Hello Internet,
Especially those of you who are of the writerly persuasion! I have found some interesting writing opportunities for people to have a go at. I will definitely be trying out for some of these and I will look forward to hearing if any of you do as well. I find these sorts of things a lot more helpful in prompting me to start writing than just the vague idea that there are places open for stories. I’m not sure if it is the introduction of a deadline or a prompt that I find more helpful, but either way it helps get me inspired and motivated to write.
The BBC National Short Story Award
Deadline – March 15th 2021
This opportunity is reserved for British residents and nationals over the age of 18 with a prior record of publications. The winner of this short story competition will get £15,000, with four other winners getting £600. All of the pieces will be performed on Radio 4 and will be published in an anthology.
Obviously the money for this one is fantastic, but the chance to have a piece performed on Radio 4 is not to be sniffed at either. According to media.info almost 11 million people listen to Radio 4 every week! So good luck and have fun writing!
Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing wants short stories for the Misspelled Anthology
Deadline – March 31st 2021
With half the publishing proceeds going to the Toys for Tots charity, Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing are looking for short stories based around the theme of “Misspelled.” These stories should be up to 7000 words long and should feature a magical mishap. The reward will be $50.
Improbably Press want short stories for the Cryptids Emerging Anthology
Deadline – May 1st 2021
The stories should be about Cryptids (strange creatures from mythology, both ancient and modern) who are “emerging” in some way or another. They are looking for short stories up to 5000 words and will pay 5 cents per word for original stories, or 3 cents per word for reprints.
I hope that these will get you writing and make you think of interesting new stories to scribble down. Please let me know if you go for any of these, I always find it so gratifying when people get something out of the posts on this website. It makes it feel less like I am shouting into the void. The last year has been a bit slow for anthologies and submission requests, I think because people have had so much else to worry about that the usual organisers have been swept off their feet. But it feels good to be getting back into the swing of things with lots of anthologies looking for writers.
Anyway, I am off to do some writing and editing of my own. I have some big news coming in a few days and I want to make sure that I am all prepped for that. But leave a comment if any of these have tempted you into putting pen to paper or finger to keyboard or voice to microphone, or however you happen to tell stories.
Stay safe out there,
K