted secrets, cosmic secrets, childhood secrets, dark secrets taken to the grave––any sort of secret at all. Can’t keep a secret? Closely guarded treasure, or a bargaining chip.We are more interested in tales of mystery than everyday gossip. Send us your best unpublished stories of approximately 50 words about a Secret, or Secrets.’ http://www.blink-ink.org/submissions/
15th Jul Poetry, fiction and more on the theme of The Moon. PAYING https://ev0kepublication.com/contributors/
21st Jul Romantic flash fiction 700-1000 words on the theme of Love on Any Level. https://sparkflashfiction.com/submission-guidelines/
22nd Jul Theme: Rituals. Stories must be 2,000 (10% tolerance +/-) PAYING https://theotherstories.net/submissions/
25th Jul Prose and poetry. PAYING https://www.mudroommag.com/submissions
28th Jul ‘Are you drawn to satirical takes on the social scene? Enjoy writing dark humour and starkly honest account of ordinary life? We are looking for content that takes risks, screams with honesty and celebrates life’s extraordinary moments.’ Poetry and fiction. CONTRIBUTOR COPY/COPIES (MAY BE PRINT OR DIGITAL) https://www.follyjournal.com/submissions (Cathy’s note: There’s a day between the submission deadlines for poetry and fiction, but I decided to put them in one listing. If you fear that you’ve missed the deadline, check their Submittable page.)
31st Jul ‘We are currently accepting submissions for our first issue! We’re seeking punchy, genre-oriented short stories that can captivate, intrigue, and entertain a diverse audience. We prefer stories between 1,000 and 3,000 words. However, we will consider outstanding stories outside this range with an aim toward serialization.’ PAYING https://epicechoesmag.wixsite.com/epic-echoes-magazine
31st Jul ‘We like to balance each quarterly issue between science fiction and fantasy, dark and light, serious and humorous, hard and soft science fiction, and longer and shorter works.’ Fiction, flash fiction, book reviews, art, nonfiction, and poetry. PAYING https://sites.google.com/newmyths.com/newmyths-com-home/submissions
1st Aug ‘Writing allows us to imagine a world where oppression and trauma don’t exist. And there is a reality where we are not defined by our trauma(s), but through our power—And you’re invited to be a part of that. Awake is a digital zine and collection of work by Black authors that explores the power we each hold. For the very first time, Awake will be in print! Prompt: The West is under attack! Protect your frontier and deliver your ‘isms [alive] to collect your bounty!’ PAYING https://luckyjefferson.com/awake-collection/
1st Aug Fiction, CNF and more on the theme of SUNDOWN: an elegy to the late, great musician Gordon Lightfoot. http://www.cowboyjamboreemagazine.com/
1st Aug ‘B Cubed Press is pleased announce an Open Call for Alternative Leadership. An anthology about leadership. Leadership by the under-represented, by those too often forced to watch as those less qualified, less capable rise in a system that cannot see the value of diversity and change.’ Stories, essays and poems. PAYING https://bcubedpress.moksha.io/publication/alternative-leadership
SUBMISSIONS WITH NO KNOWN DEADLINES
(Publishers might not give out their pay rates on their submission pages, so make sure to find them out before signing a contract!)
Horror stories by black writers. PAYING https://nightlightpod.com/submissions/
‘At Pratham Books, we publish books that enrich the reading experience for a child. We select manuscripts based on several parameters. Selected stories may not have all of the following attributes, but we do look for scripts that match most of them: Original and engaging, Indian setting, Interesting plot and characters, Diverse. Fiction, creative non-fiction, non-fiction.’ https://prathambooks.org/submissions/
Poetry, fiction, and more. https://www.therumen.com/submissions
Weird Horror Novels and novellas of 20,000 words or more. ADVANCE + ROYALTIES http://tenebrouspress.com/submissions
‘We seek poetry, literary fiction, essays, and any kind of writings that do not fall into these categories, written or translated into English by authors who identify as Asian. We also publish reviews of books by Asian authors and interviews with Asian writers and artists.’ PAYING https://singaporeunbound.org/submissions