Wee free writing competition - and a bigger one

Free entry writing competitions

Thanks to Suzan Lindsay for reminding me about the Scottish Book Trust flash fiction competitions. Each month they ask for a 50 word story on a set theme. You've got until the 25th to write something involving a bookcase. The prize is suitably little – but Id still be happy to win. (I'd help my chances if I remembered to enter, wouldn't I?)

I confess the photos are only very tenuously relevant – I took them in Scotland last year.

Here's an email I recieved a few days ago -

 Hi everyone! I'm writing because you previously submitted a short story to the Redbud Writing Project's annual Coppice Prize competition. We took last year off to reformulate the contest, but this year we're back, thanks to a generous grant from United Arts of Wake County in North Carolina, and we'd love to see your work. Here are the details:

The contest is open until midnight on March 31.

--We accept only previously unpublished work, under 4,000 words, with identifying names and details omitted. 

--Winners receive $600 (first place), $300 (second place), and $100 (third place), plus publication and review from a literary agent. 

--Our three judges--Anise Vance, Aamina Ahmad, and Raf Frumkin--will select the winners in late April, with the winners to be announced in May.

--This year, the aim of our contest is specifically to highlight marginalized and under-represented writers. So we ask that you only submit if you consider yourself part of those categories (e.g. cultural identity, income level of your family, racial identity, gender identity, disability, or something else). We will leave it up to individual contestants to decide if they identify as marginalized or under-represented. If you’d like to talk this out with us, please feel free to reach out.

Submit your work here! As always, it's free to enter.

Tuesday top tip(s) - writing a series

Here are a few things I learned from writing my Little Mallow cosy mystery series. I thought they might be of interest to authors contemplating writing their first series.

(btw, book 1 in the series is currently free to download.)

1. When planning your release schedule, allow lots of time. Although it is true that books in a series are quicker to write than standalones (because you don't have quite so much world building and character creation to do) the process isn't a lot faster. Readers won't want to wait too long to read the next one, but it's far better to set a realistic timetable than an overly optimistic one you don't meet.

2. Keep notes, a database, or spreadsheet of nearly everything! It might seem tedious to record the name of every single character, their partners, jobs etc, but having those details recorded in an easy to check format will save time and/or help avoid silly errors.

3. Depending on the genre, it might be a good idea to create a timeline chart of some kind. With my latest book I needed a very precise one to be sure people's alibis did, or didn't, work properly. A more general overall one can be useful for keeping track of things such as how long characters have known each other, making sure everyone just has the one birthday a year, that you don't have fourteen month pregnancies, and that everyone ages accurately in relation to everyone else.

4. Keep any planning notes after completing earlier books in the series. These will make it easier to check what's already happened than if you need to read through the entire novel.

5. As much as possible, plan the entire series in advance. That can help you avoid backing yourself into a corner by writing something you later regret e.g. killing off a character before you've finished with them, or failing to mention something which later becomes important to the storyline. For example, in my second book the fact the verger doesn't drive is important. As it's unusual for capable, employed men in their thirties, not to drive, this information is mentioned in the first book. I also mention a skill he does posses which proves useful later on.

6. If a character will become important for a later book in the series, consider including them as a minor character in earlier books. That way readers (and you) will get to know them and care more about what happens when they become more involved.

7. Decide whether each book will work as a standalone as well as part of the series, or if the books need to be read in order for the storylines to work. If it's the latter, make that clear in the descriptions, blurb and any promotions.

8. Although you'll want some kind of resolution at the end of each book, don't feel you must completely tie off every single lose end. That can feel contrived. 

9. When publishing, consider putting you books into kindle unlimited, as series are popular with KU readers. This does require you to make the books exclusive with Amazon, which doesn't suit everyone, but you can opt out again after three months and make your books 'wide' then.

10. Consider making the first book in the series a little cheaper than the others. That's both to encourage potential readers to give it a try, and to steer them towards starting at the beginning and hopefully reading all the way through.

