Short Story Competitions

Gary D
The Ruth Rendell short story comp actually closed in 2011 – this is not entirely clear from their website, even the ‘terms and conditions’ just said closing Oct 29th and (as I discovered) the online form still lets you submit a story and send them £10 – they returned the entry fee and sent an apologetic email, but it might be worth noting so no-one else makes the same mistake I did. Thanks for your website, I very much enjoyed your short stories and find your competitions listings page to be very useful … now I’m just looking for a good market for my 1,000 word story that I’d oh-so-carefully crafted for the Ruth Rendell comp!

Chris Fielden
Thanks for the info Gary, I've updated the Ruth Rendell competition details, listing it as closed. Best of luck getting the story placed!

Tim
Thanks for doing this, very nicely laid out and easy to follow salient facts, it is much appreciated. I'm pretty new to short story writing and was looking for comps for a short I've just written. I didn't realise the problems I'd face with it being around 7,500 words though! 

Chris Fielden
Thanks Tim, yes, there are very few competitions which accept over 5,000 words. You can try the magazines page as a lot of the US publications take submissions around the 7,000 word mark.

F Venn
Greetings, I've noticed the 'Dark Lane Quarterly Collaborative' magazine, is not an addition to any of the listings. As well as short stories, this non-profitable [and micro compact] fiction publication, also welcomes submissions - such as proses, poetry and black & white artwork.. 
Perhaps, it could be added to the 'Other short Story Publishing' list.

Chris Fielden
Thanks F, I've added the DLCQ mag to the magazines page (see link in comment above yours)!

Brenda
Thank you for compiling all these contests. The first time I was on this site I thought I saw a contest pertaining to anything to do with horses, but now can't find it. Is it here?

Chris Fielden
Hi Brenda, it's called Equestrian Fiction Finder and is in the regular short story competition list :-)

John W
Hi. I have written 18 short stories for children (say 4 to 8 years) about a young bear and a hedgehog and their adventures. Perhaps you could recommend suitable competitions I could enter? Regards, John

Chris Fielden
Hi John. Your best bet is to try the Write a Story for Children competition, which is in the Prestigious &/or Big Prize Short Story Competitions list on this page, although they get a lot of entries, so competition is tough!

Jo B
This is a brilliant resource.  Thank you.

Harshita N
Thanx for providing so many opportunities on a single page. But it would be absolutely fantastic if u would also list competitions outside the UK, USA. etc. and include Asian countries.

Chris Fielden
Thanks Jo :-)

Harshita, I will list any short story competitions from any country (there is one Egyptian one listed) but I need to know about them! If there are any you know of that you'd like listed here, please tell me.

Richard B
I just wanted to say thanks. Yours is the best competition list I've found. Cheers, Richard

Chris Fielden
Thanking you Captain Rich

Jane B
Hi Chris - your list is most useful, thank you. Bristol Prize has a word max of 4,000 rather than 3,ooo according to the website. J 

Chris Fielden
Thanking you Jane, much appreciated - I have updated the details accordingly :-)

Pamela A
Wonderful, comprehensive listings - thank you very much. I've wasted too much time compiling lists instead of focusing on writing - procrastinating and getting too tidy! Cheers and good health, Pamela

Russell S
Your site is an excellent resource for someone such as myself looking to get on that tricky first rung of the publishing ladder. Can I recommend adding details of a new short story/poetry journal called Sixfold which I have recently submitted to? They have had to postpone their first issue in order to allow more submissions. It is to be writer voted i.e. everyone who submits gets involved with the reading/rating process to pick a winner. I think it's a great concept and would be grateful if you could help spread the word by adding it to your list. Thanks

Chris Fielden
Thanks Pamela.

Russell, thanks for the information. I've added Sixfold to the prestigious, big prize competition list. Best of luck - I hope you do well in the competition :-)

Honor W
I was searching for the annual competition for a book of Scottish Short Stories, which used to have the closing date of 31st Jan - but I can't find it. Does it no longer exist do you know or am I using the wrong search terms? Thanks for this list - it's very useful. .

Chris Fielden
Hi Honor, the only one I'm aware of is the HISSAC competition. That closes in July, but the organisers might have changed the entry dates.

K I
Thank you sooo much for putting this up! Honestly, it has been of a great help to me. KI

Anne
Thank you so much for compiling this list! It's saved loads of time for me, and it's given me a lot of motivation too!

Julie C
Hi Chris,

Love your competition website!  Incredibly useful to me. 

I've written a collection of short stories and have decided to enter them in various competitions this year, since publishing them as a whole collection is proving to be quite difficult (as a previously unpublished author). 

