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

Writer's Digest 10th Annual Short Short Story Writing Competition 

Deadline: 12/1/2009

We're looking for fiction that's bold, brilliant...but brief.

Send us your best in 1,500 words or fewer.  Enter the 10th Annual Short Short Story Competition for your chance to win BIG $$$$ - including the $3000 First Prize!  

Click here to enter or for additional information. 

Writer's Digest 9th Annual Short Short Story Writing Competition

Look for the winners of the 9th Annual Short Short Story Competition in the May/June 2009 issue of Writer's Digest.

Writer's Digest Poetry Awards Competition

Deadline: 12/15/2009

Enter the 5th Annual Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards Competition - the only Writer's Digest competition exclusively for poets! Regardless of style - rhyming, free verse, haiku and more - if your poems are 32 lines or fewer, we want them all. Click for more details or to enter online!

Winners will be notified in March 2010 and will be announced in the August 2010 issue of Writer’s Digest.

PLUS, it is not too late to order the new 2008 Competition Collection. The 1st- through 50th-place poems are printed in this special competition collection, published by Lulu.com.

Writer's Digest 79th Annual Writing Competition

We are now accepting entries.  Don't miss your chance to enter and win in 10 categories.  We are awarding more than $30,000 in cash and prizes.  Click here for complete guidelines and to enter online.

The top 10 winners in each category from the 78th Annual Competition is listed in the December 2009 issue of Writer's Digest. You can also check out the winners of the 78th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition here. 

Click for a full list of winners.

78th Annual Writer's Digest WRITING COMPETITION COLLECTION Sponsored by

Outskirts Press

The Grand Prize manuscript, the First Place manuscript in each category, and the names of the top 100 winners in each category will be printed in a special competition collection, published by Outskirts Press. Purchase a copy online. (Publication date: November 2009.)

The Writer's Digest International Self-Published Book Awards

The 18th Annual Self-Published Book Awards is now accepting entries.We are giving away more than $17,000 in cash and prizes.  Don't miss the opportunity to enter the only competition exclusively for self-published books.  New for 2010-We are now accepting e-books.

Click here for details and to enter online

Thank you to all of the participants in the 17th Annual competition.  Winners have been notified and the results will appear in the March/April 2010 issue of Writer's Digest. 

Writer's Digest Pop Fiction Awards

Deadline: 11/2/2009

Writer's Digest is no longer accepting entries in the Pop Fiction Awards. Winners will be notified by March 1, 20101.  Thanks to all of our participants.

Your Story

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