October is here, and that means new short story contest deadlines are upon us (my apologies for the ones that are so upon us that they are essentially past us). Things really heat up in the fall, so you’ll doubtless notice this list is a little bit longer than in some of the past months.
Good luck everyone!
American Literary Review Award in Fiction
- Deadline: October 1
- Guidelines: 5,500 words or fewer
- Entry fee: $15
- First prize: $1,000
Boston Review Aura Estrada Short Story Contest
- Deadline: October 1
- Guidelines: 1,500 words or fewer
- Entry fee: $20
- First prize: $1,500
- Deadline: October 1
- Guidelines: 25 pages or fewer
- Entry fee: $20
- First prize: $5,000
Wilda Hearne Flash Fiction Contest
- Deadline: October 1
- Guidelines: 500 words or fewer
- Entry fee: $10
- First prize: $300
Zoetrop: All-Story Short Fiction Contest
- Deadline: October 1
- Guidelines: 5,000 words or fewer
- Entry fee: $20
- First prize: $1,000
- Deadline: October 10
- Guidelines: 5,000 words or fewer
- Entry fee: $17
- First prize: $1,250
- Deadline: October 15
- Guidelines: 25 pages or fewer
- Entry fee: $15
- First prize: $1,000
- Deadline: October 15
- Guidelines: No official length guideline
- Entry fee: $10 for first entry, $5 for subsequent entries
- First prize: $1,000
- Deadline: October 15
- Guidelines: 10 pages or fewer
- Entry fee: $25 for non members, $15 for members
- First prize: $500
- Deadline: October 26
- Guidelines: 5,500 words or fewer
- Entry fee: $15
- First prize: $1,000
- Deadline: October 30
- Guidelines: 15,000 words or fewer
- Entry fee: $20
- First prize: $3,000
- Deadline: October 31
- Guidelines: 8,000 words or fewer
- Entry fee: $20
- First prize: $1,000
I try to only include the most updated, highest-quality contests here. That said, if you know of a contest that should be on here and isn’t, by all means let me know and I’ll add it!
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