Write a Radio Play for Children - No Fee Contest

This just in...

THE PIG and THE TRACTOR' COMPETITION
OPEN TO ALL Writers!
NO ENTRY FEES
Competition Open June 15th to August 15th, 2011

You're probably a Film, TV or Documentary Writer; a Playwright or maybe even a Novelist, BUT....
Would you be interested in a very different, challenging NEW writing experience?

WRITERS - email for sign up instructions

This fun competition is open to ALL writers to write a short Radio Play Story script for children, ages 3-10. The Winning title is 'The Pig and The Tractor'.  The story is about a pig and a tractor. Use your own ideas and imagination to make this story idea come to life as a RADIO PLAY Script.

One CASH PURCHASE PRIZE to be awarded to the winning writer or writing team for the Winning 10 page Radio Play Script Radio Play Story Templates, instructions, entry forms and competition Rules and Regulations are supplied. Email to request sign up instructions

http://www.audiomoviesclub.com/competition.html
Young Children 3-10 years old

This fun competition is open to ALL writers to write a short Radio Play Story script for children, ages 3-10. The Winning title is 'The Pig and The Tractor'. The story is about a pig and a tractor. Use your own ideas and imagination to make this story idea come to life as a RADIO PLAY Script.

One cash purchase prize to be awarded to the winning writer or writing team for the Winning 10 page Radio Play Script.  Radio Play Story Templates, instructions, entry forms and competition Rules and Regulations are supplied.

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A few books on writing for radio, in case you're interested:
Writing for Radio: How to Write Plays, Features and Short Stories That Get You on Air (Successful writing)
Writing Dialogue for Scripts: Effective dialogue for film, tv, radio and stage (Writing Handbooks)
Radio comedy: how to write it: Including the mathematics of humorHow To Write a Radio Play
How to Write a Radio Serial Drama for Social Development: A Script Writer's Manual.
You Can Write: Techniques for Television, Radio, and the Theater. Gathering and Organizing Material for Fiction, Essays, Feature Articles and Newspaper Editorials.

Short short story contest (no fee): Shenandoah

As you may know, we no longer publish writing contests on this blog unless they have no fee. Here is a no-fee contest! Thank you, Shenandoah for not charging writers to submit their work.

The Bevel Summers Prize in the Short Short Story is open to all authors of stories of up to 1,000 words. Stories should be sent to Bevel Summers/Shenandoah, Mattingly House, 2 Lee Ave., Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA 24450 and must be received by March 31.

Send two copies, one with name and contact information, including e-mail address, and a duplicate with no identifying information, along with an sase for notification. The winner will receive a $250 prize and be featured prominently on Shenandoah's first online issue. There is no entry fee for the 2011 contest. A judge has not yet been selected.

Iowa Writers' Workshop No fee short story collection book contest

Website: http://uipress.uiowa.edu/authors/iowa-short-fiction.htm

Deadline: Sept. 30th, 2009

Type: No-Fee Contest

Reading Fee: N/A

Prize: Publication

Looking for: Collections of Short Stories

Accepts: Snail mail submissions only

From their site:

The Iowa Short Fiction Award & the John Simmons Short Fiction Award

Eligibility

Any writer who has not previously published a volume of prose fiction is eligible to enter the competition. Previously entered manuscripts that have been revised may be resubmitted. Writers are still eligible if they have published a volume of poetry or any work in a language other than English or if they have self-published a work in a small print run. Writers are still eligible if they are living abroad or are non-US citizens writing in English. Current University of Iowa students are not eligible.

Manuscript

The manuscript must be a collection of short stories in English of at least 150 word-processed, double-spaced pages. We do not accept e-mail submissions. The manuscript may include a cover page, contents page, etc., but these are not required. The author’s name can be on every page but this is not required. Stories previously published in periodicals are eligible for inclusion. There is no reading fee; please do not send cash, checks, or money orders. Reasonable care is taken, but we are not responsible for manuscripts lost in the mail or for the return of those not accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. We assume the author retains a copy of the manuscript. Publication Award-winning manuscripts will be published by the University of Iowa Press under the Press’s standard contract.

