Ready to publish your work, but need credentials to find an agent?  The Florida Writer’s Association will help you.

Enter the Royal Palm Literary Awards Competition for the chance to place within your chosen genre.  If your work is unpublished, an RPLA award will bolster your first impression with agents and publishers.  If your work is published, an RPLA first-place sticker adhered to your book cover will solidify your recognition as a writer.

Wishing your manuscript had an extra edge, but you don’t know how to move forward?  All entries receive written feedback by writing professionals with a goal to make your work publish-worthy.

Visit www.floridawriters.net to find the RPLA Entry Package.  Published works are judged separately from unpublished manuscripts.  Submit your entries by the end of April to receive $20 off the regular $50 entry fee. Submit by the end of May to receive $10 off.  The competition closes July 16.

You can do it.  Start today.

Janie Bill
2010 Conference Director
Florida Writer’s Association

“Go for the Gold”

 

Budding sci fi and fantasy authors boost their careers.  

 Enter your 17,000 word or less story in the Writers of the Future quarterly writing competitions and expand your universe.

Additional information is at http://www.writersofthefuture.com.  

Mystery Writers Get Rewarded 

Whether it is your first crime novel, a traditional mystery, a private eye story, or already published, this is the place to enter a contest and gain industry recognition.  St. Martin’s Press offers a commercial publication to the winner of its Malice Domestic Contest.  Go to:  www.macmillian.com

Unpublished romantics acknowledge your feelings!

The Romance Writer’s of America holds an annual writing competition beginning in September for complete manuscripts that fit within one of their ten categories.  A great avenue for getting your manuscript noticed.  Learn more details at www.rwanational.org.

The Family History Writing Contest

by National Geographic Society

Submission deadline is December 31.  Cover three generations of your family history.

• The person who compiles the most outstanding family history will receive an expense-paid trip to the next NGS Family History Conference. The benefits include travel to and from the conference, hotel accommodations, conference registration fee, and a complimentary banquet ticket.
• Manuscripts meeting the requirements will be submitted to the editors of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ) for consideration and will be placed in the NGS Library.

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/family_history_writing_contest

The International Society of Family History Writers and Editors sponsors an annual “Excellence in Writing” competition to recognize excellence in genealogical columns and articles. The contest is open to both published and unpublished authors.

The contest begins 1 October. There is a discount on the entry fee for submission before 30 November. Entries must be received by the coordinator no later than 31 December. Entries must be mailed in time to make this deadline.

Category I – Columns.  This is for columns published on a regular basis, in any medium, within the past year.  Entries must be shorter than 1,000 words. 

Category II – Articles. These articles must have been published in 2010 in a journal, magazine, newsletter, or web site. Entries cannot exceed 5,000 words.

Category III – Genealogy Research Story. This category is for original, unpublished articles between 1,000 and 3,000 words. The articles should focus on telling the story of genealogical research using one of these topics: “The Search for <ancestor’s name or nickname>,” “Sorting Out the Entangled Roots of., (ancestors name ” or ” Encounters with a Family Skeleton.”

Category IV – Want-to-be Writer/Columnist. Entrants in this category aspire to be writers or columnists in the field of genealogy/family or local history. The submissions in this category are original and unpublished, between 500 and 1,000 words.

Category V – Unpublished material by published author. This category is for original article by previously published authors. The subject should be genealogically-related but not one of the subjects in Category III. Entries should be between 500 and 3,000 words.

http://isfhwe.org/docs/2011_Excellence_Announce.pdf

Victorian Writers Centre

• the VWC member magazine, *Victorian Writer*. The Victorian Writer includes at least 2 pages of current writing competition closing dates, with entry guidelines, pricing, word limits and contact details.
• the VWC member e-bulletin. The VWC e-bulletin is sent out to members weekly. This e-bulletin includes competition opening dates, plus a reminder for competitions closing that week. Any competition information that missing the publishing date for the Victorian Writer will be included in the e-bulletin.
• the Australian Writer’s Marketplace. This essential writer’s resource includes a list of competitions and major prizes each year.

http://vwc.org.au/writing/competitions

For published and aspiring writers alike – enter the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2011 short story competition and you could win:

• a cash prize of £500
• a place on an Arvon Foundation residential writing course of your choice*
• publication of your story on the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook website

We’re offering you the chance to win £500, plus a place on an Arvon residential writing course of your choice! All you have to do is enter a short story (for adults) of no more than 2,000 words, on the theme of ‘compulsion’ and email it to competition@acblack.com with ‘WAYB11 competition’ as the subject line.

The closing date is in February.

http://www.writersandartists.co.uk/short-story-competition-2011/