Writing Contests

I have discussed National Novel Writing Month before, but it does not count among the contests I want to bring to your attention. Contests can be a great way for writers to get noticed in a field that can be very hard to break into. Here are five contests that I have either entered or have wanted to enter. All of these are Canada based contests with some accepting international entries.

The first one is the Three Day Novel Contest, which happens on the Labour Day weekend. The goal of this contest is to write a novel and do the first edit all in the three days in that weekend. It costs $50 to enter and the prize is a publishing contract for that book. And is open to anyone.

The second is the CBC Short Fiction Contest, which is open September 1 to October 31. It is part of Canada Writes that include a creative non-fiction contest and a poetry contest. The goal is a 1,200 to 1,500 word short story. The cost is $25. The prize is $6,000, publication in Air Canada’s enRoute magazine, and 10 day writing residency at the Banff Centre. Open to Canadian citizens.

Next is PRISM international Fiction Contest, which has a deadline of January 15. The maximum work count of 6,000 for the short story. There is also a creative non-fiction contest and a poetry contest. The cost is $35, plus $5 for any additional piece submitted. The prize is $1,500 for grand prize, $600 runner-up, and $400 for the second runner-up. This is open to anyone.

The fourth is the Great BC Novel Contest, which is for novels or novellas with a deadline of September 1^st. The cost is $40. The prize is a publishing contract for that book. This is open to residents of British Columbia.

The final contest is the John Harris Fiction Awards, which has a deadline in March. This is for short stories of 10,000 words or less. Though creative non-fiction is accepted as well as fiction. There is no cost to enter. The prize is $1,000. It is open to the residents of northern British Columbia.

These are a very small amount of contests available to enter for writers. There is also the contest put on by Lit-N-Laughter.