After our recent session at the Ozark Creative Writers Conference, I was asked how to find contests to enter. If you do a quick Google search, there are lots of contests out there. But some are ridiculously expensive and some are scams. Always investigate a contest if it’s not from a group you are familiar with. I prefer to look for contests that are part of a conference, especially a conference we plan to attend. That’s one way to know the contests are legitimate. Another way to find legitimate contests is to ask writing friends, or people you meet at conferences, if they can recommend any.
Beware of the trick where you ‘win’ a contest, and your work was so impressive they want to publish it, all you have to do is pay for editing, cover design, etc. That’s a scam, and everyone who entered gets the same proposal.
I look for contests with reasonable entry fees. I understand that reasonable is relative, but one thing to consider is the size of the prizes in comparison to the cost of entry. I don’t want to spend $50 for a chance to win $100. There are free contests out there, but there will probably be many entries for those, and they may be suspect. Be sure to check and see if they are sponsored by a legitimate magazine or group.
Also consider the scope of the contest. For example, a national magazine like Writers Digest has a huge audience, so there are likely to be many entries and large prizes. I would only consider entering those types of contests with a piece that I am confident about. Once a piece has done well in smaller, regional contests, and has won a little bit of money, I might be confident enough to pay the larger entry fee and submit to a larger platform.
Here is a list of contests that I know are legitimate:
White County Creative Writers Conference https://whitecountycreativewriters.org/
Ozark Creative Writers Conference https://www.ozarkcreativewriters.com/
Ozark Writers league (OWL) https://www.ozarkswritersleague.com/
Between the Pages Writers Conference https://btpwriterscon.com/
Alabama Writers Cooperative https://alabamawriterscooperative.org/2024-contests
Oklahoma Writers Federation https://www.owfi.org/contest
National Federation of State Poetry Societies https://www.nfsps.com/
Writers Digest https://www.writersdigest.com/wd-competitions
I’m sure there are many more, and I hope you will share any others you know about in the comments. (Some of these require membership in their organization, some require you to attend their event. Be sure to check all requirements and guidelines.)
I hope this list helps you find more outlets for your creative works.
Keep writing!
Thanks, Kim. Good list.