Friday, February 22, 2008

Contests: Getting Published, Earning Money

Is there a book that has remained front and center on your bookshelf—or in your mind—even though you read it ages ago? A book that made a lasting impression on you? It might be fiction or non-fiction, something you read as a child or an adult, but it somehow made you think, changed you, taught you something, or otherwise has remained important to you through the years.


The Iowa Poetry Prize, open to new as well as established poets, is awarded for a book-length collection of poems written originally in English. Submissions must be postmarked during the month of April. A $20 reading fee is payable to the University of Iowa Press Poetry Fund. We consider simultaneous submissions but ask that you notify us immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere. Only the winners will be notified. The results will be announced on our website in the summer.


Any writer who has not previously published a volume of prose fiction is eligible to enter the competition. There is no reading fee; please do not send cash, checks, or money orders. No application forms are necessary. Entries for the competition should be postmarked between August 1 and September 30; packages must be postmarked by September 30. Announcement of the winners will be made early in the following year.



From the hippie culture to the AIDS epidemic to the Internet revolution, love has gone from “free” to fraught to Facebook. What is love now, in this age of 24/7 communication, blurred gender roles and new attitudes about sex and dating?

We invite college students nationwide to submit a personal essay of between 1,500 and 2,000 words that illustrates the current state of love and relationships. The winning author will receive $1,000 and his or her essay will be published in a special “Modern Love” column on May 4, 2008 and on nytimes.com. Submission Deadline: March 31, 2008


The StoryQuarterly Love Story Contest is open to all writers. We’re looking for the heart of the story presented in fiction or nonfiction in the following categories: short stories, short short stories, novel excerpts, essays, memoirs, and excerpts from book-length nonfiction ... First Prize is $2,500, Second Prize is $1,500, and Third Prize is $750. The prize winners will be announced in SQ online and will be eligible for inclusion in the 2008 StoryQuarterly Annual. Additionally, ten finalists will receive $100 each ... a $20 fee for each entry ... Entries accepted until March 31, 2008.


Short Shorts Awards - Poetry Awards - Essays Awards - Food Verse Awards - Fiction Awards ... summer deadlines ... generally $10 entry fees ... prizes from $200 to $1000.


Submission deadline for 2008 will be determined and posted here in the spring. Winning entry receives $1,000 and book publication. Reading fee $25, payable to Miami University Press. All entrants receive copy of winning book. Submit manuscripts, 40,000 words or less, two title pages, one with author’s name, address and phone number, one without. Author’s name must not appear elsewhere. The minimum word count is 60 pages times 300 words or 18,000 words.


Signet Classics is proud to host its twelfth annual Signet Classics Student Scholarship Essay Contest, in which five high school juniors or seniors can each win a $1,000 scholarship award to be used toward their higher education plus a Signet Classics library for their school! Students enter by writing an essay on one of four topics posed for this year’s competition book, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. To be eligible, all entries must be postmarked by April 15, 2008 and received on or by April 22, 2008. Submissions by fax, e-mail, disc or any other electronic means will not be considered.


Each entry must consist of a single sentence but you may submit as many entries as you wish. Finally, in keeping with the gravitas, high seriousness, and general bignitude of the contest, the grand prize winner will receive . . . a pittance. The official deadline is April 15.

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