Have you ever googled “writing contests”? Many charge reading fees or prizes – such as viewing your work in print – that you can only get if you pay for them.
Some legitimate contests charge small entry fees, but often a fee can be a warning sign of a scam, so you should stay away from such contests.
There are also numerous free writing competitions that encourage and inspire limitless creativity with real cash prizes and career opportunities! Since it can be difficult for an author to figure out where to find them, we’ve done the legwork for you.
We have 40 reputable, well-rated, free Writing contests for poets, novelists, essayists, and more.
With thousands of dollars in cash prizes and numerous opportunities to secure a publishing deal, you’re sure to find the right free writing contest for your work.
If you don’t mind paying a little money to take part, our friends at Smart Blogger have come together some great writing competitions which have low entrance fees. And if you’re still interested in more options, we also have posts on Author grants And Writing grants.
This year there are fiction and non-fiction writing competitions
Are you ready to share your novel or personal essay with the world? Whether you are a newbie or an experienced writer, you are probably eligible for some of these contests.
Here are some fiction and nonfiction writing contests worth considering.
1. L. Ron Hubbard Authors of the Future Contest.
Whatever your opinion of L. Ron Hubbard’s work and philosophy, the prizes for this regular competition are nothing to sneeze at. Every three months, winners will receive $1,000, $750 and $500, plus an additional annual grand prize of $5,000.
Submissions are required short stories or Novels (up to 17,000 words) in the science fiction or fantasy genre; new and amateur authors are also welcome to apply.
Deadlines: Quarterly on March 31, June 30 and September 30
Website: Writers of the future
2. Inkitt
This boutique publisher offers cash prizes and promotional packages to award-winning authors. Submit a novel of at least 10,000 words in any fiction genre (not fanfiction or poetry).
Inkitt’s Writing Contest runs monthly and offers authors the chance to win cash prizes of up to $300, exclusive book badges and promotional packages, while promoting their books to Inkitt’s audience of more than 3 million users. Winners are determined by Inkitt’s unique algorithm based on overall reader engagement.
Deadline: See individual competition pages
Website: Inkitt
Disclosure: Inkitt is an advertising partner of Drift Kings Media. We have high standards for our advertisers and have reviewed this competition just like others on this list.
3rd Drue Heinz Literature Prize
This prize, awarded for a collection of short stories, offers a chance to win $15,000 and publication with the University of Pittsburgh Press.
You may submit an unpublished manuscript containing two or more short stories Novellas or a combination of novellas and short stories. Your total word count should be between 150 and 300 typed pages. You must also have already published a novel or book-length work of fiction “with a reputable publisher” or at least three short stories or novellas in nationally recognized journals.
Deadline: Annual filings must be postmarked between May 1st and June 30th
Website: University of Pittsburgh Press
4. Young Lions Fiction Awards
This $10,000 award recognizes “young authors,” defined in the rules as any author 35 years of age or younger. Submit any novel or short story collection published or scheduled for publication during the calendar year. Works must be written for adults; Children’s or youth plays are not eligible to participate.
Deadline: Submissions for this year are possible through September 8 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Website: New York Public Library
5. Graywolf Press Nonfiction Awards
As one of the most popular small presses in the creative writing world, Graywolf Press hosts a series of competitions for established and aspiring authors. Graywolf also offers smaller fiction and non-fiction awards, with genres changing from year to year. 2020 was a non-fiction year, so in 2021 there was fiction again, in 2022 there was non-fiction again, and so on. These awards include a sizable advance—$12,000 in previous years—as well as publication with Graywolf.
Deadline: The competition takes place annually with changing genres. The next competition will begin with submissions in February 2024
Website: Graywolf Press
6. The Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans
Hosted by the prestigious Iowa Review, the Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award is presented to U.S. military veterans and active-duty members who write in any genre and on any topic. Manuscripts with a length of up to 20 pages are accepted. The first prize winner will receive $1,000 and publication in the review. There will also be a second place prize worth $750 and three second place prizes worth $500 each.
Deadline: Every two years. The next competition will take place in May 2024
Website: The Iowa Review
7. Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence
For 15 years, this competition has given emerging African-American fiction writers visibility and allowed them to focus on their writing by awarding a $15,000 cash prize. Eligible authors should submit a work of fiction, such as a novel or short story collection, published during the calendar year. (Proofs for publication within the year are also accepted.)