11. Consider creating some kind of free bonus material to promote the series. In my case I wrote a short ebook, set in the village of Little Mallow. This is available exclusively to those who sign up for my newsletter. It gives an insight into the location for the series and introduction to some characters.

12. Writing a series is a big commitment – be sure you're happy to spend time with your characters and in your fictitious world! Personally I love spending time in Little Mallow, and am very fond of the residents. I'm delighted to hear that many of my readers feel the same way.

This tip was brought to you by Patsy Collins. If you'd like to contribute your own tip to this blog, here's what to do.

Over to you

 

Please share writing related news – successes and failures, details of free entry writing competitions, updates about the womags you submit to, any other publication opportunities, and raise any queries you may have. All these things will help* other readers of the blog, and help me** to keep it going!

* It can be very reassuring to know we're not the only person who gets rejections, finds something confusing, or has doubts. It's also very encouraging when people we've heard of and know are real people, something like us, win competitions or get published.

** It takes time to find new free competitions every single week and it's very difficult to keep track of markets I don't submit to. Your support through sharing information, and leaving comments, makes a big difference. (Never worry you're telling me something I know – reminders are welcome!)

Free entry poetry competition

Thank you to Fiona for sending me the link to this very interesting poetry competition. The challenge is to write an artfully awful poem (I can do half of that!) There's £100 first prize.

Another free writing competition

On this blog I only share details of free to enter writing competitions (for several reasons, including the hope I won't be opening you up to scams). There are plenty with entry fees though - do you think those are worthwhile? 

Free entry writing competitions

The Fitzcarraldo prize 'awards £4,000 to the best proposal for a book-length essay (minimum 25,000 words) by a writer resident in the UK & Ireland who has yet to secure a publishing deal.' 

This is one of my favourite signposts. 

Where do you think it's directing people? Or maybe you know?

Poetry and prose competitions

 

Free entry competition news

Thanks to Fiona for telling me about this poetry competition with a £100 prize.

The Alpine fellowship have a competition, accepting any kind of writing, on the theme of fear. First prize is £300. Entrants may be of any nationality. The also have a poetry competition with the same theme and prize.

Also

I can't remember if I've already said... This blog has a Bluesky account. For those who've not tried Bluesky, it's just like Twitter used to be, before it got choked up with adverts. If you could use Twitter, you'll be able to use Bluesky – although obviously you don't have to!

My romance novel, A Year And A Day is free until March 5th. (I've made it free in the hope of getting some reviews.)

The photo above is of Smoo cave in Scotland. Try saying Smoo out loud a couple of times – I bet you can't resist adding a few more Os!

Womag news and free entry writing competitions

I've had (more than) enough of winter and have decided it's spring! There are signs of it, if you look in the right places.

Womag news

In case you missed Liz's comment on last week's post, she said – "A heads-up that a couple of writers have had stories accepted by Woman's World over a year after they submitted them. Until the past few weeks, writers could assume rejection after around 3 months. Also, recent acceptance emails have been sent out around publication time rather than a few weeks before. This probably isn't an issue for the solve-it-yourself mystery writers as there are no other outlets that accept that format. But the romance writers will need to be aware of it."

I wonder why that is? Could they be short of submissions? The magazine's website is here. I couldn't find any official submission guidelines, but this blog might be of interest.

Free entry competition news

The Tom Grass Prize is for 'a short piece of stand-alone prose in either Fiction or Non-Fiction (1,500 - 3,000 words). It can be adapted from a longer work but must be satisfying to read by itself. ' • Open to emerging writers over the age of 25 from around the world
• £1000 for first prize, and two runners-up prizes, each £500
• Judged by a panel including literary agents
• Submission deadline 31st March 2025
• Fiction, non-fiction or journalistic writing

The current Best competition is for a crime or thriller story of up to 1,200 words. Quite a few followers of this blog have won or been runner up in this competition (I was runner up in the last one), so it's definitely worth a try.

If the t&cs are too small to read, right click on them and save to your desktop - you should then be able to enlarge them (works with any online image of sufficient resolution).

