Should you enter writing contests? Everything you need to know

In today’s publishing landscape, finding creative ways to get your work into the hands of readers is more important than ever. Are writing contests the answer? 

Writing contests can be a great way to kick start your writing career — but there are a few traps to be mindful of, too. Let’s take a closer look at what sort of writing contests are available to aspiring authors, and how to choose the right ones for you.

Types of writing contests

As you might have guessed, writing contests aren’t a one-size-fits-all operation. Here are the main types you’ll see that are open to new writers.

Short story contests

Short story competitions are the most common type of writing contest. Some of them come with big money, too — the long-running Moth Short Story Prize awards its winner €3,000, while the BBC Short Story Award has a top prize of £15,000!

These contests can be a great way to position yourself as a serious contender in the literary world, especially if you’re working towards a short story collection.

Poetry contests

Poetry contests are also a very popular way to make your mark in the writing community. Poetry presses often keep an eye on these contests while looking for new talent.

The highly respected Myslexia Poetry Competition has a top prize of £2,000, while the Rattle Poetry Prize awards the winning poet $15,000. Some contests also award publication of full manuscripts.

Novel contests

Novel contests can be held for full novel manuscripts, excerpts, or an opening chapter. These can be useful for getting an agent’s or publisher’s attention. It’s not uncommon to see literary agents judging these contests, so you’re skipping the line and jumping straight to the source.

The HNS First Chapters Competition is a respected prize for historical fiction writers, while some independent presses like Autumn House run prizes for full novels.

Essay contests

For you creative nonfiction writers, there are also personal essay contests available. These can help build support for a full-length memoir, or simply be a great platform to share your ideas.

The Lascaux Prize in Creative Nonfiction is one of the longer running personal essay prizes, and there’s also the Edinburgh Essay Award — both have cash prizes.

The benefits of entering writing contests

Now that we’ve seen some of the writing contests that are available to you, let’s explore why you might want to throw your name in the ring.

You get your name out in the industry

Publishers and literary agents pay attention to major writing contests. You don’t even have to win to get your name out into the world; shortlisting can be just as effective.

Most writing contests have around five to ten writers on their shortlist, and from that list the winner is chosen. The shortlist is usually published online, and sometimes the shortlisted entries are published on the contest website or in an anthology.

You could win some cash (or other prizes)

Arguably the biggest drive in entering a writing contest is the potential to win some cold, hard money. But many writing contests offer other awards in addition to the grand prize, like creative mentoring, manuscript assessment, a place on a literary residency, or the opportunity to read at a major event.

All of these can be useful for kickstarting your writing career.

They give you accountability

One of the best things about writing contests is that they give you a definitive due date. When you’re working on a piece of writing in your own personal practice, it’s easy to schedule it “when you have time” or “when your schedule frees up” or “maybe next year”. But if you’re entering a writing contest, it has to be done before this date or else you miss out.

This is huge for pushing you to actually get things done. Plus, some contests provide a guiding theme that gives you an extra creative challenge.

The pitfalls of entering writing contests

Now that we’ve seen the great things about entering writing contests, are there any downsides? Here are a couple to keep in mind.

Fees can add up quick

The vast majority of writing contests charge submission fees in order to fund the prize money and pay the judges. While a single entry may not break the bank, the fees can start piling up if you’re entering quite a few. That’s why it’s important to selectively choose the writing contests that look the most promising (more on that below).

The rejection rate is high

Because writing contests have a big payout, there can be thousands of entries all competing for one prize. This means that the acceptance rate can be something like 0.0001% — even lower than the most prestigious literary journals. In the writing contest game, a thick skin is essential.

How to choose the right contest for your writing

With so many writing contests out there, how do you find the right one for you? Check out these key tips.

Find the fee to prize ratio

Just like publishers, not all writing contests are trustworthy. A quick and easy way to suss out the validity of a contest is to calculate the fee to prize ratio.

There’s no hard and fast rule, but 1:100 is a good general guideline. This means that if a contest is charging $30 to enter, the grand prize should be somewhere around $3,000. If the grand prize is $500, the entry fee shouldn’t be much more than $5.

If a contest is offering $100 for a $25 entry fee, chances are they’re just trying to make some quick money off aspiring writers.

Look at who’s judging

Then, check who’s in charge of choosing the winners. They should be accomplished in their field — short fiction, poetry, novels, or creative nonfiction. Ideally, they should be someone who writes in a similar genre to you.

The judge also plays a role in how respected this contest is in the literary world. If the judge is an unknown literary magazine editor — or worse, not specified at all — even a winning entry may not hold much sway among publishers.

Review the past winners

Reputable writing contests will publish the names of authors who have won or been shortlisted in previous years. See if those writers have a similar style to you, and what sort of topics have been favoured in the past. This can help you determine if your work is a likely contender.

Run a quick background check

Finally, do a google search on the contest to see what sort of media coverage the winners have received. Major contests will often be featured in national newspapers, and the winners may go on to receive prominent publishing deals.

Also keep an eye out for any negative experiences entrants may have shared, like running into dishonest contracts or not being paid when they were supposed to.

Now, go forth and show those judges what you’re made of.