Deadline: Yearly. The participation window ends on December 31st
Website: The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence
8. PEN/Faulkner Prize for Fiction
This award honors the best work of fiction by an American author in a calendar year and has been given to authors such as John Updike, Philip Roth and Ann Patchett. Novels, novellas and short story collections are permitted.
The winner receives a large cash prize – historically up to $15,000 – and an invitation to read at the awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. Additionally, there are no entry fees or application forms; Simply send a PDF of each book (as many as you want) to (email protected).
Deadline: SSubmissions will be accepted from July 1st to September 30th
Website: Pen/Faulkner
9. PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers
For this competition you must have already published a short story in a literary magazine, magazine or cultural website. But if you’ve made your debut (but haven’t progressed), you may be eligible for the generous $2,000 cash prize awarded annually to 12 emerging writers, whose works are then published together in an anthology.
Short stories of up to 12,000 words are eligible and must be published in the calendar year before the award ceremony. Also note the following: Submissions are only acceptable if submitted by an editor. Authors are not allowed to submit their own work.
Deadline: The submission deadline is November 1st
Website: PEN America
10th Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Eligible for this award are fiction and nonfiction authors who have recently published a book that “contributes to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of cultural diversity.” The prize is worth $10,000 and offers media and advertising opportunities. Winners will also receive their prize at a ceremony in Cleveland.
Submissions must have been published in the previous year (so books published last year are eligible for the award this year).
Deadline: The annual submission period is from September 1st to December 31st
Website: Anisfield Wolf Book Awards
11. Marfield Prize (also known as National Award for Arts Writing)
This award, presented by the Arts Club of Washington, is intended to honor nonfiction books that explore “the visual, literary, media, or performing arts.” The prize is $10,000 and can be awarded to works of criticism, art history, memoir and biography, and essays.
Deadline: Annually in the last quarter of the year. The submission deadline in 2023 is October 15th
Website: The Marfield Prize
12. WY Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Literature
If you are a war fan, this competition is for you. It awards $5,000—and an achievement award framed in 24-karat gold—to the best piece of fiction set during a time when the United States was at war (war can be either the main plot of the play or merely the setting). delivery). . Novels for adults or young people can be submitted.
Deadline: Annually on December 31st
Website: American Library Association
13th Friends of American Writers Chicago Awards
FAW presents two awards annually: one Adult Literature Prize for literary fiction or non-fiction, and a Prize for Young People’s Literature for a children’s/young adult book.
Authors must be located in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, or Wisconsin – or they must publish their book in one of these locations. The amount of the prizes varies from year to year, but you don’t have to worry about applying and all winners will be celebrated at the organization’s luncheon in May.
Deadline: Annually in December
Website: Friends of American Writers Chicago
14th Hektoen Grand Prix Essay Competition
Hektoen International, an online medical humanities journal, awards two prizes annually for essays of no more than 1,500 words: $5,000 goes to the winner and $2,500 to the first place winner. Eligible topics are broad as long as they are related to medicine, and many include art, history, literature, education and more.
Deadline: Yearly; September 15th is usually the deadline
Website: Hektoen International
15. Biopage Storytelling Writing Contest
There’s no denying it: social media is a huge part of our modern lives. It’s easy to get used to limiting our communication to 280-character snippets littered with emojis. That’s why this marketing company is hosting an essay contest to “remind people of the benefits of writing.”
Essays of up to 5,000 characters (approximately 1,000 words) are being accepted, and stories about life in COVID-19 quarantine are currently sought. The grand prize winner will receive $300 and the five runners-up will receive $100 each.
The competition is free to enter, but you must register for a Biopage account to be eligible.
Deadline: The current competition ends on January 31, 2024
Website: Bio page
16. St. Martin’s Minotaur / Mystery Writers of America First Mystery Contest
Eligible for this award are authors ages 18 and older who have never published a novel (in any genre), given to an original book-length manuscript in which “murder or other serious crime or crimes are the focus of the story.” “. The winner receives a publishing deal with Minotaur Books and a $10,000 advance toward future royalties.
