Short Story Collection Competitions
Last updated 27th September 2024
Below are lists of short story collection competitions, contests, prizes and awards, plus details of comps for short fiction compilation books. I started this list for my own reference, as I was looking for competitions to enter my own short story collections into and found that these kinds of awards are rare. Given the growth in popularity of writing and reading short stories and flash fiction, I hope they will become more common in the future.
The lists / calendars on this page are:
If you run a short story collection contest and would like me to add details of it to this resource, please contact me providing ALL of the following information:
- How often you will be running your competition (eg, annually, quarterly, one-off)
- The name of your competition
- A link to your website
- The country you run the competition from (NOT where you accept entries from, where you are physically located please)
- Closing date
- The date you announce winners
- Maximum word count of books / collections
- Entry fee
- Top prize
- Any other details, including how winning writers' books might be published or publicised, and any guidelines on theme / style etc.
I try and keep the lists up to date, but as I list over 500 publishing opportunities on my website now, it is hard to keep on top of it all. If you do spot any errors, please feel free to get in touch and let me know - any help like this is very much appreciated 🙂
Please make sure that you read and fully understand the rules and the terms & conditions of each competition listed before entering.
Featured Short Story Collection Competitions
If you would like your short story collection competition featured, with a full write-up, please get in touch. Featured competitions are also mentioned in my email newsletters, which go out to thousands of writers on a regular basis.
Short Story Collection Competitions
This table lists details of short story collection competitions, awards and prizes. At the moment there are only two lists (this one and the one-off list). That is because there aren't many of these types of contests in operation, so it seems pointless to have annual, prestigious and regular lists like I do on the other directories on this website. That may change in the future, if more competitions are launched.
| Short Story Collection Competition | Country | Closing Date | Winners Announced | Max Words | Entry Fee | Top Prize | Short Story Collection Competition Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath Novella in Flash Award | UK | January | April | min 6,000 / max 18,000 | £16 | £300 | Bath Award notes: Any style/genre - each individual flash in the Novella must be 1,000 or less - cash prizes for 2 runners up - all 3 prize winners published together in an anthology and receive 5 copies of the book each |
| Black Lawrence Press 'The Hudson Prize' | USA | March | ? | no max stated | $27 | $1,000 | The Hudson Prize notes: Any style/genre - for unpublished collections of short stories and poetry - winners' book published by Black Lawrence Press and they receive 10 free copies |
| British Fantasy Awards | UK | March | October | no max stated | NONE | See notes | British Fantasy Awards notes: Fantasy - multiple categores, one of which is for a collection of work by a single author, published for the first time in the English language in any part of the world during the relevant year - you have to be nominated by BFS members to be considered - winners receive a trophy and lots of kudos as this is one of the most prestigious awards in the genre |
| Bridge House Publishing | UK | NA | NA | no max stated | NA | See notes | Bridge House Publishing notes: Any style/genre - this is not a competition, but they do accept submissions of single author short story collections from writers who have been published a few times in their anthologies, so check the website for more details |
| Dzanc Short Story Collection Prize | USA | September | November | no max stated | $25 | $2,500 | Dzanc Prize notes: Any style/genre - winner awarded a $2,500 advance and publication by Dzanc Books - when subs are closed, latest info can be found on their blog |
| Edge Hill University Short Story Prize | UK | Usually March or April | Varies | no max stated | FREE | £10,000 | Edge Hill Uni Prize notes: Any style/genre - self-published books are NOT eligible - winner also receives specially commissioned artwork - specifically for a short story collection written by a single author - prize is run annually |
| Eyelands Book Awards | Greece | October | ? | 8,000 min / no max stated | $35 | See notes | Eyelands Awards notes: Any style or genre - various categories, including single author short story collections - winners considered for publication by Strange Days Books and translation into Greek - winner receives a holiday in Athens |
| Florida Authors and Publishers Association (FAPA) President's Book Awards | USA | April | August | no min / max stated | $95 | See notes | FAPA Book Awards notes: Any style / genre - multiple categories, including one for single author short story, novella and flash fiction collections - no cash prize, but winners gain exposure, prestige and kudos |
| Leapfrog Press Fiction Contest | USA | May | ? | min 22,000 words / no max stated | $33 | $150 | Leapfrog Press Contest notes: For adult, young adult and middle grade novels, novellas, and short story collections that are previously unpublished - winner will also be offered a publishing contract with an advance |
| The Letter Review Prize for Unpublished Books | Australia | Bi-Monthly | Bi-Monthly | 5,000 | $25 | $333 | Letter Review Prize notes: Any style / genre, open to novels, short story collections, nonfiction, and poetry collections - there are three winners who each receive the $333 top prize - winners have a brief extract published at Letter Review and receive a letter of recommendation from the judges for publishers |
| Rubery Book Award | UK | March | July | no max stated | £39 | £2,000 | Rubery Book Award notes: Any style or genre, including fiction and non-fiction - multiple categories, including single author short story collections - any book entered MUST be published, but this includes self-published books |
| Sabotage Reviews Saboteur Awards | UK | March | April | NA | NA | See notes | Saboteur Awards notes: Any style/genre - multiple categories, which include short story collections (by a single author) and short story anthologies (a collection of works by more than 1 author) - awards are decided by the number of nominations a work receives - winners receive a bottle of Sacred Gin |
| Self-Publishing Review Awards | USA | April | April | no min / max stated | $30 | See notes | Self-Publishing Review Awards notes: Any style or genre - winner receives loads of help with marketing from SPR - they accept ANY type of book but it has to be available in Kindle format on Amazon and has to be self-published or published by an indie publisher |
| The Dylan Thomas Prize | UK | November | May | no max stated | FREE* | £20,000 | The Dylan Thomas Prize notes: Any style/genre - for authors aged between 18 and 39 only - for poetry, collections of fictional short stories, fictional novellas and novels, scripts and screenplays - see full terms and condition re costs, if you're shortlisted, there are costs associated with promotion - top prize has been £30K in the past, but last time I looked it was £20K |
| The Story Prize | USA | See notes | March | no max stated | $75 | $20,000 | The Story Prize notes: Any style/genre - only for books first published in the United States - 2 closing dates are July for books published between January and June, November for books published between July and December |
One-Off Short Story Collection Competitions
This table lists one-off short story collection competitions and prizes.
