By Jennifer Blanchard
By now you’ve probably made your writing goals for the year—write your novel or publish a poem, etc. One of the best ways to avoid/reduce your procrastination is to have a goal to work towards (finishing your novel, getting something published, winning a contest). When you have something to work toward, you won’t slack off as much, especially if what you’re working toward has a set deadline.
To help get you started (and give you the push you need), here are some contests that are coming up:
- 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award—Sponsored by Amazon.com, Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace, this contest is in its second year and “brings together talented writers, reviewers and publishing experts to find and develop new voices in fiction,” according to site. From Feb. 2 to Feb. 8 (or until 10,000 manuscripts have been received) you can submit your original, unpublished, fictional, English-language manuscript for a chance to win a $25,000 publishing contract with Penguin. Visit the site for official rules.
- Poets and Writers magazine—Poets and Writers always has the 4-1-1 on the best grants and awards available to writers. For a listing of contests, visit the site.
- Writers Digest magazine—Writers Digest has plenty of contests going on as well. They have contests in all categories: poetry, fiction, memoir, self-published books, etc. Visit their competitions page for more information.
Check out these contests. Though the competition is likely pretty fierce (after all, these are nation-wide contests), they’re also a great way to get your feet wet when it comes to the publishing industry (or being rejected…sorry, but this is a reality of trying to publish your writing).
Have you ever entered a writing competition before? If yes, how did it work out for you? What was your experience like? If no, are you thinking about submitting to any contests this year?
