There are positive and negative facets of entering writing competitions. If you win, you will gain publicity, win cash prizes, get a free trip to a writing conference and/or find a few other doors opened along the way. The only downside is that you might lose, and depending on your fortitude, it just might crush you. You have to decide for yourself if you are willing to take that risk.
Many competitions include written feedback from the judges. This information can be priceless and can help you improve your book. Some competitions allow you to choose a very specific category, which increase your chances of placing. The Selah Press book, Puffy & Blue: The Chronicles of Nine Lives Together, was the 2015 International Book Awards winner in the animal/pet narrative category. That is a very specific classification, which this book fit exactly within.
Many book competitions have a fee and specific deadline associated with entering. The deadline can be a great motivator to put you on course to finish your book in time to enter. I have been both a contestant and a judge in writing competitions. I find that the process is a win/win for everyone involved, but read all the small print, weigh the costs of the fee and make an educated decision that is best for your business. I have included an extensive list of writing competitions below. Some are for books, eBooks, poetry, short stories and so forth. Look each over closely and takes notes that include the deadline for each as you do your research.
Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize
Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award
Amy Writing Awards
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Axiom Business Book Awards
Beverly Hills Book Awards
Book Pipeline Awards
Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize
Colorado Independent Book Awards
Digital Book Awards
Drue Heinz Literature Prize
eLit Awards
Eric Hoffer Award
Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence
FAPA President’s Award
Foreword Reviews Awards
Friends of America Writers Chicago Literature Award
Friends of American Writers Chicago Young People’s Literature Awards
Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry
Global Book Awards
Gray Wolf Press Nonfiction Prize
Green Book Festival
Hektoen International
Hollywood Book Festival
IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards
Illumination Book Awards
Independent Publishers Book Awards
Indie Book Awards
Indie Reader Discovery Awards
International Book Awards
Independent Publisher Book Awards
James Laughlin Award
John Gardner Fiction Book Award
Kindle Book Awards
Living Now Book Awards
Marlene Awards
Milt Kessler Poetry Book Awards
Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards
Muse Medallion
National Award for Arts Writing
National Book Critics Awards
National Indie Awards
Nautilus Book Awards
Nelson Algren Short Story Award
New England Book Festival
New Voices Award
New York Book Festival
Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Paris Book Festival
PEN/Faulkner Award
Readers Favorite Awards
Real Simple’s Life Lessons Essay Contest
San Francisco Book Festival
Spark Creative Anthology
St. Francis College Literary Prize—Sfc.edu
St. Martin’s Minotaur/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel
Competition
Sarton Women’s Literary Awards
Stowe Prize
The Beach Book Festival
The Brunel University African Poetry Prize
The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets
The Tufts Poetry Awards—Cgu.edu
Writer’s Digest Writing Competitions
W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction
Unbound
Young Lions Fiction Award