Gemini Magazine’s 2010 Short Story Contest

Ready to sharpen your story story writing skills? Take a look at the competition listed below.

Gemini Magazine, which bills itself as the place for “fiction, poetry, a little craziness & more”, is looking for entries for their 2010 Short Story Contest. The First Place winner will receive $1,000, Second Place gets $100,and there will be three honorable mentions.

They’re looking for all kinds of short fiction, such as novel excerpts, flash fiction, experimental, etc. There aren’t any restrictions on content, style, genre or length. There’s a fee of $4.00 for each entry you submit.

New and established writers can enter, and all finalists will be published in the June 2010 issue. Deadline for submissions is March 31, 2010.

Go to the magazine’s site here to check out the magazine and for additional contest guidelines. They accept both online and postal mail contest submissions.

Check it out and best of luck to all who enter!

Good Housekeeping's Short Story Contest

To celebrate Good Housekeeping’s 125th anniversary in 2010, editor in chief Rosemary Ellis announced the magazine’s first themed short story contest, focusing on the lives of women today. The breadth of challenges women face and the often heartbreaking decisions that affect their lives are the foundation of the books written by Good Housekeeping’s guest judge, award-winning author Jodi Picoult, whose novel My Sister’s Keeper was the inspiration for the new Cameron Diaz film.

Ellis, the editors of Good Housekeeping, and Picoult, who had her first two short stories published in a national magazine while still in college, will select one grand-prize winner and two runners-up. The grand-prize winner will receive $3,000 and the winning story will be featured in the May 2010 issue, the magazine’s special 125th anniversary issue. The runners-up will each receive $750, and their stories will be featured on goodhousekeeping.com.

From J.D. Salinger to Daphne DuMaurier, Good Housekeeping has always featured well-known writers. Regular contributors to the magazine have included Ray Bradbury, John Cheever, and Rona Jaffe. More recently, Good Housekeeping’s fiction pages have featured the work of Nicholas Sparks, Maeve Binchy, Allegra Goodman, Jennifer Weiner, Elinor Lipman, Ann Hood, and this year’s guest judge, Jodi Picoult.

“Literature has always been an integral part of Good Housekeeping,” said Ellis. “We’ve discovered and published stories by some of the best-loved and bestselling authors of all time and we are honored to have the extraordinarily accomplished Jodi Picoult help us select our winners.”

"It is very exciting to be able to read the work of budding writers and to see who might be the next generation of authors to entertain us,” said Picoult.

Readers 21 and older can submit their short stories of 3,500 words or less, focusing on the lives of women today at www.goodhousekeeping.com/shortstory. Submissions must be original, not a previously published work or finalist for any other prize or award. All entries must be received by September 15, 2009, winners will be notified in December 2009.

WordClay Short Story Anthology Contest - No Entry fee!

Website: www.wordclay.com

Deadline: May 31, 2008 (11:59 PM ET)
No Entry Fee

Prizes:

Grand Prize Winner: A check for $500; A printed and bound copy of the published Anthology of the top 15 stories

One Runner-Up: A check for $250; A printed and bound copy of the published Anthology of the top 15 stories

Fifteen Short Story Anthology Finalists: A Printed and bound copy of the published Anthology of the top 15 short stories

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How to Enter:

Step 1: Participants need to register here. By registering, you ensure that WordClay will be able to contact you if you win prizes or are selected as a finalist.

Step 2: Email your short story and cover letter to contests@wordclay.com as separate attachments, in MS Word files. Up to three entries per contestant.

Maximum Length: 5,000 words

Please see the full guidelines of how to format your entry:
https://www.wordclay.com/promopages/shortstorycontest.aspx

• There are no entry fees, no subsidy payments and no purchases of any kind required to enter and/or win the contest.
• There are no previous publishing requirements required to enter this contest.
• Entries are judged on the basis of originality, creative imagination, characterization, artistic quality and the adherence to length limitations. All decisions by the judges are final.
• Each writer retains the copyright to his or her work.

Finalist Judges can be seen here.

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Check it out ladies! It's free to enter, so why not give it a shot?
Visit: https://www.wordclay.com/promopages/shortstorycontest.aspx for complete guidelines. And good luck!

Last Call Contests! From Winning Writers

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest:

Postmark Deadline: March 31
Now in its 16th year. Prizes of $2,000, $1,000, $500 and $250 will be awarded, plus five High Distinction awards of $200 each and five Most Highly Commended Awards of $100 each. Submit any type of short story, essay or other work of prose, up to 5,000 words. You may submit work that has been published or won prizes elsewhere, as long as you own the online publication rights. $12 entry fee. Submit online or by mail. Winning Writers is assisting with entry handling for this contest. Judges: John H. Reid and Dee C. Konrad. See the complete guidelines and past winners.

Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest - No Fee:

Online Submission Deadline: April 1
Winning Writers invites you to enter the seventh annual Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. Fifteen cash prizes totaling $3,336.40 will be awarded, including a top prize of $1,359. There is no fee to enter. Judge: Jendi Reiter. See the complete guidelines and past winners.