writing competitions in '09

You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you're working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success - but only if you persist.
- Isaac Asimov

Let's kick off '09 on a competitive note...check out just 10 of the new year's writing competitions with fast-approaching deadlines:

* all information below has been retrieved from each competition's respective website, accessible via a link by clicking on the competition's name *

1. Highlights 2009 Fiction Contest

Category:
Contemporary world-cultures stories; up to 800 words (up to 500 words for beginning readers)

Prizes:
Three prizes of $1,000 or tuition for the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop at Chautauqua.

Entry dates:
All entries must be postmarked between January 1, 2009, and January 31, 2009.


2. NYC Midnight 3rd Annual Short Story Challenge 2009

The Short Story Challenge 2009 is an international creative writing competition, now in it's 3rd year, that challenges participants to create original short stories in as little as 24 hours.

Entry Deadline - January 14, 2009

▪ Anyone may compete from anywhere in the world

▪ There are 2 rounds

▪ 1st Round (January 16-24, 2009) : Writers are placed randomly in heats. Each heat is assigned a genre and a subject (ex. comedy : competing lemonade stands or horror : a family reunion).

▪ Writers have 1 week to write an original short story (2,500 words max).

▪ Winners are chosen from the 1st Round to advance to the 2nd round and compete for thousands in cash and prizes.

▪ 2nd Round (March 13-14, 2009) : All of the writers receive the same genre and subject at midnight (EST time) and have just 24 hours to write an original short story.

▪ A panel of judges review the final round stories and winners are chosen!

3. Charles Johnson Student Fiction Award
* as featured on Winning Writers

Deadline February 28 (don't enter before February 1), former submission period March 1-31.

Highly recommended free contest for US college and graduate students offers $1,000 and publication in Crab Orchard Review for a short story, maximum 20 double-spaced pages. The award competition is open to all undergraduate and graduate students who are US citizens or permanent residents currently enrolled full- or part-time in a US college or university.

4. Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest

Postmark Deadline: March 31, 2009

Now in its 17th year. Prizes of $2,000, $1,000, $500 and $250 will be awarded, plus five High Distinction awards of $200 each and six Most Highly Commended Awards of $100 each. Submit any type of short story, essay or other work of prose, up to 5,000 words. You may submit work that has been published or won prizes elsewhere, as long as you own the online publication rights. $15 entry fee. Submit online or by mail. Early submission encouraged. Winning Writers is assisting with entry handling for this contest. Judges: John H. Reid and Dee C. Konrad.

5. Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse

Postmark Deadline: June 30, 2009

Now in its sixth year, this contest seeks poetry in traditional verse forms such as sonnets and free verse. Both published and unpublished poems are welcome. Prizes of $2,000, $1,000, $500 and $250 will be awarded, plus five High Distinction awards of $200 each and six Most Highly Commended Awards of $100 each. The entry fee is $7 for every 25 lines you submit. Submit online or by mail. Early submission encouraged. This contest is sponsored by Tom Howard Books and assisted by Winning Writers. Judges: John H. Reid and Dee C. Konrad.

6. Winning Writers - Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest

Online Submission Deadline: April 1, 2009

Winning Writers invites you to enter the eighth annual Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest, called "famous" by Writer's Digest. Fifteen cash prizes totaling $3,336.40 will be awarded, including a top prize of $1,359. There is no fee to enter. Judge: Jendi Reiter.

7. Winning Writers - War Poetry Contest

Postmark Deadline: May 31, 2009

We seek 1-3 original, unpublished poems on the theme of war for our eighth annual contest, up to 500 lines in total. We will award $5,000, including a top prize of $2,000. Submit online or by mail. The entry fee is $15. Judge: Jendi Reiter. See the complete guidelines and past winners.

8. Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition

Entry Deadline: May 15, 2009.

Compete and Win in 10 Categories!

* Inspirational Writing (Spiritual/Religious)
* Memoirs/Personal Essay
* Magazine Feature Article
* Genre Short Story (Mystery, Romance, etc.)
* Mainstream/Literary Short Story
* Rhyming Poetry
* Non-rhyming Poetry
* Stage Play
* Television/Movie Script
* Children's/Young Adult Fiction

Grand Prize: $3,000 cash and a trip to New York City to meet with editors or agents.Writer's Digest will fly you and a guest to The Big Apple, where you'll spend three days and two nights in the publishing capital of the world. While you're there, a Writer's Digest editor will escort you to meet and share your work with four editors or agents! Plus, you'll receive a free Diamond Publishing Package from Outskirts Press.

Entry Fee: Poems are $15 for the first entry; $10 for each additional poem submitted in the same online session. All other entries are $20 for the first manuscript; $15 for each additional manuscript submitted in the same online session.

9. The 2009 BlueCat Screenplay Competition

Regular deadline: March 2, 2009. Entry fee $50
Late Deadline: April 1, 2009. Entry Fee $60

The BlueCat Screenplay Competition is now open for submission of feature length screenplays for the 11th year!

Grand Prize: $10,000

Four Finalists: $1500

Every writer who enters BlueCat receives written script analysis.

10. The Ledge Magazine 2009 Fiction Awards Competition

Postmark Deadline: February 28, 2009.

Prizes: First prize: $1,000 and publication in The Ledge Magazine. Second prize: $250 and publication in The Ledge Magazine. Third prize: $100 and publication in The Ledge Magazine.

Entry Fee: $10 for the first story; $6 for each additional story. $20 subscription (two issues) to The Ledge gains free entry for the first story.

All stories must be previously unpublished and not exceed 7,500 words. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable but we must be notified if your story is accepted elsewhere for publication.

So there's 10, but there are plenty of more out there. Click here for some of my favorite websites for writers.

And if you're still hungry for more contests, check out these two sites I just came across -

http://www.freelancewriting.com/writingcontests.php

http://www.fanstory.com/contests