Submission

Manuscripts should be mailed to: Iowa Short Fiction Award
Iowa Writers’ Workshop
507 North Clinton Street
102 Dey House
Iowa City IA 52242-1000

No application forms are necessary. Entries for the competition should be postmarked between August 1 and September 30; packages must be postmarked by September 30. Announcement of the winners will be made early in the following year. Previous Winners

Potential entrants wishing to read stories by previous winners may order The Iowa Award: The Best Stories from Twenty Years and The Iowa Award: The Best Stories, 1991–2000, both selected by Frank Conroy.

Jerry Jazz Musician No Fee Fiction Contest

Deadline: September 30th, 2009

Website: http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/mainHTML.cfm?page=fictioncontest.html

Type: Contest

Entry Fee: No fee

Prize: $100

Looking for: Fiction that is original, previously unpublished work of approximately one - five thousand words.

Accepts: email submissions.

From their site:

Three times a year, Jerry Jazz Musician awards a writer who submits, in our opinion, the best original, previously unpublished work of approximately one - five thousand words. The winner will be announced via a special mailing of our Jerry Jazz Musician newsletter. Publishers, artists, musicians and interested readers are among those who subscribe to the newsletter. Additionally, the work will be published on the home page of Jerry Jazz Musician and featured there for at least four weeks.

The Jerry Jazz Musician reader has interests in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theatre, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-twentieth century America. Your writing should appeal to a reader with these characteristics.

Submit your Short Fiction Story to Esquire Mag - No fee

Winner gets $2500 and publication in Esquire Magazine
Bookfox has a superfly blog that we've fallen in love with, and he recently blogged about Esquire's new no-fee fiction contest, so we thought we'd pass it on [and why aren't you Tweeting, Bookfox? If you are, be sure to follow us].

Esquire's short story winner gets $2500 and publication in Esquire Magazine. What's the catch? You have to follow their rules, and of course, as purveyors of creative writing exercises and prompts, we're big fans of writing contests with interesting rules.

From Esquire.com:

"The first and most important rule — besides, of course, that the story has to be original — is that the story must be based on one of three titles that we have provided.

The titles are:

1. "Twenty-Ten"

2. "An Insurrection"

3. "Never, Ever Bring This Up Again"

A date, a thing, and a statement. No exceptions. Make of them what you will, do with them something great. But no taking an old story and slapping one of our new titles on it. We'll know, and we won't be happy.

Second rule: Your story cannot exceed 4,000 words. We are serious about that, too."

Submissions begin May 1st and the deadline is Midnight, August 1st, 2009.
Visit Esquire.com for more further details and to submit. Also check out Esquire's new online fiction 'zine.

No Fee Poetry Contest

Celebrating Greek and Roman mythology and Olympian Gods:

Editor/Contact Name : Victoria Grossack

Contact E-Mail : tapestryofbronze@yahoo.com

Deadline Date : 30-Apr-2009

Publication Type : Internet/Website

URL : Odes to Olympians at Tapestry of Bronze

Genre(s) : Poetry

Details : The Tapestry of Bronze is sponsoring a series of poetry contests to celebrate Greek and Roman mythology and the Olympian gods. The subject of the third contest is Poseidon (also known as Neptune), the Lord of the Oceans. The deadline is April 30, 2009. All poems remain the property of the authors. However, Tapestry of Bronze reserves the right to post winning poems and those receiving Honorable Mention on the Tapestry of Bronze website. Costs nothing to enter; $50 prize in two categories!

Glass Woman Prize No Fee Short Fiction Contest

Glass Woman Prize

Here is a no-fee contest (our favorite!) funded personally by Beate Sigriddaughter for you short fiction and creative non-fiction writers out there. From her site:

The Fifth Glass Woman Prize will be awarded for a work of short fiction or creative non-fiction (prose) written by a woman.