| One-Off Short Story Collection Competition | Country | Closing Date | Winners Announced | Max Words | Entry Fee | Top Prize | One-Off Short Story Collection Competition Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None to list at present, coming soon... | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC Competition notes: Notes on TBC coming soon... |
Other Short Story Collection Competitions Lists
Below are links to other websites that provide lists of short story collection competitions.
- The John Fox - awesome list with loads of publishing opportunities, mainly in USA
- Writing Contests - archive for their 'Short Story Collection Contest' category listings
A History of Closed Short Story Collection Competitions
For reference, a record of short story collection competitions that have closed.
| Short Story Collection Competition | Country | Closing Date | Winners Announced | Max Words | Entry Fee | Top Prize | Short Story Collection Competition Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pen/Hemingway Award For Debut Fiction | USA | Varies | Varies | no max stated | $85 | $25,000 | Pen/Hemingway Award notes: Any style/genre - entries only accepted from publishers and literary agents - for a debut novel - for US residents only - NO LONGER MENTIONS SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS, just novels, so removed listing in 2021 update and added to novel comps list instead |
| Unthank Books | UK | See notes | See notes | max 80,000 words | FREE | See notes | Unthank Books notes: Any style/genre - UK authors only - this isn't a competition, so there are no deadlines - Unthank are a publisher, but they have a Short Fiction Editor, with a remit to commission single-author short story collections, so I thought it was worth listing here, as publishers like this are very hard to find - NO LONGER PUBLISHING BOOKS 🙁 |
More Writing Competition Lists
I hope you found this short story collection competitions list helpful. You can find lots of other writing contest lists and other publishing opportunities by looking at the main writing competitions page, which contains links to all the resources on that topic.
More Writing Advice
You can find lots of other writing tips and advice in the Advice section of this website.
This website was established in 2011. In 2024, it was redesigned. Between 2011 and 2024, thousands of people commented on the site. I’d like to thank every person for their engagement – it’s greatly appreciated.
When the site was rebuilt, transferring comments comprising hundreds of thousands of words was not feasible on most pages. The Short Story Collection Competitions page comments are an exception and they appear below. New comments are welcome. Please feel free to share your thoughts and ask questions.
Liberty U
I'm looking for a very funny, short, interesting comedy story, please.
Chris Fielden
Hi Liberty. The competition I run is for humorous stories.
If you want to read past entries, or enter yourself, you can find all the details on the To Hull And Back competition page.
Rahema
I am looking for award winning and famous short stories collection. please try to send me a pdf or link to my mail.
Chris Fielden
Hi Rahema. There are SO many... I'd recommend looking at Amazon or other online retailers and seeing which appeal to you.
If you want somewhere to start, try authors like Alice Munro, Angela Readman, Jon McGregor, Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury and Roald Dahl.
I hope that helps 🙂
Chaganti NR
My short story collection was published under the title "Heart for Hire & Love for Sale" by OmniScriptum Publishers, Riga, Latvia, Europe and is released in Europe and the USA. The American print was released recently. It consists of 25 short stories published in various leading English periodicals. Is this collection eligible for any of the competitions? If so, how do I submit it?
Thanking you for your kind and earliest reply with best regards.
Chris Fielden
Hi Chaganti. Congratulations on publishing your book - that's great news.
All the competitions have different rules and submission guidelines, so you'll have to do some research. The links on this page take you to the various competition websites so you can see which might be suitable for your book.
I wish you the best of luck with your submissions 🙂
Sidney S
I swear I noted a short story collection contest, a prize of $3,000, maximum length 280 pages and a submission date in February. Now I can't find it. Can you help?
Chris Fielden
Hi Sidney. Thanks for your message. Sorry, that doesn't ring any bells...
The main one that opened in Feb is the Edgehill Prize, but that's for UK authors. You could try Book Pipeline. It's not specifically for short story collections, but they do accept them - worth a look.
Sorry I can't be of more help. If you find the comp, please let me know and I'll add it to the lists.
Tallie M
Unfortunately, nothing for me. I'm a self-published author without money and UK/USA citizenship. So I'll promote it a little bit here. It's called When I'm Lonely I Dream of You. 12 stories inspired by Asia and it's got sci-fi elements. Main theme is dreams and several stories literally based on dreams. I have a website where you can try to guess which ones.
Chris Fielden
Hi Tallie, thanks for your message.
Most of the competitions listed on this page are open to writers living anywhere in the world. I just list the country they are run from so writers know which global market they are submitting to. I wish you the very best of luck with your story collection 🙂
Tallie M
Thank you for your response. I'll try recheck list.
But still all those contests looks more like lottery. They take money from each and give it to one. Looks like no sponsors involved.
Chris Fielden
Hi Tallie. Thanks for your reply. Contest rules, prizes and terms and conditions vary quite a bit. There aren't many comps for short story collections. You may find something more suitable if you look at competitions for single short stories. There are far more of those, and some are free to enter. You can find details on my short story competitions list page. I hope that is helpful to you 🙂
Tallie M
Hi, Chris. I'm not sure that my stories are lone warriors but thanks for idea. I'll check them out.
Chris Fielden
No problem, Tallie - good luck 🙂
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