Deadline: December 17th every yearR
Website: Edgar Awards
17th ServiceScape Short Story Award
ServiceScape, a platform that connects freelance writers, editors, and graphic designers with clients (so it’s a great place to look). paid paperwork!) awards an annual short story prize of $1,000 to an award-winning work of fiction or nonfiction of 5,000 words or less. The winner’s story will also be featured on the ServiceScape blog, which reaches thousands of readers each month.
Deadline: November 29 per year
Website: ServiceScape
18. Stowe Prize
This biennial, $10,000 award honors an American author whose adult fiction or nonfiction has had an impact on an important social justice issue (such as the novel by Harriet Beecher Stowes). Uncle Tom’s Cabin). The book must be written by a US author and published in the US within the last three calendar years.
Deadline: Contact the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center for this year’s deadline.
Website: Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
19. The Diana Woods Memorial Award for Creative Nonfiction
Creative non-fiction essays with a maximum of 5,000 words on any topic can be considered for this prize. The winner will receive $250 and publication in Lunch ticketthe literary and arts magazine of the MFA community at Antioch University Los Angeles.
The works must not have been published elsewhere. Honorees must submit a 100-word bio, a recent photograph, and a short note thanking the Woods family for their generosity and support.
Deadlines: The semi-annual reading periods take place in February for the summer/autumn edition and in August for the winter/spring edition
Website: Lunch ticket
20. The Brandon Langhjelm Memorial Essay Contest 2023
Each year, this Canadian organization awards three prizes ranging from $500 to $1,500 for the essay with the most thoughtful and well-founded argument on a particular human rights issue. (For example, the 2022 prompt was: “Canadian governments are making digital ID technologies a requirement for access to essential services and goods. What can Canadians do to protect their Charter rights and freedoms from the dangers of these technologies?”
The competition is open to Canadian college and university students. Essays should be no more than 2,500 words long.
Deadline: November 5th
Website: Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms
21. Write the world
For young authors aged 13 to 18, these cool competitions also serve as mini-workshops. Recognizing that “a first draft is never perfect,” submissions are actually reviewed by writers, writing teachers, and other experts, and authors are given the opportunity to revise their pieces based on this feedback before submitting them for final awards consideration .
Contests vary each month, but there is a prize of $100 for the winner and $50 for the runner-up (plus $50 for the top peer reviewer). All three are featured on the Write the World blog along with comments from a guest judge. And because each month’s prompt is a different genre, aspiring writers have the opportunity to try out different styles.
Deadline: Monthly
Website: Write the world
22. Prose.
Are you suffering from writer’s block and looking for a way to break free? Prose offers weekly challenges designed to stimulate your creativity. Many are just for fun, but look out for the weekly numbered challenges published by Prose (and not community members or sponsors) for a chance to win money.
Prizes are typically between $100 and $200, and word counts are low – some under 150, some as high as 500. So even though the prompt only gives you a chance to exercise your brain, That’s not a bad deal.
Deadline: Weekly and monthly
Website: Prose.
23. The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing
First-generation immigrants have a chance to win $10,000 and publication with Restless Books for telling their stories (real or fictional). The competition alternates annually between fiction (novels or short story collections) and non-fiction (memoirs, essay collections, narrative non-fiction). In 2021 it went to a non-fiction work of at least 25,000 words; 2022 will be fiction.
Deadline: The submission deadline is usually between December and March
Website: Troubled books
24th AFSA National High School Essay Contest
The US Institute of Peace and the American Foreign Service Association sponsor this annual high school essay competition, in which the winner receives a cash prize of $2,500, a trip to Washington, D.C., and an all-expenses-paid semester trip Sea benefits come with the student’s enrollment at an accredited university. Essays should be between 1,000 and 1,250 words and respond to all aspects of the prompt and demonstrate an understanding of the Foreign Service.