Length: between 50 and 5,000 words. The top prize for the fifth Glass Woman Prize award is US $700 and possible (but not obligatory) online publication; I will also award two runner up prizes of $100 each and one additional prize of $50, together with possible (but not obligatory) online publication. Subject is open, but must be of significance to women. My criterion is passion, excellence, and authenticity in the woman’s writing voice. Previously published work and simultaneous submissions are OK. Copyright is retained by the author. There is no reading fee.

Submission deadline: March 21, 2009 (receipt date; anything received after that date will be considered for a future prize).

Notification date: June 21, 2009.

Be sure to check the site for additional submission guidelines.

BBC International Radio Playwriting Competition

BBC World Service
International Radio Playwriting Competition
Deadline: March 31st

From their site:

The biennial International Radio Playwriting Competition is run by the BBC World Service and the British Council and is now in its eleventh year.

It is a competition for anyone resident outside Britain, to write a 60 minute radio drama for up to six characters.

There are two categories: one for writers with English as their first language and one for writers with English as their second language. The two winners will come to London and see their play made into a full radio production, which will then be broadcast on the BBC World Service. They will also each receive a $2,500 prize and there are also prizes for the runners up.

The play must be in English, unpublished and must not have been previously produced in any medium. Whether you're experienced, new, or somewhere in between, we want to hear from you.

Just check the Rules and How to Enter sections to find out more about sending us your play.

Feb 28: Chistell No-Fee Writing Contest

9th Annual Chistell Writing Contest Guidelines

Contest Begins: October 1, 2008

Contest Deadline: February 28, 2009

Theme based on Long Walk Up and Spiral: Courage

Entry Fee: None. No purchase necessary to enter contest

Age Limit: Must be 16 years or older to enter contest

Genres: Short story and poetry

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Grand Prize Short Story: $100.00

2nd Place Short Story: $50. 00

Grand Prize Poetry: $100.00

2nd Place Poetry: $50.00

Peoples from around the globe 16 years or older may enter the contest.
Pornographic, discriminatory nor hate related stories or poems will be accepted. Electronic submissions are preferred and encouraged. Entries should be submitted inside the body of an email (and not sent as attachments in order to avoid viruses) and sent to: soulfar@aol.com with 9th Annual Chistell Writing Contest Submission in the subject line of the email.

All submitted short stories and poems must be unpublished and under complete (100%) ownership to the author submitting the work.

No writer may submit the work of any other writer living or deceased.
Submitted short stories and poems must not be under consideration for publication by another editor or/and publisher at the time the short story or poem is submitted to the contest. Previous
winners in the Annual Chistell Writing Contest are not allowed to enter this years contest.

Winners will be announced in May 2009. A special page will be created at the Chistell website (http://www.chistell.com) to include the winning short stories and poems. In addition, a press release will be sent to global media informing them of the winning short stories and
poems.

All rights to all submitted short stories and poems remain with the writer submitting the work. At the conclusion of the contest, writers are encouraged to submit the work to other editors/publishers for publication.

It is our hope to help you advance and grow your writing career and to increase appreciation for reading, writing and literacy around the globe.

Share Your Stories Anonymously or Publicly, Win Prizes

FieldReport lets you record and share the true stories of your life, as publicly or anonymously as you like. Our blind community review process highlights our members' most intriguing stories, without regard to popularity or clicks. The highest-ranked stories in each of FieldReport's 20 subject categories win prizes in regular qualifying rounds, and go on to compete for grand prizes--including the world's largest prize for a single piece of writing and a $25,000 TeenReport scholarship. Membership and entry are free. Sign up now.

Website: www.fieldreport.com

Press Release about them:
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS122423+16-Jul-2008+PRN20080716

Article about them in the SF Chronicle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/09/22/moneytales.DTL

Franklin-Christoph No-Fee Poetry Contest ~

If you have two original, unpublished poems that are less than 100 words, why not send them to the Franklin-Christoph Free Poetry Contest? You may email your entries to clientservice(at)franklin-christoph(dot)com or snail mail (postmarked by the November 30th deadline) to: Franklin-Christoph Poetry Contest, 7511 Mourning Dove Rd, Suite 104, Raleigh, NC, 27615. In addition to seeing your work published Franklin-Christoph.com, prizes are:

• First Prize: $1000 cash
• 10 Merit Award Winners: $150 Franklin-Christoph writing instruments.