Over to you - and a writing competition

Please share writing related news – successes and failures, details of free entry writing competitions, updates about the womags you submit to, any other publication opportunities, and raise any queries you may have. All these things will help other readers of the blog, and help me to keep it going!

Free entry competition news

Irish Country magazine have another short story competition. I think / hope there will be one every month. The theme is 'an unlikely friendship' and the prize is a year's subscription plus 'an amazing gift worth €200!' I'm counting on one of you winning, so I can find out exactly what that is!

Btw, I had an email telling me I'd not one the last one, so it seems they do let you know one way or another, rather than leaving you wondering.

As always, feel free to use my photos as writing prompts. If you prefer words to images for that purpose, take a look here.

Call for submissions and competition news

Call for submission

Thanks to Alyson for telling me about this call for short stories on the theme of Magi. In theory this is a paying market, but don't expect to earn much, if anything. Anthologies don't tend to sell well, the royalties will be split between the publisher and all other contributors, and they don't pay out until you've earned at least £10. Still, money isn't the only reason for writing and submitting work.

Free entry writing competition news

I'm the runner up in Best's Valentine's competition. I'm not telling you that just to brag, but also to remind you that real people do win these things, so it's worth having a go.

Thanks to Marguerite for the reminder about this gothic short story competition.

The photos were taken on a recent day out at Mottisfont Abbey. There was cake!

Tuesday top tip - Keeping a record of your work

I use an Excel spreadsheet to log when I send a story and when I expect to hear and how much it costs me or how much I get paid if I win or a story is bought. I do not use the Excel spreadsheet to its full extent and admire people who would be able to automatically colour a cell, just because a formula has been fed into the date column: I can’t do that! Green indicates I am still waiting to hear. Conversely, red means I’ve heard, even if it’s a ‘no’. The pink tells me I have ‘used’ the story and it cannot be used again without careful consideration about the rights etc...

Disclaimer: These are not real submissions!

I regularly send to Writing Magazine and sometimes, Woman’s Weekly (used to send to Yours), so on my spreadsheet, I have a colour assigned to each one. 

In addition, I’ve found it necessary to do a quick one-liner next to each of my stories as an aide memoire:

This is on the same spreadsheet but too big to print or put on a web page easily.

If you are not remotely tech savvy and the idea of an Excel spreadsheet appals you, then there is nothing wrong with doing the whole thing by hand on paper with ruled lines. I only use it because it already has ruled lines. The beauty of the spreadsheet is the size of the cell increases as you fill it.

This is not for everybody but the key message here is to record what you’ve sent out. Whether you use a manual or digital method, it will still rely on you logging each submission and the result, whenever that is.

The second part of this came as a result of asking on here a couple of years ago how people ‘remembered’ their stories if they were trying to find a different avenue for them. I couldn’t see an easy answer. I hope this might help a few of you.

This week's tip comes from Marguerite and is in response to comments made recently about keeping track of our submissions.

If you'd like to contribute a tip to this blog, here's what to do

Womag news and free writing competitions

Womag news

Just in case you haven't heard – My Weekly are discontinuing their pocket novels. This doesn't apply to The People's Friend. You can find the guidelines for their pocket novels, and everything else, here.

Free entry competition news

 Thanks to Sharon Boothroyd for passing on the link to this novel writing competition. It's for 'first time writer and as Sharon says, they're looking for something 'literary'. The prize is £10,000.

Sharon also shared this travel writing competition. There's a paid option which offers feedback, or a free option. The prize is $300.

And thanks to Sharon, Ruth and Alyson who all told me about The People's Friend poetry competition.

Do you enjoy reading the wonderful poetry we publish in the “Friend”? Do you ever find yourself thinking, “I could do that”? Well, if you do, now is your chance! Today, we are launching our first ever poetry competition! There’s a cash prize and the winning entries will be published in our "Feel-good Fiction" special edition later this year. The writer of the winning poem will receive £150 and their work will be published in the “Friend”. Three runners-up will receive £50. All you have to do is write a poem on the theme of "harmony”. Harmony can mean a number of different things, and there is no right or wrong answer. It could be friendships or something peaceful, for example. The only thing that matters is that it is your interpretation of harmony. Your poem should be three verses of four lines. Give it a title and email it to us. The competition will be open until March 1, so get your creative hats on! E-mail your poem, along with your name and address, to pfeditor@dcthomson.co.uk

If you fancy trying that but don't usually read The People's Friend, I strongly advise getting the latest issue.  As with their fiction, they have a preferred tone.