The runners-up also receive a fairly attractive offer, a cash prize of $1,250 and a full scholarship to attend the International Diplomacy Program of the National Student Leadership Conference.
deadline: April of each year
Website: American Foreign Service Association
25. Science-me a Story
Founded in 2018, the Society of Spanish Researchers invites talented and original authors to write a 100-word blurb for a hypothetical novel. This may sound simple, but your blurb needs to quickly hook the reader and make them want to read more. Anyone over the age of 18 anywhere in the world is eligible to take part in this competition. Your real or fictional short story for this competition must be written in either English or Spanish and “designed with the aim of scientific dissemination in primary schools” to qualify for the cash prizes: £150, £100 and £50.
deadline: April of each year
Website: Society of Spanish Researchers in the United Kingdom
26th VCU Cabell First Novelist Award
Virginia Commonwealth University sponsors this award, which recognizes an outstanding debut novel published in the previous calendar year. Although you may have published previous books in a different form, the submission must be your first published book marketed as a novel.
The award is a cash prize of $5,000. The winning author must agree to attend the awards event, which typically takes place in November.
deadline: Annually; The submission window runs from July 1st to December 30th
Website: Virginia Commonwealth University
27th Daisy Utemorrah Award
The Daisy Utemorrah Award is for an unpublished manuscript of fiction for children and young people written by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people currently living in Australia. The award winner is generously supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund and the State Government of Western Australia and will receive $15,000 and a publishing contract with Magabala Books.
deadline: The submission window typically opens at the beginning of each year
Website: Magabala books
28. Short game prize
If you are a student at a university in the USA or Canada, this writing competition is for you. (Traditionally, this competition welcomes applicants with Asian backgrounds, but everyone is welcome to apply.) Submissions should be no more than 7,500 words.
One winner will receive a $1,000 prize and a scholarship to the next Southampton Writers Conference.
deadline: The submission deadline is usually between March 1st and July 14th
Website: Stony Brook University | Lichtenstein Center
29th Bacopa Literature Review Contest
The Bacopa Literary Review is an international magazine published by the Writers Alliance of Gainesville. Each year, entries are submitted for pieces in four genres: fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and prose. Detailed guidelines for each genre can be found on the website. First prize receives $300 and second prize in each of the four genres receives $100.
Deadline: Every year on May 30th
Website: Gainesville Writers Alliance
Insecure Writer’s Support Group’s 30th Annual Anthology Contest
As long as you follow the guidelines, the Insecure Writer’s Support Group’s annual competition welcomes your creative story of 5,000 to 6,000 words (previously unpublished). But before you send it, make sure your story is polished and formatted! Plus, the prizes aren’t too bad: the winning stories are edited and published, the authors receive royalties, and the top story even gets to give the anthology its title.
Deadlines: Every year on September 1st
Website: Support group for insecure writers
31. Ultimate Meal Plans Nutritional Scholarship
College students studying nutrition, kinesiology, or exercise science: you’ll be everywhere. Twice a year, that Ultimate Paleo Guide (aka the best paleo resource on the internet) will award $500 scholarships to two deserving students who meet all admission requirements – and write an 800-word essay about why you chose your field and what impact you have on your career, a challenge you’ve taken on, and more.
Deadlines: January 30th (award ceremony in March) and July 31st (award ceremony in September)
Website: Ultimate Meal Plans
32. New Voices Award
Presented by Lee & Low Books, an award-winning children’s book publisher, this award recognizes a previously unpublished children’s picture book manuscript of no more than 1,500 words written by a writer of color or indigenous/native writer based in the United States
The winner will receive $2,000 in cash and a standard publishing contract, and an additional Honor Award winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize. You can submit up to two manuscripts.
Deadline: The competition is suspended for 2023. Check the website for further announcements in 2024.
Website: Lee & Low Books
33rd St. Francis College Literary Prize
Since 2009, this literary prize, which takes place every two years, has honored writers who are in the middle of their career and have recently published their third, fourth or fifth work of fiction. The winner will receive $50,000 and may be invited to the campus of St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York, to give a talk about their work or give a mini-fiction workshop to St. Francis students.
Deadline: Every two years. The competition has not been offered for the past three years due to the pandemic and limited access to campus
Website: St Francis College
This year there are poetry competitions
Curious about opportunities for poets? Your verses – whether rhymed or not – could be worth a lot of money in these poetry competitions.
Check out these poetry writing contests.
