Hello again,
Once again coming to you on a Friday with a fresh round-up of this month’s opportunities.
Other than the usual disclaimers (if no pay is mentioned there probably isn’t any; inclusion in the listing is based on what takes my fancy) I haven’t much to say this month.
But I am hoping to put down a few thoughts on a writing topic and send it out soon. For those who are new, I do occasionally put together newsletters about some aspect of the writing or submitting process. You can read some previous ones here and here.
Alright, let’s take a look at the line-up.
Closing soon
Galley Beggar Press’s women-only submissions window closes 10 November. Apologies for the lack of notice on this one, it went under my radar! If you haven’t heard of Galley Beggar, you’ll want to familiarise yourself with their esoteric offering before submitting.
The deadline for the Columbia Journal’s print competition is 14 November. It costs $15 to enter any of the fiction, non-fiction or translation categories, with a top prize of $400.
Back again for another year, freelancing website ServiceScape runs a Short Story Award which is free to enter and has a top prize of $1,000 AUD. Entries close on 30 November. Any genre is fine, but here’s last year’s winner about the internal world of an autonomous vacuum cleaner, to give you a taste.
Fantasy podcast PodCastle is open again for new stories. Successful writers are paid at 8 cents a word, or $100 for reprints.
Free submissions are open at The London Magazine until the end of the month.
In additional to its general submissions, The Baltimore Review has a couple of Winter contests running too. Both close at the end of the month. Non-contest selected works are paid at $50, while the contest costs $8 to enter and has a $400 prize. All the details of both are here.
Here’s a free short story contest from the The Hudson Review which closes on 30 November. The top prize is $1,000, and all entries will be considered for publication at the magazine’s normal rates.
There’s an open call over at Dismantle Magazine at the moment, until 30 November. Successful authors receive $100. Prose-wise, it’s mostly essays.
Superpresent Magazine seeks work on the theme ‘Provocations/Instigations’ for its Winter 2024 issue. Submit by 1 December.
Queer and trans writers with something to say about the Rocky Horror Picture Show, submit an essay to this new anthology on the subject, Absolute Pleasure, to be published by Feminist Press. Pay is 8 cents a word for successful submissions.
MonthsToYears, a digital journal about grief and death, has an open call until 1 December. This one does not publish fiction, and is instead looking for essay, memoir, journalism, or whatever non-fiction form your story takes.
The publication of the Randolph College creative writing MFA, Revolute, is accepting submissions until 8 December. Fiction, non-fiction and ‘microreviews’ are all welcome, and published work is paid at $50.
Open now
I’m always intrigued by the idea of The Muse, an interdisciplinary medical humanities journal. If you have a piece of writing that relates to health or medicine, have a look at sending it in for issue 17.
Any writer worldwide can enter the Glencairn Glass Crime Short Story Competition, but the story must be set in Scotland. It’s free and the top prize is £1,000, along with a very fine set of whisky glasses.
Submissions are currently open at The Lincoln Review, which takes creative non-fiction and flash among other things.
Oh boy! If you can come up with a quantum physics-inspired piece of flash fiction, enter the Quantum Shorts contest. It’s free and has a top prize of $1,500. Read the rules, which include a phrase you must include, as well as resources on quantum physics here.
The theme of the Writers & Artists Short Story Competition 2024 has been announced and it’s ‘risk’. Entries are due by mid-February and it’s free to enter. You don’t have to be from the UK but the prize is a UK-based writing retreat.
You have until the end of January to enter the London Independent Story Prize with either flash or short fiction, but do note that the entry fee goes up every few weeks. Right now we’re still in early bird phase, £6.50 for flash and £10.50 for a short story. I couldn’t find up-to-date info on the prize, but in previous years it’s been a £100 jackpot and a subscription to Mslexia.
All writers can enter the Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition. It costs £18 and has a top prize of £500, along with tickets for CrimeFest.
Opening soon
Swansea University’s Rhys Davies Short Story Competition will open for entries on 9 November. In previous years it has cost about £8 to submit with a £1,000 top prize as well as runner-up slots and publication in an anthology. This contest is for writers from Wales or living there.
Fiction submissions should open this month at Irish journal Channel.
And fellow Irish publication The Stinging Fly has its next reading period from 13 November.
In case you want to get on top of things early, the Bridport Prize will reopen for entries across its flash, story and novel categories in mid-November. It usually then closes at the end of May.
Submissions for the Winter issue of Beaver Magazine will be open from 15 November.
The Edinburgh Short Story Award is open again from 1 December, and accepts entries from writers anywhere in the world. It costs £10 and has a top prize of £3,000.
Century-old lit mag Southwest Review will open for submissions on 1 December, for two weeks. Not clear if there will be submission fees; selected writers are paid.