*Well... maybe I have eaten a lot, but I've walked loads too.
Free entry writing competitions
Thank you to Sharon Boothroyd for sending me the link to the Welkin Prize for micro fiction. There's a first prize of £75 for up to 100 words of narrative prose, fiction or non-fiction.
This Valentine's poetry competition was also found by Sharon. The first prize is a £100 gift voucher. Previous winners can be read on the site, to give you an idea of the sort of thing they're looking for.
And thanks to Fiona for this short story competition from the Hudson Review. It's open to anyone not previously published in that magazine (which I'm guessing is most of us?) The first prize is $1,000 plus publication.
Call for submission
Thanks to Marguerite for the link to this from Weird Christmas. This year, instead of a competition, there's to be an anthology of flash fiction. Around a dozen stories will be published. Each will earn $35.
Great photos Patsy, and all that food sounds delicious! Poor shrunken Kelpies, it must be all that rain we’ve had…😊
ReplyDeleteThank you Sharon, Fiona and Marguerite for the comps info, a very interesting mix…
Dee
Yes, excellent photos. And just enjoy the food - and keep walking!
ReplyDeleteAll sounds very exotic to me. Thanks everyone for all the writing opportunities posted, probably nothing for me this week but nice to read of possibilities, as its easy to imagine there are very few out there.
ReplyDeleteWeird fungi! Thanks to Sharon and Fiona for the opportunities. I was shortlisted in a WM story this month (never made the big time yet!) but, a tough one to crack must be Write Time. Tried it several times with no success. It's turning into a TPF hurdle to be overcome ;)
ReplyDeleteI think it's called a Blackening Waxcap, Marguerite, NOT very nice to eat ...
DeleteIs Write Time the project where you must be aged 60 and over to enter their (paid) story competition?
ReplyDeleteIf so, how do you prove your age? Do they ask to see a copy of your birth certificate? I'm 60 next year, so I'll bear it in mind.
If it's any consolation, I haven't managed to have a story accepted by TPF, and I've been trying for many years.
Well done to all with positive news.
To add - I've found a project called Fiction on the Web really difficult, too.
ReplyDeleteI've sent them around 8 stories. All of them were very different - and all of them have been turned down.
They pay £15 (via Paypal) for an acceptance but I don't have a Paypal account, so I'd be unable to accept the fee in the event of a yes.
I made them aware of this.
I was OK with no fee, yet I wasn't successful. They publish stories on their website and readers are encouraged to leave feedback.
I eventually came to the conclusion that they didn't like my material, so I stopped submitting.
I admit that most of my fiction is aimed at the womag market, so perhaps that aspect didn't appeal to them.
Ooh, Abernethy Biscuits! I just made a mug of tea before sitting down to read your post Patsy and now I’m craving one (or two) but will have to make do with what’s in the tin.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sharon and Marguerite for the comps - might have a go. And congratulations on being shortlisted Marguerite.
I’ve not heard of Write Time or Fiction on the Web so will check them out.
Oh, Fiona, you have to be over 60 :( Hoping you maybe don't qualify, wishing I didn't! 🤣
DeleteMarguerite, I qualify by nearly 10 years but thank you for thinking that I might not! x
DeleteThanks for the comps Patsy, Sharon, Fiona and Marguerite. I might have a go at the Valentine's poem - although its well outside my comfort zone. Still nothing ventured...
ReplyDeleteKeep going with WM, Marguerite. I won the Unexpected Tales one the other month. It can be done!
Alyson
I think you are in the shortlist for the 'we want your writing' bit this week as well :) Congratulations, Alyson! I keep trying: if nothing else, I build up a fantastic bank of various stories!
DeleteNow getting really cross with my tablet 😠. I replied earlier re age confirmation for Write Time - they ask for your date of birth in online submission, Sharon.
ReplyDeleteAh right. Thanks for that, Marguerite.
ReplyDeleteAnyone can send a story to Fiction on the web and it's free to do so.
They have various genres in their categories. They only pay their fee of £15 per acceptance via PayPal.
You are encouraged to read the published stories on the website and leave positive feedback.
It's worth a go but after several attempts, I wasn't successful. Good luck to anyone who submits a story.
Love the photos, Patsy, especially the fairytale fungi. Thanks to everyone for the competitions.
ReplyDeleteInterested in a couple of mentions of WM. Is there a regular short story comp?
HB
Monthly comps, HB. Subscribers slightly reduced rates, £6 vs. £7.50 currently. Free, mostly monthly, for subscribers and also poetry, writing for children. I assume it's fairly international so imagine a wide-ish readership? A coup to be The One :) Also a recent addition of writing shorter prose/poetry to a theme, arising from the mag's content, for payment (no fee for entry).
DeleteThanks, Marguerite.
DeleteHB
To be clear, the recent addition for a shorter piece is subscribers only (free) and I think the fee has gone up for all monthly entries in the future :( such is the way of things). Sorry, I'm right: £7 vs £8.50 :( Think that's the new year.
DeleteWell done everyone who has had success with publication or submitting. Thanks for the photos Patsy, I'm partial to a tattie scone myself. Of course i also love the Kelpies, the big ones, there's something quite ethereal driving along the motorway and they emerge through the mist although up close there is nothing light or airy about them.
ReplyDeleteI've just noticed the font can't decide what size to be - no idea what I did wrong there - which means I'll probably do it again.
ReplyDelete@ Dee - We've eaten some lovely food on our trip - and by 'some' I mea 'a lot'!
ReplyDelete@ Alex - That's our plan. We have walked a lot (just over ten miles one day)
@ Sheelagh – I do like to try as many local foods as possible on our trips.
@ Marguerite - Well done for the shortlisting. I imagine there's a lot of good entries to those comps.
@ Sharon – I'm not sure how (or if) they check. I've won competitions which stated entrants must be over 18, but was never asked to prove that was the case.
@ Fiona - we brought some packets to take back with us. Then some more because we ate those. That happened several times actually. Why are they so addictive?
@ HB - We drove by the fungi and I got Gary to stop so I could go and check if they were real. I don't recall seeing any like that before.
@ Elizabeth - Up close they seem weirdly alive, don't they? (In a good way, I mean - they're not scary.)