However, there is one thought that is concerning me and I can't find the answer to it anywhere. Hence my asking you! 

If I win a competition, or am a runner-up, can I then use the story again in a collection at a later date?  I don't want to enter and possibly win competitions if that means I then can't use the story again, as part of a complete collection.  My purpose for trying to get a mention in competitions is to make publishers more likely to consider taking my collection as a whole. 

Any knowledge or advice you have in this area will be most welcome. 

Thanks! Julie

Chris Fielden

Hi Julie

Thanks for getting in touch.

What you're talking about is exactly what I'm planning to do with my short stories long term - put a collection together, ALL of which will have been previously published. So I think it's a fantastic idea, but I am slightly biased :-) 

However, I'm afraid I can't give you a definitive answer to your question, as I don't actually know. I'd assume it would vary from publisher to publisher.

I believe that having stories in your collection that are previously published would make your work far more saleable as the stories are of a proven quality - an editor or competition judge has already thought they were good enough to publish. And if you have work published, it means you already have an audience, so a publisher is more likely to consider you seriously. It also gives you some great experience in dealing with editors so it's fabulous for your writing CV.

The only time you might run into issues is with the contracts you enter into when your work is published through competitions. The vast majority of competitions and short story magazines ask for previously unpublished works and ask for first publishing rights in their Ts & Cs. The copyright generally remains with the author, meaning that after the magazine or competition have published your work, you are then free to resell it. That is certainly the case for all of the stories I've published, including one which is due to be in the Chapter One promotions anthology 'Primed' this year. For this particular story, I've had to sign quite a lengthy contract, but the copyright remains with me and, once their book is published, I'm free to do what I want with the story.

So  I really can't see it being a problem (in most cases) if some or all of the stories in a collection have been published previously.

To back this theory up, 'The Golden Apples of the Sun' and 'The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl' are examples of 2 very famous books that contain stories that have been previously published in a wide variety of magazines. Admittedly, these are old books from established authors, but the fact that the stories were previously published didn't stop a publisher releasing them as a collection. The books actually say where and when they were first published - maybe because they are obliged to, but probably because the reader will find it interesting.

In the end, I'd advise you to try and get as many stories published as you can through competitions, always aiming to WIN! Even if it turns out that you can't use them in a collection, they might get a publisher's interest. Then you can write more stories for the collection once you have a publishing contract!

I hope that's useful.

Chris

Julie C
Hi Chris, Thanks for such a swift and helpful reply. 

Your answer is very encouraging, and pretty much what I suspected myself.  It means that I can go ahead and enter loads of competitions in the meantime.  I will be super-aware of the contracts aspect, though, and try to ensure that the copyright remains with me. 

My husband suggested I 'just write more' if I can't re-use the stories, but you know how precious they become - I want to see them belong together, since I deliberately wrote them with similar themes to fit together neatly into a collection. 

It would be annoying if I can only use them once. Many thanks again, and best of luck with your own collection.  It sounds as if you're well on the way to putting one together! 

Julie

Chris Fielden
Hi Julie

No problem, I'm glad you found it helpful :-)

I know what you mean about stories becoming precious. I must admit though, over time, I've become less precious about them - I just like to see them in print!

Best of luck with the competitions. If you have any joy, please get in touch and let me know.

Cheers, Chris 

Roger S
Christopher, I plan to enter one of the short story contests you mentioned. But I do have a 7,000-word short story set in England -- where we have often traveled to from here in the Colonies -- and wondered if you might be able to suggest a contest in the UK that accepts entries of that length. All help appreciated. Roger

Chris Fielden
Hi Roger

The only one I'm aware of in the UK is the Earlyworks Press Competition. The BBC Short Story Award also takes stories of this length, but you have to be from the UK and previously published to enter it.

There are a couple of UK magazines that take longer stories - you can see them here.

Best of luck with getting your story placed! Chris

Sarita
Really useful list. Thank you for sharing :)

Christopher O
This is a brilliant resource. Thanks. I wish I knew of it earlier.

Anne K
Thanks for such a useful web site, just thinking of starting out again decades after having some small success with short story writing with HE Bates. Feel very inspired now!

Samantha D
This is so useful.  I have a short story that I would like to try and get published but have found that most sites/competitions are for stories around the 2,000 words mark (mine is just under 5,000).  I have seen a couple of possible sites/competitions here, so THANKs. Sam

Alison C
I run the Frome Festival Short Story Competition - can you add the fee please?  It\'s £5 plus £47 for in depth critique. Thanks, Alison

Chris Fielden
Hi Alison - updated for you :-)

And thanks Sarita, Chris, Anne and Sam - all good to hear!!

