CONTESTS...

Denouncing contests from your writing repertoire is like discounting an entire genre or refusing to eat yellow vegetables. You're giving up something valuable. Competitions provide steps up for a writer - especially a struggling writer. A portfolio with a few contest wins or honorable mentions means more than many clips. Can't afford the entry fees? Consider entering one a quarter or something more amiable to your pocketbook. Contests provide prizes, prestige and usually publication with many offering book contracts.

Robin Hewitt, co-author of "The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting"  http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781578262670 - and - www.HewittsBooks.com

(Find 20+ contests like this in TOTAL FundsforWriters every two weeks. This list is just a sample of what you receive in the newsletters.) In the meantime, sign up for our free newsletters below. 

 MICHAEL MARKS AWARD FOR POETRY PAMPHLETS
http://www.poetrybookshoponline.com/pamphlets.php
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NO ENTRY FEE
The Michael Marks Poetry Award recognises a single outstanding work of poetry published in pamphlet form in the UK during
2009. The Michael Marks Publishers’ Award recognises an outstanding UK publisher of poetry in pamphlet form, based on  their 2009 publishing programme. There will be two awards worth £5,000 each. All submissions, including pamphlets and completed
entry forms, must be received at the Poetry Book Society office by 5pm on Friday 12 March 2010.

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ALABAMA WRITERS' CONCLAVE 2010 WRITING COMPETITION
http://www.alabamawritersconclave.com/contests.html
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$3 to $12 ENTRY FEE DEPENDING ON CATEGORY
Deadline: April 20, 2010 (postmark). Prizes: 1st: $100; 2nd: $75; 3rd: $50; 4th: $25 and up to 4 Honorable Mentions in each
category.

Fiction - maximum 2,500 words.
Short Fiction - maximum 1,000 words.
Juvenile Fiction (stories for ages 4-12) - maximum 2,500 words. MUST LIST GENRE AND TARGETED AGE GROUP (i.e. picture book, 3 & up).
Nonfiction - maximum 2,500 words (PLEASE SPECIFY IF WRITTEN FOR ADULT OR CHILDREN).
Humor (fiction, nonfiction, or poetry) - maximum 2,000 words or 50 lines (for poems).
Traditional Poem (any "form" poem, i.e. villanelle, sonnet, sestina) - maximum 40 lines.
Free Verse Poem - maximum 60 lines.
First Chapter of Novel - up to 10 pages, first chapter ONLY.

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TIFERET POETRY CONTEST
http://tiferetjournal.com/2010/01/01/enter-the-2010-tiferet-poetry-contest-500-first-prize/
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$5 ENTRY FEE (limit 10)
TIFERET: A Journal of Spiritual Literature offers an award of $500 for a poem that invokes the sacred. We publish writing from a variety of spiritual and religious traditions. Our mission is to help reveal spirit through the written word and to promote peace in the individual and the world. Unpublished poems in English must be received through our online Submissions Manager by April 1, 2010. First prize: $500 and publication in TIFERET. Three Honorable Mention Prizes will receive publication on website.

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 LEAPFROG 2010 FICTION CONTEST
http://www.www.leapfrogpress.com
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ENTRY FEE
$30 for adult literary fiction
$20 children’s fiction.

Opens January 15, 2010. Deadline May 1, 2010. Adult fiction: literary novels, novellas, and short-story collections, minimum 22,000 words. Children's fiction: middle-grade and YA novels, minimum length 20,000 words. No picture books. First prize: Publication contract offer with advance, plus finalist awards, for one book in each category. Finalists: $150 plus manuscript critique by finalist judges. Judges are Marge Piercy (adult fiction) and the Leapfrog editorial staff. Children's fiction finalist judge TBA.

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THE AMERICAN POETRY JOURNAL BOOK PRIZE
http://home.comcast.net/~jpdancingbear/dhpcontests.html
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$25 ENTRY FEE
Deadline February 28, 2010. Submit 50-65 pages of poetry. Winner receives $1,000, publication and 20 copies. All entries
considered for publication. All styles welcome.

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WOODWARD/NEWMAN DRAMA AWARD
http://newplays.org/cmsms/for-artists/submissions/woodward-newman-drama-award
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$10 ENTRY FEE
The Woodward/Newman Drama Award is an exclusive honor offered by Bloomington Playwrights Project, in partnership with Joanne Woodward, remembering the many great dramas she and Paul Newman performed in together. It presents the best unpublished full-length drama of the year with a prize of $3,000 and a full production as part of the BPP's 2010-11 Mainstage season. "Full-length" plays will have a complete running time of between 1 hour 15 minutes (75 minutes) to 2 hours 30 minutes (150 minutes). Deadline March 1, 2010. Agent submissions require no fee. The fee will be waived for Dramatist Guild members with an enclosed photocopy of a membership card. Each winning play receives a staged reading early in the development process.

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BUXTON POETRY COMPETITION
http://www.derby.ac.uk/buxtonpoetrycompetition
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The cost to submit a poem is £5. Entries to the young people’s and children’s categories are free. This year's theme is "A
Breath of Fresh Air". Poets of all ages are welcome to enter - there are three categories:

Open Poetry for poets 19 and over, Young People's for budding poets between 12 and 18, Children's Poetry for the 11 and unders.

Five finalists from each category will be selected by a panel of judges. The first three winners from the Open Category will receive a cash prize (£300, £200, £100). The first three winners from the Young People's and Children's categories will receive
Waterstone's book tokens. The 15 finalists will have their work exhibited in the Devonshire Dome during Buxton Festival 2010 as
well as being announced in the local media and listed on the University and Festival's website. The three first-place poems will be published in the 2010 Buxton Festival programme. The 15 finalists will be invited to an Awards Event at the Devonshire Dome during Buxton Festival 2010. The three first-place poets will have an opportunity to read their poems at the Awards Event. Deadline April 1, 2010. Poems must not exceed 40 lines.

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THE SOUTH CAROLINA REVIEW POETRY CONTEST
http://www.clemson.edu/caah/cedp/cudp/writers_nook/writers_nook.htm
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ENTRY FEE
One winning poem will be awarded $500, and two runners-up will receive $100 and $50, respectively. Winning poems and selected finalists will be published in the Fall 2010 issue. Entries must be original, unpublished, and not have won a monetary
award in other contests. Deadline March 15, 2010. A $20 entry fee (checks payable to the Clemson University Foundation with “SCR Poetry Contest” on the memo-line) covers the cost of up to four poems (ten pages maximum).

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 FAILBETTER NOVELLA CONTEST
http://www.failbetter.com/Novella.php
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NO ENTRY FEE
Deadline May 15, 2010. Prize $500. One entry allowed per person. Stories must be at least 8,000 words but less than a novel. Send only the first 5,000 words. All entries will be considered for publication.

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NOTE: See more contests by joining our newsletters.  FundsforWriters offers 3 contests of this caliber per week. TOTAL FundsforWriters offers 20 contests like this biweekly. We can keep you loaded with contests without you looking anywhere else! And these are not scams.

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