April Competitions

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Don’t forget to check out our standing competitions catalogue for any competitions due this month.

The Iowa Poetry Prize offers free publication by the University of Iowa Press, under a standard royalty agreement, for a book-length (50 to 150 pages) collection of poems written originally in English. Entry Fee: $20 (US). Deadline: Submissions are received only during the month of April.

The New South Writing Contest offers a $1000 (US) prize for up to three poems or up to 7500 words of fiction or non-fiction to writers who have not yet published more than one book of prose or poetry (chapbooks are fine). Entry Fee: $18 per entry (includes one year subscription to New South Journal). Deadline: April 1.

The Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest offers $1000 (US) for an unpublished or published humour poem up to 250 lines long. Entry Fee: Free. Starts: August 15. Deadline: April 1.

The Killer Nashville Claymore Award offers prizes for the first 50 pages (double spaced) of your unpublished and uncontracted manuscript containing prominent elements of thriller, mystery, crime, or suspense (subgenres include action, adventure, alternate history, fantasy, horror, paranormal, romance, sci-fi, speculative, shriller, western, and any of their derivatives). The prizes for the top 20 entries are announcement at the Killer Nashville Awards Dinner, probable traditional publishing contracts, with a Mystery Writers of America and/or International Thriller Writers’ approved publisher, within the year, most through contacts made at the Awards Dinner, and possible editor deals, book advances, movie and television sales, and possible agent representation and lifetime mentoring. The top three entries will also receive critiques of their work, attend breakouts and pitching sessions, and be refunded a portion of their registration fees for that year. Entry Fee: $40 (US) ($140 with critique). Deadline: April 1.

The Readers’ Favorite International Book Reviews and Award Contest is looking for international English manuscripts, published and unpublished books, eBooks, audiobooks, comic books, poetry books and short stories in 140+ genres from independent first-time published, unpublished or self-published authors to bestsellers and celebrities or from small publishers and publishing giants. Each genre is judged separately. There is no limit on word count nor publication date. All entrants have a chance to win one of $50 000 (US) in prizes just for entering. Each winner and finalist will receive a personalized award certificate, digital award seals, other marketing materials and bragging rights to identify his or her book as an “award-winning book” and him- or herself as an “award-winning author”. There are also other prizes for winners, finalists and entrants, including a publicized and distributed book review on popular industry and social media sites; a mini-critique on 5 key literary areas: appearance, plot, development, formatting and marketability; a chance to have their book made into a movie or TV show; a chance to be published by a multi-award-winning traditional publisher; a chance to be represented by a renowned publicist; a chance to be represented by a renowned literary agent or leading literary management company; and a chance to be represented by a leading author marketing and PR firm. Early Entry Fee: $99. Regular Entry Fee: $109. Final Entry Fee: $119. Early Deadline: April 1. Regular Deadline: May 1. Final Deadline: June 1.

The Annual Writer’s Digest Self-published Book Awards Competition gets your self-published book into the hands of people that have the power to make things happen. It accepts books in all genres, including fiction, non-fiction, inspirational, children’s and poetry. The grand prize includes $8000 (US), national exposure and promotion, a feature article about you and your work, press releases and copies of your book sent to major publishing review houses, a guaranteed review in Midwest Book Review, attention of prospective editors and publishers, a one-year membership to Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), a Marketplace Readiness Assessment consult, consultation with Book Shepherd, a $100 discount on a new writer’s website and a paid trip to the Writer’s Digest Conference. Prizes are also offered for other winners. Early Entry Fee: $99 for first entry, $85 for each additional entry. Standard Entry Fee: $125 for first entry, $95 for each additional entry. Early Deadline: April 10. Standard Deadline: May 1.

The Scriptapalooza Screenlay Competition annually offers screenwriters up to $10 000 (US) to the grand winner and $500 to several genre winners, and promotes, pitches and pushes all winners and semifinalists for a year. Short screenplays, up to 40 pages, could win $2000. Entry Fee: This varies by deadline and length of screenplay, ranging from $45 for long script and $25 for short script in December to $65 for long script and $45 for short script in April. Feedback, of 4-5 pages, for long scripts, includes a logline, synopsis and critique, and costs an extra $115. Deadlines: December 16, January 6, February 3, March 2, and April 13. Coming Deadline: April 13.