Dave P
Thanks for this Chris, kind of you to share it. Very useful. Dave

Monica G
Hi !! I'm sixteen years old and I'm an Indian. I would love to register in a competition but  really don't know which category to look under. My story is about adventure and little bit of detective work. I would really like your suggestions. Thank you so much ! :)

Chris Fielden
Thanks Dave :-)

Monica, try the list of Writing Competitions for Young Writers & Children. It contains competitions aimed at younger writers around your age. Best of luck!

Pierre F
You missed the Writers Type competition. They offer Amazon Gift Coupons as prizes. It's a monthly affair, and winners qualify for re-entry in the Annual Competition, where the Coupon prize is more substantial.

Chris Fielden
Thanks Pierre - added!

Dee J
What about the monthly short story comps in Writing Magazine and Writers' News? I had a quick look at your regulars listing but didn't see these mentioned. The magazines come together these days, one inside the other. Available at newsagents in the UK and probably elsewhere. They have a website.

Thanks for compiling these lists. Very useful.

Chris Fielden
Thanks Dee, added!

Cathy M
There's also the Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story prize - it actually closed today (sorry!) but seems to be an annual thing, open to writers of any nationality.

Chris Fielden
Thank you Kathy, added :-)

Judith W
Fascinating - the entire site - shall get weaving at once - thank you very much. Judith

Moody C
Hi Chris, I live in Australia (originally from Yorkshire).  This site is fanbloodytastic!  Thank you so much for taking time to create it.  My teeny worry is you mention Brit Writers.  I was short listed in their 2011 Awards and travelled from Australia to England for the ceremony (which was no hardship whatsoever!). However, I have serious concerns about this lot - they will not reveal anything about themselves and wouldn't even say who the judges were apart from 'famous authors, members of book clubs, editors ...'. See Harry Bingham's Writers' Workshop blog about them (post 1 here and post 2 here).  Dodgy as.  Thanks again, MC

Chris Fielden
Thanks for the heads up Moody :-) If you have any other info about this, please let me know! Chris

Moody C
I felt really deflated by Brit Writers - in fact, I even wondered if I'd been chosen because I live in Australia and it looked good on their fancy programme. A lad at our table on the evening had been shortlisted in the song writing category. He said that when he received the phone call (re the shortlist) he was told that if he didn't travel to London for the ceremony then he couldn't win!

Another lady was there with her two young daughters.  One daughter (12) had been shortlisted in the children's category. The other daughter was 9 and they travelled from Cornwall. They charged the mum £100 for the 9 year old's ticket! A few months later I got an email saying the CEO of the company wanted one-to-one meetings with all finalists 'to see what he could do to help...' I was, coincidentally, coming over to England in the Dec/Jan, so wrote back immediately, saying I would be available for 6 weeks and would be delighted to travel from Yorkshire to London to meet him. I never heard another word. Perhaps I'm being harsh but you know when you just have a bit of a funny old feeling?

Chris Fielden
Certainly do Moody! Thanks for sharing this, it's really useful for users of my website to be able to see this kind of information. Anyone else got any info on Brit Writers they'd like to share?

Jackie P
This is a great resource and wonderful of you to have put so much of your time and effort into putting this together. Tired of writing "legalese", I'd like to try and return to a more creative format and was wondering where to look for short story contests. Look no further! Thank you!

Stella S
Hello, first time visitor to your site, I'll definitely bookmark it! Thank you.

Carol W
Hello,

 Are you familiar with the Manchester Writing School with its B-I-G prize money? ( closely linked with the poet laureate C.A. Duffy, to boot). Am I having a dim moment, or does merely entering a story to them mean that it will never be free of them again? My 'copyright' as author merely assures my right to have my name linked with my work and any quotation from the same, doesn't it? £17 seems a high price to pay to lose control of one's story for ever and ever. Regards, and thanks for your helpful page. Carol

Chris Fielden

Thanks Jackie & Stella! Carol,

I am familiar with the Manchester writing competition - I've entered it before, but not got anywhere. If you enter, you retain all rights to your story. You just grant the Manchester Writing Competition first publication rights. This is standard stuff and very fair, especially given the 10K prize. This means, once the they have published your story, you can do what you want with it. At least, that's how I understand it.

Hope that's helpful, and best of luck with with the competition! Chris

Venu G
Hi there, thanks so much for this super-helpful list. Just to help you keep it updated I'd like to let you know that one link is broken. It's in the notes of the Bridgewater competition, where it says you can get way more info by clicking 'here'. I'm in india now so there's a chance it just doesn't work here. Thanks again! Venu

Chris Fielden
Thanks Venu, it was broken! I've updated it :-) Cheers, Chris