Founded in 1887, The Writer is one of the nation’s oldest magazines about the craft of writing. As someone interested in the world of books, authors and writing, you will find plenty of useful material in every issue. Stories about star writers such as Aaron Sorkin and Elizabeth Strout, and craft stories written by leaders in the field such as Roy Peter Clark are the heart and soul of our work. We also have an ear tuned to emerging voices such as Taiye Selasi and Vaddey Ratner. Our how-to stories and profiles are informative, motivational and necessary to writers of all levels.
We encourage you to submit to the following contests in order to help hone your craft, gain inspiration and perhaps even win a prize. Please see each contest description for individual guidelines and deadlines. And visit The Writer for additional information and resources.
Submit your very best essay in 2,000 words or less. Any theme, subject, or genre is fair game, as long as it is nonfiction and falls under 2,000 words.
Deadline: February 28, 2023
Grand Prize: $1,000 and publication in our magazine, publication in a print issue of The Writer magazine, publication on our website writermag.com, and one (1) one-year VIP The Writer membership.
Second Place: $500, publication on writermag.com and one (1) one-year VIP The Writer membership.
Third Place: $250, publication on writermag.com and one (1) one-year VIP The Writer membership.
Word count: 2,000 words or less
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PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ ALL GUIDELINES BEFORE SUBMITTING!
Need some professional feedback on your writing this year? We're here to help.
Submit a work of fiction or nonfiction in either 5,000 words or less or 10,000 words or less to receive an in-depth, detailed critique from a member of our critique staff. Every critique will be roughly 400 words and contain professional feedback on what we loved about your work as well as what could perhaps use a little improvement.
Both fiction and nonfiction manuscripts are eligible for a critique. (Sorry, no poetry critiques are available at this time, although we hope to add them in the future.) The manuscript can contain short fiction, essays, or excerpts of a longer work. We can only accept submissions written in English. If submitting an excerpt of a longer work, we do strongly recommend submitting the first chapter or two from the manuscript versus a section from the middle or end. We want to provide you with the best possible critique of your work, and it's difficult to give valuable feedback on the ending or middle of a novel or memoir without knowing what plot or backstory preceded it.
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