Writing Contests to Enter

Have you ever seen your name listed as a writing contest winner? Have you ever entered a writing contest? If you answered no to both these questions, take a moment and consider why.

1. Do you feel overwhelmed at the thought of competition?

2. Is your self-confidence level lower than you'd like?

3. Are you just plain afraid to enter a writing contest?

4. Do the entry fees hold you back? 

5. Would you like to enter and win?

6. Do you not care about entering writing contests at all? 

If you don't enter, you can't win. Plain and simple. But step 1 is finding writing contests to enter. I can help in that respect. I have three contests for you to consider. 

1. The first one is from Blue Mountain Arts. Every so often, they run a contest looking for verses to use on their line of greeting cards. The present contest has a deadline of June 30th with prizes of $300, $150 and $50. There is no entry fee. Check out the guidelines and submission form page. 

2. The Northern Colorado Writers have a contest open to Personal Essay/Creative Nonfiction and Poetry with a June 30 deadline. You can be as wordy as you like here as the word count runs all the way to 5,000 words. The entry fee is $20 which seems steep but the prize money warrants it. The three top prizes are $1,000, $250, and $100. Check details here. You do NOT have to be a member of this group to enter.

3.  This one is for Kansas writers only. I'm including it as I have a good many Kansas readers. The Kansas Authors Club has an annual contest for members and nonmembers. Entry fee is slightly higher for nonmembers. Go to the website and click on Contests on left side of Home Page. Be sure to follow guidelines as they are pretty specific. 

I have no affiliation with any of these contests, other than the fact that I am a member of Kansas Authors Club. I am simply giving information on the three contests listed.

Use a search engine like google to find lots of contests. Specify 2015 in your search or else you'll get contest info for ones long done. 

Give yourself enough time to write your entry and edit after it sits a few days. Then a few more days and a final edit. Check and double check the guidelines so your entry counts. It's really not much different from submitting to an editor. 

You have nothing to lose (except perhaps your entry fee, so look for no fee contests if you prefer) and everything to gain. Give serious consideration to entering a writing contest. Your chances of winning are as good as any other writer.