Writing Contests

Writing is not only enjoyable, it can also be quite lucrative! Even if you never make the bestseller's list there are hundreds of writing contests available to enter with cash prizes, vacations, publication and aggressive marketing of your manuscript, and other prizes.  Check out the New Pages Writing Contests log to keep track of the latest contest opportunities.

Just a few of the current contests include:

Tupelo Press Dorset Prize
Deadline: December 31
$3,000 Cash award, publication, book launch, national distribution with energetic publicity and promotion. Final judge: Tom Sleigh; all finalists considered for publication. Results announced April 2012. Open to anyone writing in English, living in the U.S. or abroad, previously published or unpublished. Translations are not eligible. The contest is competitive. Submit a previously unpublished, full-length poetry manuscript, 48-88 pages (of poems). Include $28 reading fee, two cover pages (one with contact info), table of contents, and, if applicable, acknowledgments page. Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Multiple submissions are accepted. Read complete guidelines: www.tupelopress.org/dorset.php

Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival Fiction Contest.
Deadline: November 15, 2011
Original short story, up to 7,000 words. Judge: Amy Hempel. Prize: $1500, airfare, French Quarter accommodations, VIP Festival pass ($500 value), publication in Louisiana Literature, reading at 2012 Festival (March 21-25). Deadline: 11/15/11. Entry fee: $25 per submission. Unlimited entries per person. Fiction Contest, 938 Lafayette Street, Suite 514, New Orleans, LA, 70113. Guidelines and online submissions: tennesseewilliams.net/contests

2012 Colorado Prize for Poetry
Deadline: January 14, 2012
$2,000 honorarium and book publication. Submit book-length collection of poems to the Colorado Prize for Poetry by January 14, 2012. Final judge is Elizabeth Willis. $25 entry fee includes subscription to Colorado Review (to US addresses only). coloradoreview.colostate.edu/colorado-prize-for-poetry/

Indiana Genre Writing Groups

Did you know that there are several groups throughout Indiana for writers devoted to different genres?

• Indiana Christian Fiction Writers
• Indiana Horror Writers
• Indiana Poets
• Indiana Romantic Writers
• Indiana Young Writers

Mystery writers have their own national association, the Mystery Writers of America. For female mystery writers, you may want to check out Sisters In Crime.  Western fiction writers would do well to investigate Western Writers of America. Horror writers, in addition to having their own Indiana-based organization, also have a national group.  Science fiction and fantasy writers also have a national group, the SFWA.

Also local to Indiana is The Write Source Studio, located in Franklin, Indiana.

All of these resources offer opportunities to share and hone your craft with other writers who are interested in the exact kind of writing that you do.  Check them out!

The Writer's Center of Indiana

Have you visited the Writer's Center of Indiana website yet?  Their mission is to nurture a writing community, to support established and emerging writers, to improve written and verbal communication, and to develop an audience for literature in Indiana.

They offer classes taught by published writers in fiction, poetry, memoir, non-fiction and more.  Their annual Gathering of Writers and Readers features more than a dozen of Indiana's best writers in a day-long event.  It is coming up Saturday November 12, 2011 at the Indiana Landmarks Center.

The WCI offers E-Newsletters to spread the word about Writers' Center events, as well as other literary happenings.  They have an exstensive collection of recources for writers including information on writers workshops, colonies, conferences, and retreats, and advice on getting published.

The Writer's Center of Indiana website is located at www.indianawriters.org