Summer Writing Contests Novels & Stories

You're asking the right question—this is how I got my first piece published, actually. The first place I'd recommend is a bit obvious but reliable: 'Reedsy' has a frequently updated contest page that filters for no-fee options. I check it maybe once a month. Their blog also often does roundups for specific genres, which saves a ton of scrolling time.

Beyond that, university writing department websites are a goldmine people forget. Even if you're not a student, many MFA programs list competitions that are open to the public, and they tend to be legitimate, often connected to literary journals. I've submitted to a few from the University of New Orleans' 'Press 53' page, for instance. The key is to treat the search like a part-time job; bookmark a few trusted hubs instead of googling 'free contest' every time, which just leads to sketchy sites wanting your data.

One more tip—follow the magazines you admire on Twitter or Mastodon. Editors often announce their own open submission periods or contest extensions there before it hits the main aggregators. I snagged a last-minute slot for the 'Bridport Prize' flash fiction category that way, though some of their contests do have fees so you have to read carefully.

Man, contests with huge cash prizes always get the hype, but the super high ones are often super specific. The big ones I'm keeping an eye on are the L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future, which pays out $1,000 to $5,000 to quarterly winners and then a $5,000 grand prize, so the potential payout stacks. The Bath Novel Award is another heavyweight, with a £3,000 first prize. There's also the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award, which clocks in at £30,000 – that's life-changing money for a single short piece.

But honestly, the biggest advertised cash prize I've seen lately is for the César Egido Serrano Foundation's International Flash Fiction Contest. First place is $20,000... for a story under 100 words. Wild, right? The odds are astronomical, but it's out there. I'd also mention the Reedsy Prompts contest; it's weekly with a $250 prize, so over a year you could technically rack up a decent sum if you're consistent, though it's not a single huge payout. The real trick is checking the fine print for rights grabs; some of these big-money contests want all future rights, which isn't worth it for most of us.

Been looking into this while planning next year's projects, and honestly, it's frustrating how scattered the info is right now. Major contests like the 'Ploughshares Emerging Writer's Contest' or the 'Bridport Prize' haven't posted their 2025 windows yet—they usually announce dates in late fall. I spent an hour on one literary magazine's site only to find a banner saying "2024 submissions closed, 2025 info coming January." Feels like a waiting game.

My advice? Set up a spreadsheet with the contests you care about, track their 2024 deadlines as a reference, and mark your calendar to check their websites around November. Most repeat yearly, so last year's date plus or minus a week is a decent guess. Saves you from the last-minute panic when they finally drop the guidelines.