Poetry/Short Fiction Contest

Tomorrow, September 10, is the birthday of American poet, Mary Oliver. I became familiar with her work only recently.

I like her "Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." 

Good advice for a writer, don’t you think? 

JERRY JAZZ MUSICIAN NEW SHORT FICTION CONTEST 

Deadline: September 30, 2012

No entry fee. Only one story per author.

Prize: $100

The Jerry Jazz Musician reader has interests in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theatre, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-twentieth century America. Your story, 5000 words or less, should appeal to a reader with these characteristics.

JacketFlap/Drue Heinz Prize

Thought for the Week: Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.  ~ Harriet Braiker

JacketFlap connects you to the work of more than 200,000 authors, illustrators, publishers and other creators of books for Children and Young Adults. The free, searchable database is updated regularly. Publisher entries include details on what they publish as well as contact information and web site links.

Drue Heinz Literature Prize
http://www.upress.pitt.edu/prizes.aspx
Deadline: June 30, 2012
No entry fee.

The Drue Heinz Literature Prize is open to writers who have published a book-length collection of fiction or at least three short stories or novellas in commercial magazines or literary journals. Manuscripts are judged anonymously. The prize carries a cash award of $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press under its standard contract. Open to writers in English, regardless of citizenship. You may submit more than one entry.

Book of the Future/Fiction Contest

Writer’s Thought for the Week: Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind, which are delivered down from generation to generation as presents to the posterity of those who are yet unborn. ~ Joseph Addison

Book of the Future – a different perspective:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/03/30/books/review/snider01.html

Hay House Visions Fiction Writing Contest
Deadline: June 1, 2012
No entry fee. Only one manuscript per entrant.

Hay House Visions, the new fiction publishing division of Hay House, is teaming with Balboa Press for the first-ever Hay House Vision Fiction Writing Contest. The Grand-Prize winner will receive a publishing contract with Hay House Visions and a $5,000 advance. Minimum 50,000 words. Adult and young adult novels accepted, but no picture books or children’s books. All writers of previously unpublished full-length books are eligible.

Free Writing Analyzer/Fantasy Story Competition

Writer's Thought for the Week: God only exhibits his thunder and lightning at intervals, and so they always command attention. These are God's adjectives. You thunder and lightning too much, the reader ceases to get under the bed. ~ Mark Twain

Free Manuscript Analyzer from Christopher Park

In my critique group, we often comment that a manuscript repeats a certain word or words. A free program that you can run online or download to run under Windows analyzes your writing and list all words and their corresponding count. It also flags “FOs” or “frequent offenders”: words like “just” and “that” and phrases such as “old as the hills.” You can customize the list of words and phrases that the program flags so it captures your own personal nemeses - or Twain’s thunder and lightning.

ANNUAL SCIENCE FICTION-FANTASY-HORROR WRITER'S COMPETITION

5,000 to 20,000 words

This free competition runs until May 5, 2012 but they accept submissions year-round. Entries received after May 5 will be considered for the upcoming year's competition.   

The Zharmae Publishing Press (TZPP) holds the competition as one way of recruiting qualified authors to work with for full-length books. Many of the winning writers, especially those in the Top 5, get offers to work with TZPP on future works. In addition to cash prizes, all winners receive publication in their annual anthology plus three free copies of that anthology.

Cash prizes: 1st Place $400, 2nd Place $350, 3rd Place $300, 4th Place $250, 5th Place $200