My news

Last week I signed books at my local bookshop. Technically it was for my latest book, but I snuck in the entire series, plus my other crime novel.

I'm pleased to report that I arrived with two boxes of books and by the time I left the larger one was empty.

Please note the purple pen!

Tuesday top tip - slaying self doubt.

Writing is an incredible journey, full of ups and downs, but let’s be honest—it can also feel like a bit of a battle. Self-doubt and procrastination are two of the biggest culprits when it comes to slowing us down or, worse, stopping us in our tracks. The good news? You can tackle both with some simple but effective strategies.

I know this all too well because I’ve just released my latest novel, The Call Back, the second book in my Mickey Blake thriller series. Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. Over the years, I've interviewed hundreds of successful authors and so many of them have talked about 'The Difficult Second Book'. Even so, I didn't fully appreciate just how hard it would be until midway through 2024, when I felt like a total imposter. For a while, I wasn’t sure I’d finish it at all. Self-doubt hit me hard during the process. That little voice in my head constantly whispered, “What if it’s not as good as the first book?” or “What if people hate it?” My inner critic worked overtime, and there were days when procrastination felt like the only way to cope. I went to Harrogate Crime Festival and my patient friends listened to me complain about it and, fortunately, convinced me to keep going.

The other thing that got me through was recognising that self-doubt doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer—it means you care. The trick is not letting it stop you. One of the things that helped me was keeping a ‘Doubt Journal.’ Whenever those negative thoughts popped up, I wrote them down and challenged them. Was it true that I’d lost my ability to tell a good story? Of course not. I reminded myself that every writer—yes, even the most successful ones—has to battle these same feelings.

Procrastination was another beast I had to face. At one point, The Call Back felt like this huge, unwieldy mountain I didn’t know how to climb. The solution? Break it into manageable chunks. I set small goals—sometimes as simple as writing 200 words a day—and celebrated every win, no matter how small. Those little victories kept me moving forward, even when the process felt impossible.

Another lifesaver was my pre-writing ritual. Before every session, I’d make a cup of tea, put on some ambient rain sounds, and take five minutes to visualise the finished book sitting on a shelf. It sounds a bit corny, but it worked. It gave me just enough motivation to push through those tough days. And eventually, the panic subsided and that messy first draft materialised before my eyes. As the saying goes, you can't edit a blank page. 

To my astonishment, I hit my deadline to get the book off to my copy editor so that I could make my release date and now I have another book out in the world. As a consequence, I decided to formalise some of the techniques and tips that helped me survive the process - partly so that I can refer back to them next time the dragon of Self-Doubt comes calling, but also so that other writers can use them to slay their demons. This became a 15 page PDF called the 'Write or Die! Writer's Survival Kit' and you can download it by signing up to my FREE monthly newsletter. It's full of actionable tips, like how to reframe your inner critic, set achievable goals, and find inspiration when you feel stuck. These are the same tools that helped me finish The Call Back, and I’m confident they can help you too.

Writing is never a straight path—it’s more of a twisty, winding road—but with the right tools and mindset, you can navigate it like a pro. If this sounds like the kind of support you need, why not grab a copy of the Writer’s Survival Kit? It’s completely free, and it might just give you the boost you’re looking for.

Oh, and if thrillers are your thing, I’d love you to check out The Call Back, or it's prequel Safe Hands. It’s a fast-paced, suspenseful ride, and while it was a tough book to write, I’m really proud of how it turned out. Writing doesn’t have to be a lonely or frustrating process—sometimes, all you need is a little help to keep going. Ready to slay that dragon?! Let me know how you got on in the comments below, or by dropping me a line on my website at waynekellywrites.com.

Today's top tip was supplied by writer, podcaster, film director and songwriter Wayne Kelly.

