Monthly Archives: February 2024

$10,000 in Cash Prizes

This is from our friends over at Winning Writers, a trusted resource for authors.

TOM HOWARD/JOHN H. REID FICTION & ESSAY CONTEST
32nd annual contest sponsored by Winning Writers and Duotrope. $10,000 in cash prizes, including $3,500 for the best story and $3,500 for the best essay. The top 12 entries will be published online. Both published and unpublished work welcome. Fee: $22 per entry. Final judge: Mina Manchester. Deadline: May 1.

This contest is recommended by Reedsy. See guidelines, past winners, and submit online at https://winningwriters.com/tomstory

$500 for Authors/Artists/Poets Ending Soon

igel offers $500 plus publication to the winner, and offers publication to select finalists. No restrictions on theme or category. The length for prose is restricted to a maximum of 1,500 words for short stories, 14 lines for poetry, and 6 pages for graphic novels/comics/scripts/screenplays. 

Excerpts from longer works are eligible. An excerpt selected as the winner or as a finalist will be offered publication only for the submitted sample.

Titles do not count toward the limit for any prose piece. Epigraphs are included in the word count. Artwork should consist of a single piece. 

Open: February 1

Close: February 29

Entry fee: $12.50

Prize: $500 cash and publication for the winner; publication offered to runners-up and finalists. 

Enter through Submittable here or Duotrope here.

The Writers’ HQ Write A Short Story Festival

This is from the folks over at Writers’ HQ:

Join Sarah, Team WHQ and a specially curated gang of super awesome, award-winning short story writers for a month of short story workshops, masterclasses and write-a-longs designed to get you writing or to elevate your craft from good to GREAT.

Throughout March, the Writers’ HQ Write A Short Story Festival will give you the opportunity to explore everything you need to know about the short form, from starting, middling and ending. We’ll go deep into the craft of short story writing and finish the month by finding out how to submit your work to lit mags and publishers. 

You can start at the beginning and write a story alongside other festival writers, or you can drop in and out depending on where you are with your writing. 

Plus, through regular write-a-longs we’ll help you stay on track and build a writing practice that fits into your life and goals. 


With over a decade of experience supporting writers through their challenges and guiding them through their arghs and blarghs, this festival is sure to get your words moving.


Festival curator and director of Writers’ HQ Sarah Lewis says, “People are always telling me how much easier it is to write with other people so I thought it would be fun to create a series of events where we all write a short story alongside each other. The result is the Writers’ HQ Write A Short Story Festival and it’s going to be super fun and you should definitely join us for it.”


Writers’ HQ is dedicated to supporting writers on a low income and bursary places are available.

More information at https://writershq.co.uk/landing-pages/the-writers-hq-write-a-short-story-festival/

Rigel 2024: $500 for Art, Fiction, CNF, Poetry…Creativity!

Authors & Artists Eligible

Rigel is the brightest star in the Orion constellation. Sunspot Lit is looking for the single short story, novel, novella, artwork, graphic novel, or poem that outshines all the rest. Literary or genre works accepted; the only requirement is quality. 

Rigel offers $500 plus publication to the winner, and offers publication to select finalists. No restrictions on theme or category. The length for prose is restricted to a maximum of 1,500 words for short stories, 14 lines for poetry, and 6 pages for graphic novels. Note that excerpts from longer works are accepted if they stand alone.

An excerpt selected as the winner or as a finalist will be offered publication only for the submitted sample.

Titles do not count toward the limit for any prose piece. Epigraphs are included in the word count for works of prose. Artwork should consist of a single piece. 

Open: Every year on February 1

Close: Every year on February 29

Entry fee: $12.50

Prize: $500 cash and publication for the winner; publication offered to runners-up and finalists. 

All fees are final and nonrefundable. Revised entries can be made by withdrawing the original entry and resubmitting, paying a new fee for the new submission. 

Sunspot asks for first rights only; all rights revert to the contributor after publication. Works, along with the creators’ bylines, are published in the next quarterly digital edition an average of two months after contest completion, as well as in the annual print edition. 

Works should be unpublished except on a personal blog or website. Artists offered publication may display their pieces in galleries, festivals or shows throughout the publication contract period.  

Enter as many times as you like, but only one piece per submission. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw your piece if it is published elsewhere before the winner is selected.

Enter through Sunspot’s Submittable page or through Duotrope.