34th Writing Contest for Black Voices in Children’s Literature
This contest is open to Black writers who are 18 years of age or older and reside in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, or Wisconsin. Hosted by Strive Publishing and Free Spirit Publishing, it seeks to address the need for Black representation in children’s and young adult books. Original board and picture books for children ages 0 to 4 and picture books for ages 4 to 8 are eligible, as long as they feature contemporary, realistic Black characters and culture and focus on character development, self-esteem, community, and other aspects of positive childhood development.
Three prizes ranging from $250 to $1,000 will be awarded, and the first place winner will receive “serious consideration for publication,” although this is not guaranteed.
Deadline: Usually at the end of July every year
Website: Free Spirit Publishing
35th James Laughlin Award
If you are already a published poet, this is the award for you. It will be awarded for a second volume of poetry to be published next year. The winner will receive $5,000 and an all-expenses paid, one-week stay at the Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. In addition, copies of the winning book will be distributed to 1,000 members of the Academy of American Poets.
Deadline: The annual submission period is January 1st to May 15th
Website: Academy of American Poets
36th African Poetry Book Fund Prizes
The APBF awards three prizes for African poetry annually. The Luschei Prize for African Poetry donates $1,000 toward a book of original African poetry published the previous year.
The Sillerman’s first book prize for African poets gives $1,000 and a publishing deal for a book-length poetry collection by an unpublished African author.
The Brunel International Prize for African Poetry is a new prize that awards £3,000 to a poet born in Africa or of African parents who has not yet published a full volume of poetry. (U.S. citizens are eligible.) You will need 10 poems to submit.
Deadlines: See individual pricing pages
Website: African Poetry Book Fund
37th Tufts Poetry Awards
Claremont Graduate University presents two awards each year to poets it deems “outstanding.” The Kate Tufts Poetry Award awards $10,000 for the publication of the first promising volume of poetry.
The Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award awards a whopping $100,000 to a published volume of poetry by an established or mid-career poet.
Deadline: The submission deadline is from July 1st to June 30th every year
Website: Claremont Graduate University
38th Graywolf Press Walt Whitman Award
The Walt Whitman Award is a $5,000 prize awarded along with a publication to an American poet with an award-winning first book manuscript. He or she will also receive an all-expenses paid six-week stay at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy.
Graywolf Press is also one of the publishers of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize“an inaugural book prize dedicated to the discovery of exceptional manuscripts by black poets.” Winners receive $1,000 and Graywolf publishes one in three winners of the prize.
deadline: July 1st to September 1st of each year
Website: poet
39th Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest
Now in its 23rd year, this humor competition seeks your best published or unpublished work with a grand prize of $2,000; Runners-up will receive $500 and ten honorable mentions will receive $100 each. Authors of any age from eligible countries may submit an original, humorous poem of no more than 250 lines, written in English.
deadline: April 1st, every year (and no, this is not an April Fool’s joke)
Website: Winning authors
40. The Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize
This writing competition is looking for the best unpublished, thematic text. For example, one year the theme was “Untamed: On Wilderness and Civilization.” Prose, poetry or non-scientific essays can be submitted. The maximum word count is 2,500 and is open to all nationalities and anyone aged 18 or over. The winner will receive a cash prize of £10,000, the runner-up will receive £3,000 and the third place will receive £2,000.
deadline: Applications are possible at the beginning of each year. Follow that Alpine Fellowship on Instagram for updates
Website: The Alpine Community
Where to find more reputable, free writing contests
Looking for more ways to submit your work? Here are a few great websites to keep an eye on for writing contests.
Winning authors
Some of the contests on our list have been highly recommended by this website, which compiles some of the best free literary contests on the market. In addition to a wide range of recommended competitions for writers of all stripes, Winning Writers also lists a few Contests and services to avoid, which is just as useful!
They also offer a handful of competitions themselvesincluding the North Street Book Prize.
Poets and writers
Another fantastic source for legitimate writing contests that we used to compile this list: Poets & Writers reviews contests, contests, awards, and grants to ensure they follow legitimate practices and guidelines. It’s worth checking back regularly as there are both annual and one-off competitions.
This listing contains affiliate links. This means that when you shop through our links, you support Drift Kings Media – and we thank you for that!
The original version of this story was written by Kelly Gurnett. We have updated the post to make it more useful for our readers.
Photo via Viktoriia Hnatiuk / Shutterstock