The annual Spoon River Poetry Review Editors’ Prize offers a prize of $1000 (US), publication in Spoon River Poetry Review, an invitation to read the winning poem at the annual Lucia Getsi Reading Series held in Bloomington, Illinois, and an introduction to the winning poem written by the judge for a poem. Submit two copies of up to three poems totaling no more than 10 pages. Entry Fee: $20 (includes one-year subscription to Spoon River Poetry Review). Deadline: April 15 (post-dated).

The Grouse Grind Lit Prize for Very Short Forms is looking for fiction or nonfiction prose or poetry up to 300 words long (including title) from writers worldwide. Hybrid forms and experimental work is also accepted. The winner receives $500 (CAN) and publication. PRISM will also purchase First North American Serial Rights for all work accepted for publication. Entry Fee: $15/first entry (one piece), $5/additional entry. Deadline: April 15.

The biennial Passages North Prizes each offer $1000 (US) and publication in Passages North for the best unpublished short fiction up to 10 000 words (Waasnode Fiction Prize, even year; Ray Ventre Nonfiction Prize, odd year) or the best unpublished short-short fiction, nonfiction, hybrid essays, or prose poems up to 1000 words (Neutrino Short-Short Prize, even year; Elinor Benedict Poetry Prize, odd year; both up to three short-shorts per entry). Honourable mentions may also be selected for publication. All entrants receive a copy of the contest issue of Passages North. Entry Fee: $15. Deadline: April 15.

The Scotiabank Giller Prize is looking for the best first-edition Canadian novel, graphic novel or collection of short stories written by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada and published in English, either originally, or in translation. It is a publisher-nominated $100 000 (CAN) literary prize. Finalists will receive $10 000. In the event that a translation is shortlisted, the author will receive $7000, the translator(s) $3000. If the translation wins, $70 000 will be awarded to the author and $30 000 will be awarded to the translator(s). Entries (finished books or galleys) are nominated based on their publication date. The number of books a publisher can nominate will depend on that imprint’s inclusion on longlists and shortlists over the history of the prize. The novel or collection must carry an ISBN number and be available for sale in retail/book stores across Canada. Print-on-demand only, online-sale only, self-published, young adult, or posthumous books or collections are ineligible. Seven copies of each (hard copy) entry must be submitted. Entry Fee: Nominating publisher pays $1500 per nomination from the publisher that is shortlisted. Deadline: February 14, April 17, June 19, August 14 depending on when the publication is. All titles most be scheduled for publication between October 1, 2019, and September 30, 2020.

The Launch Pad Television Pilot Competition is looking for television-pilot scripts up to 70 pages (PDF format) from screenwriters around the world. Sold or previously winning scripts are disqualified. The top three winners will be showcased in Launch Pad’s annual Launch Party, and meet industry agents, managers, executives, producers and other creatives. The top ten winners will receive one free entry into any future Launch Pad Competition and be showcased individually to agents, managers, executives, and producers who are looking for new clients, new projects, and new writers. And the top 100 winners will receive a free one-year membership to The Tracking Board, have their script announced and featured on Launch Pad’s sites, industry newsletters, Launch Pad Competition Booklet, Launch Pad Alum Booklet and in press releases. In addition, Launch Pad will help the top 100 winners create compelling bios and loglines, polish their works, prepare for meetings, craft their pitches, identify their follow-up projects, prepare for navigating the television industry and share their work with industry members. Early Entry Fee: $55 (US). Regular Entry Fee: $65. Late Entry Fee: $75. Final Entry Fee: $85. Any script with more than 70 pages will be charged an additional $1 per page. A mentorship opportunity prize, a guaranteed option prize and a guaranteed signing prize are also available for $25 each. Written feedback costs an extra $50. Deadline: February 28. Deadline: March 27. Deadline: April 17. Deadline: May 8. Coming Deadline: April 17.