If you'd like to contribute a tip to this blog, here's what to do.

Release day! (And free entry writing competitions)

Today is release day for the third book in my Little Mallow cosy crime series! Regardless of how well it does, I'm very proud of these books, and of myself for completing a series. It's a lot of work (I wrote all three in two years, as well as helping Gary with his photography business, writing short stories, running this blog, travelling and doing everything involved in having a normal life) but also interesting a satisfying. At times it was even fun!

I'm fortunate to have had lots of help from friends who provided services such as beta reading and feedback, proofreading, ARC reading and marketing. Thank you so much to everyone involved. And thanks to any of you who can help spread the word about my book (eg by sharing social media posts, or just telling someone who might like to read it) to those who request it at their local library, or who buys it.

Free entry writing competitions

The DRF award is for 'a first-time writer whose submission demonstrates outstanding literary talent and who needs financial support to complete their work. ' It can be fiction or non fiction. By first time they mean you've not written a full length book. British Commonwealth and EIRE only. £10,000 prize.

Thanks to Fiona for sending me the link to this poetry competition. The prizes are whisky, and you've only got a couple of days to enter. (Unfortunately they want all the rights.)

Publication opportunity

Thanks to Sharon Boothrod fro the reminder that Crowvus are looking for submissions on the theme of science fiction - you can send poetry, fiction or non fiction.

And finally...

In case you've not seen it already, here's a short 'unboxing' video I made for the latest book. It's about as serious as I am. Dog owners be warned - there's a doorbell sound!

Tuesday top tip - attend a small literary festival.

Why attend a small literary festival?  Lindsay Bamfield has a few reasons.

There are literary festivals everywhere ranging from the famous such as Hay on Wye to the little known. Those I’ve been involved in are very much at the lesser-known end. So why should people attend a minor literary festival which won’t be featuring the big names of Pulitzer Prize winners or best-selling authors? 

We’re cheaper for a start and when it’s a local in-person event, it can introduce readers to fairly local authors. When I helped organise the Finchley Lit Fests in London, we discovered the most amazing authors on our doorstep (and a few from a little further afield.) Some weren’t well-known at the time but have gone on to pretty stellar heights (all because of us obviously!!) 

Our festivals included workshops which brought local writers together and introduced new people to writing groups. It was about community; encouraging emerging writers, supporting local published writers and giving our community enjoyable events that they could reach on foot.

The literary festival I’m currently organising is 12,000 miles from London. The Society of Women Writers Victoria in Australia is a state-wide group so our three-day event comprises one in-person event in Melbourne where we’ll launch our book of the Society’s 50-year history followed by a weekend of online sessions so those who live across the state or intestate don’t have to drive for 8 or more hours to join us! 

Several big literary festivals were delivered online during the pandemic but the numbers of attendees precluded much interaction. A smaller online festival can include more audience engagement. We’ve chosen our sessions to appeal primarily to our membership but have opened it up to anybody who’s interested.

Our sessions include three writing workshops: short stories; history writing and ekphrastic poetry, plus author talks ranging from established Australian authors to those who have brought out only one book – so far. Covering memoir, historical fiction, modern fiction and non-fiction, the aim is for these events to enthuse and inspire our members and guests as well as entertaining them. We also have an Open Mic session open to all ticket holders to give us 4 minutes’ worth of their writing and a showcase of short monologues written by our members. 

Big festivals generally go after big names, but there’s so much more to the literary world than big names. Small festivals may introduce you to authors unknown to you, help you discover books you’d not come across. Small festivals involve their audience.

For $70.00AUD (currently about £35.00) a ticket covers the whole weekend so attendees can dip in and out of the sessions that appeal or join every single one. That’s the same price as one session might cost at one of those big events!

Check us out: https://www.swwvic.org.au/

The timings of this one won't suit everyone, so if you know of any small literary festivals coming up in your area, please share the details in the comments.

This tip was brought to you by Lindsay Bamfield writer of flash fiction, short stories and more!

If you'd like to contribute a tip to this blog, here's what to do.