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, instructive, 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 fictional short story in 2,000 words or less. Any theme, subject, or genre is fair game, as long as it falls under 2,000 words.
Deadline: December 8, 2020
Grand prize: $1,000 and publication in our magazine
Word count: 2,000 words or less
Other prizes: Our second-place winner will receive $500 and publication on our website, writermag.com; our third-place winner will receive $250 and publication on writermag.com as well.
Not the writing contest for you? Sign up for our newsletter to be the first to hear when we launch a new one.
PLEASE READ ALL GUIDELINES BEFORE SUBMITTING.
Read the contest guidelines here
Need some professional feedback on your writing this year? We're here to help.
Submit a work of fiction or nonfiction in 4,000 words or less to receive an in-depth, detailed critique from a member of our editorial 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 as long as the total word count is not more than 4,000 words. 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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