The Pen Parentis Writing Fellowship for New Parents offers an annual prize of $1000 (US), publication in Brain, Child, a full year of promotion, and public reading, showcasing and publicity, for an unpublished short story, up to 710 words, of any genre and subject, including stand-alone novel excerpts but not plays or poetry. The winning fiction writer must be the parent of a child under the age of 10 at the time of the reading in September. Entry Fee: $15 for first story, $20 for two and $10 for each after, plus $5 if sent and paid online. Starts: March 1. Deadline: April 17 (post-dated).

The Bath International Short Story Competition is open for any original stories (2200 words or less) on any theme or subject for adult or young adult (13+ years) readers. First prize is £1200. Entry Fee: £8. Deadline: April 20.

The DIAGRAM Chapbook Contest offers an annual prize of $1000 (US) and publication for a coherent unpublished 18 to 44 page chapbook of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or mixed-genre-and-form work. Entry Fee: $20. Deadline: April 26.

The Page Turner Awards is looking for the first ten pages of completed unpublished (Writing Award) and published (eBook Award) fiction or nonfiction stories from writers around the world. No derivatives (characters, stories not in the public domain) are allowed. Several prizes are offered. The judges pick the ones that best suit your entry. They are looking for a good story and good writing. The eBook Award is for fiction and non-fiction stories published in print (hard back or paperback) or digitally (ebook) between 1 January 2018 and 31 May 2020. There are optional extras available as well. These aids can help you enrich your final submission, boost your visibility during the contest (for the cash Patron Prize, which is won through popular vote, and for judge and industry attention) and after it (publicity and promotion), and provide reader and judge reviews and feedback. Entrants may be contacted from a representative of Page Turner Awards in regard to representation, production, or a possible option of the entered work. Early Entry Fee: £20. Regular Entry Fee: £30. Final Entry Fee: £45. Early Deadline: March 31. Regular Deadline: April 30. Final Deadline: May 31.

The Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize Competition offers $5000 (US) and publication in the Pitt Poetry Series to any poet who has not had a book of 48 or more pages of poetry previously published in an edition of 500 or more copies (books whose publication costs have been borne by their authors are excluded from this definition) for a book of poems of 48 to 100 pages. Entry Fee: $25. Starts: March 1. Deadline: April 30.

The Writecorner Press E.M. Koeppel Short Fiction Award offers an annual prize of $1100 (US), publication on the Writecorner Press website and in a permanent website anthology for an unpublished short story of any style or theme up to 3000 words. If the winner proves he or she is attending post-secondary education during the contest, his or her work will also win the $500 P.L. Titus Scholarship. Entry Fee: $15 for first entry; $10 for each additional one. Starts: October 1. Deadline: April 30 (post-dated).

The Winning Writers Tom Howard / John H. Reid Fiction and Essay Contest offers an annual prize of $3000 (US) and publication on the Winning Writers website for either a short story (work of fiction) or an essay (piece of nonfiction), published or unpublished, of any theme and up to 6000 words. Entry Fee: $20. Starts: October 15. Deadline: April 30.

The LAUNCH: Million Dollar Screenplay Contest is looking for screenplays of 85 – 130 pages from college students currently enrolled in an accredited two-year or four-year college, university and/or graduate program anywhere in the world. Judges are lookin for story, creativity, character development, voice originality and honest emotion. The winner of the contest will have his or her screenplay made by Hollywood producers into a feature film, with a budget of at least $1 000 000 (US). The top three finalists (including the winner) will each gain recognition in the film industry and representation by a leading talent agency. The top eight finalists (including the top three finalists) will each be awarded $100 000 in education grants. All entries will receive one page of professional feedback from experienced industry screenplay readers, along with a 70% discount annual subscription to a leading story structure software. Early Entry Fee: $20. Regular Entry Fee: $30. Final Entry Fee: $40. Early Deadline: February 28. Regular Deadline: March 31. Final Deadline: April 30.

Latest update: 2020