Saturday 15 October 2022

Free entry competition good news and other stuff for writers

Free entry writing competitions

Thanks to Sharon Bee who kindly sent me the following competition links – The Daily Mail are running a novel writing competition with a £20,000 advance as the prize. This is for 'first-time authors who have not had any work of fiction published before' so I'm not eligible. Brilliant opportunity for someone though.

The Top prize for the Commonwealth Short Story Competition is £5,000. I'll be having a go at that one.

Thanks to Alyson for the link to this competition from W&A It's for those who are starting work on a novel and don't have an agent or publishing contract. (I don't think having had short stories published would be a problem.)

This competition is for 6 word stories and has a $100 prize.


Banbury Writers Cafe are offering £50 for the best story written to one of their photo prompts.

There's a $10,000 advance on offer in this crime writing competition.

Other publication opportunities

Prairie Fire are looking for 'fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction that looks at the depth of peace.' This is a paying market.

The Rialto want poems and pay £20 for those they publish.


Fanaticalmag are looking for sci-fi and fantasy inspired by tabletop games. They pay £20.

This publication seems to be for a similar genre. They pay £25.

I doubt I'll have time for any of these as we're getting ready for another trip in the van! There will be photos.


Womag news

Sharon Reid is now editor of Yours Fiction Special. I know because I got an acceptance from her! 

There's a new sub editor at The People's Friend. I know that and no more detail because I saw something on Facebook which I can no longer find.

I've been informed that all the Friend Christmas stories have now been selected for this year.

Help for writers

In the comments for last week's post, Alyson asked about eligibility and benefits of The Society Of Authors and I promised to find out more. Tweeting the SOA seemed worth a try and I was rewarded by a speedy response from Martin who has added information and useful links in a comment of his own. If you missed it then it's worth taking a look - there are loads of useful looking free guides on offer. Click here and scroll to 13th comment.

My news

Remember the summer themed short story competition from The Horses Mouth I mentioned about a month ago? Well, I won! Obviously I'm pleased on my own account, but it's also nice for the blog that I'm able to confirm these competitions are genuine and real people win them. I hope my good fortune inspires you to have a go at some and that you'll be able to come back and report your success.

From tomorrow, 16th October, my new collection of short stories Beyond The Garden Wall goes on special offer. Both the ebook and paperback versions are at least £1 /$1 less than the usual selling price. This promotion lasts until 22nd October. (The book can be ordered through libraries and book shops, but unfortunately this offer only applies to purchases through Amazon.)

This collection contains 24 plant, garden and flower themed stories – giving me the perfect excuse to strew this post with flower photos!

Anything you can do to help spread the word, including sharing FB posts and tweets will be much appreciated.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Patsy on your win and thank you for the above information and competitions. I don’t suppose you know if having short stories published by magazines and self published kids books disqualifies one from the mail novel contest? T&Cs suggest it does. Thanks. Charlie.

niddy said...

Well done on the win, and the acceptance Patsy.
I sold the large print version of my Pocket Novel - Winner Takes All, this month, so am doing a happy dance.
Lots of info on competitions, hope to have a go on at least one or two.

Thanks Niddy

Lindsay said...

Congratulations on your win, Patsy.

ados123 said...

Congratulations on your win, Patsy! Hope it was a nice prize.
I entered the Secret Life of Data comp and have got to the last ten so will be in an anthology. Don't know winners yet.

Thanks for the competitions. Nothing takes my fancy this time, but that's fine!

Do you know if Yours Special have changed their sending procedure now with a new editor or is it still the general yours fiction email?
Thanks
Alyson

Marguerite said...

Congratulations on the FTHM win, Patsy! Also the Yours Fiction - I'm not jealous, cos I just got an email too - my first for publication! :) Your mix is becoming eclecticer than ever (is that even a word?) ;) The Commonwealth one looks good as does the Prairie Fire - coming to the point where I am having to focus and choose which ones to go for (very strained anxious emoji!). Good luck with the book :)

Marian said...

Well done on the win, Patsy, and what a good mix of competitions you've found for us this week. I'm very tempted by a couple of them.

New girl on the block said...

Congratulations on the win and the acceptance!

Fay Knowles said...

Thanks for the competition news, Patsy. And congratulations on your win!

Sharon boothroyd said...

Many congrats on the comp win and the Yours acceptance, Patsy.
Many thanks for all the comps info too!

Elizabeth McGinty said...

Congratulations on the win and acceptance Patsy. Thank you for all the competition info lots to choose from and all so different.

Good luck with your book too.

My good news was to have my name on the front cover of PF.

Well done everyone else who have had publication, wins or made submissions this week, or even just got words written :)

Patsy said...

@ Charlie – It says no novels, including self published, so I suppose it depends on the length of your kids' book.

@ Niddy – Well done!

@ Lindsay – Thank You.

@ Alyson – Gosh, well done! I couldn't even come up with an idea for that one, let alone write an entry.

It's still the same general email for Yours and Yours Fiction.

@ Marguerite – Yay! Well done for your first publication. That's great news. Was that for Yours Fiction?

@ Marian – I hope you give some of them a try.

@ New Girl – Thank You.

@ Fay – Thanks!

@ Sharon – Thank you - and for your contributions.

@ Elizabeth – Oooh, well done for being a 'cover girl'!

Sheelagh said...

Congratulations on your win Patsy & also to Marguerite, brilliant news too, well done. I'm going to have a go at some 6 word stories, I quite enjoy thinking them up when I'm out for a walk

Jenny Worstall said...

Well done, Patsy! And thanks for sharing so many interesting opportunities again.

Liz said...

Congrats on your win and acceptance, Patsy, and to Marguerite on her acceptance. And Alyson, wow, I'm in awe of you writing something for that comp and getting a placing. Well done!

Marguerite said...

Thank you, Sheelagh and Liz - sorry, couldn't wait for the 'Over to you' slot ;) but, to reiterate what so many have said, this is partially down to the reassuring messages of so many people on this blog - keep going. Yes, you get rejections - but so does everyone. It's a Christmas one in Yours Fiction, Patsy :)

Sheelagh said...

Look forward to reading it at Christmas Marguerite. I totally agree with you re the importance of a bit of moral support & particularly from other writers who really understand the highs & lows. So celebrate it & enjoy

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the win, Patsy, and the acceptance from Yours. And also to Margaurite for your first acceptance by YF. I had a story in their September issue and it feels great when you actually see your work in print. No acceptances for me from them this time around unfortunately. But as it’s often said, these are the highs and lows of writing that we all face.

Thanks also for all of the competition info, Patsy. Some of them are a bit out of my comfort zone, and I’m not the most computer savvy person, but it’s nice to see what is out there.

Michael D

Geraldine Ryan said...

Congrats on your win, Patsy!

Carrie said...

Congratulations on your win, Patsy, and acceptance, and to anyone else who's had good news. I'll certainly be checking out some of those comps, so thanks for those.

Patsy said...

@ Sheelagh – Plotting and walking works for me too - then I need to walk home quickly before I forget my brilliant ideas.

@ Jenny - thank you.

@ Liz – I'm in awe too.

@ Marguerite – No problem. You're right to be excited. We're going to be issue buddies which is nice.

@ Micheal – Sometimes it's good to step just a little out of your comfort zone, so do keep looking at what's on offer.

@ Geraldine – Thank you.

@ Carrie – I hope you find at least one you fancy trying.