Writing Contests: Writing Competitions 2015

Writer's Digest sponsors several writing competitions annually. To read more about our competitions, see below.

The 12th Annual Short Short Story Competition is now accepting entries. Win valuable exposure for your your short fiction as well as cash and prizes. The names will appear in the July/August 2012 issue of Writer's Digest and the Competition Collection containing the top 25 stories will be published at that time.

Click here for guidelines and more information.

We are now accepting entries in the 7th Annual WD Poetry Awards. Regardless of style, we want to see your best poetry. Just make sure it is 32 lines or fewer. This is your chance to gain attention for your writing as well as win cash and prizes. Winners will be announce in the July/August 2012 issue of Writer's Digest and the top 50 will be published in a special Competition Collection.

Click here for more information and to enter your poetry.

Closed: 11/1/2010

Writer's Digest is no longer accepting entries in the Popular Fiction Awards. The Grand Prize-Winner will receive a trip to the Writer's Digest Conference in New York City, $2,500 cash, $100 worth of Writer's Digest Books and the 2011 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market.

We are no longer accepting entries in our 80th Annual Writing Competition. We will notify winners by October 21, 2011. Top winners will be named in our December issue. Winners will receive cash and prizes in 10 categories. 1,001 winners in all. One Grand Prize Winner will receive $3,000 cash and a trip to the Writer's Digest Conference in New York City.

Look for information about our 81st Annual Writing Competition in November 2011.

The top 10 winners in each category from the 79th Annual Competition are listed in the December 2010 issue of Writer's Digest. You can also check out the winners of the 79th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition here. 

Click for a full list of winners.

The 19th Annual Self-Published Book Awards final deadline was June 3, 2011. We are no longer accepting entries.

Winners will be notified by October 14, 2011 and will be announced in the March 2012 issue.

Every other month, Writer's Digest presents a creative challenge for fun and prizes. We'll provide a short, open-ended prompt. In turn, you'll submit a short story of 750 words or fewer based on that prompt. You can be funny, poignant, witty, etc.; it is, after all, your story. The winner will receive publication in an upcoming issue of Writer's Digest.

For rules, prompts, deadlines, voting and other details about the Your Story competition, visit:

Your Story

For past winners, visit:

Your Story Winners