NO ENTRY FEE Application Deadlines :  Quarterly – 31 December, 31 March, 30 June and 30 September The L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest – Grand Prize is $5,000.00 – also quarterly prizes  (now in it’s 30th year) Worldwide competition – no age requirements: The winners are published in the now famous anthology. We have launched the careers of 12 New York Times Bestselling authors. Also fly all yearly...

Humorous Poetry Competition 1st Prize: £150.00 2nd Prize: £100.00 3rd Prize: £75.00 Closing date:  21st August 2013 Entry fee: £2.50 Enjoy writing poetry? Fancy writing something a little humorous to cheer us all up? Your poem can be about absolutely anything as long as it is amusing and importantly, it can be written in any style. Maximum 40 lines Must be original and previously unpublished Must be written in English. Email:...

Oh, Baby! Deadline: October 14, 2013. For an upcoming anthology–tentatively entitled, Oh, Baby: True Stories About Tiny Humans–In Fact Books is seeking new essays about all things related to babies. We want well-written, true narratives about the art and science/wonder and struggle of birth, babyhood, and childrearing. Whether it’s about adopting them or making them, raising them or ‘sitting them, loving them or fearing...

Deadline: November 1, 2013 For an upcoming issue, Creative Nonfiction is seeking new essays about mistakes—major or minor, tragic or serendipitous, funny or painful. We’re looking for stories about poor decisions, missteps, or miscalculations; we want to read about embarrassing boo-boos, dangerous misjudgments, or fortuitous faux pas in well-crafted stories that explore the nature and outcomes of human fallibility. Essays must be vivid and...

The Earth Vision nature writing contest is for writers of short fiction, short creative non-fiction, poetic prose, or poetry, with a theme that celebrates the natural environment. First prize is $500. Two second prizes are $100. The competition was not held in 2012. Entries for the 2013 competition close November 1, 2013. Entry fee is $15. Entries can be made by going to http://www.heijira.com/earthvision Entry rules are at...

NO ENTRY FEE The contest is open to any professional or non-professional writer, regardless of nationality, who has never been the author of a published mystery. All manuscripts submitted must be original works of book length (no less than 220 typewritten pages or approximately 60,000 words) written in the English language by the contestants. Murder or another serious crime or crimes is at the heart of the story, and emphasis is on the solution...