Winners will be announced by February 14, 2009.
Please go to their website for the rest of their contest rules and guidelines.

First Edition Publishing - No Fee Contest

First Edition Publishing - New Fiction, New Writers is currently looking for no-fee contest submissions for their monthly contest for possible publication in upcoming issues.

"Whether you've written a short story, poem, complete novel, script, play or book review we want to hear from you. We run a monthly competition in each of these categories that is completely FREE to enter. Our team of judges will pick the best each month, and we will publish a selection of them in the next available issue of First Edition Magazine. There are cash prizes for the very best in each category. No matter which category, if chosen you can boast that your work has been published and read by tens of thousands of people, and you may even win some cash if you're the very best!

Categories we are looking for:
# Short Stories
# Serialisations of Complete Novels
# Poetry and Prose
# Plays and Scripts
# Reader's Reviews"

Bantam Spectra No-Fee Short Fiction Contest

Bantam Spectra, a division of Random House, Inc., is holding a new no-fee short fiction contest for science fiction, fantasy, and horror writers:

"Presenting a new short fiction contest for unpublished writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

For its third edition of Spectra Pulse, Bantam Spectra is allowing unpublished writers to get their work featured alongside some of the most well-respected names in science fiction and fantasy.

One lucky winner will receive $100 and have his/her story published in the Summer 2009 issue of Spectra Pulse, Bantam Spectra’s exclusive magazine distributed at Comic-Con San Diego and select conventions and bookstores (available July 2009)."

Check out the site for submission details and official rules

Deadline: 1/31/09, winners announced April 2009

A Picture Worth Five-Hundred Words ~

Here's a picture to get you started on an entry to Tattoo Highway's current prose/poetry contest.Take a look at it, mull it over, (How do you really feel about whatever it is they're doing to those fish?) and write a 500-word-or-less short-short story, or a 15-lines-or-less poem, to send to them by "sometime in January '09." If you win, in addition to the glory, the first place winner in each category will receive a $30 bookstore gift certificate and publication in their 18th issue. Mark your entry clearly in the subject field of your email: "TH18 Contest," and send it to: submissions(at)tattoohighway(dot)org.

What's The Worst That Could Happen?

If you've been through a particularly harrowing experience, a nightmare road trip where everything that could go wrong did, the Road Junky 2008 Travel Writing Contest -- Hell Trips is the perfect contest for you! They want to hear about your worst journeys, your near-death experiences, where you were beaten up, robbed, extorted, heartbroken or brainwashed. There's no fee to enter this contest from the dark side of life on the road, and the deadline's not until December 31, 2008, so there's plenty of time to figure out the best way to approach and describe for maximum effect. Not only that, there are prizes to be won!

• First Prize: $400
• Second Prize: $200
• Third Prize: $100

Also, if they choose to print your story in an anthology, you will get paid decent royalties. Send your 800 to 1500 word non-fiction story to editor(at)roadjunky(dot)com, and be sure to put "2008 Travel Contest" in the subject. Please go to their website to check out the rest of the contest guidelines.

You Don't Have To Be Jewish ...

... but if you have insight into the Jewish culture, you might want to look into these no-fee contests sponsored by Lilith Magazine. Lilith is accepting submissions to two contests: one for fiction, one for poetry. They are looking for original, unpublished stories (3,000 words or less), with heart, soul, and chutzpah, that illuminate issues in the lives of Jewish women. FIRST PRIZE is $250 and publication of their story in Lilith Magazine. Mail your fiction submission by November 1, 2008 to:

Lilith Magazine, 250 West 57th Street, Suite 2432, New York, NY, 10107.
(They do not accept emailed submissions).

For their poetry contest, they are looking for edgy and exciting work that touches in any way on the Jewish women's experience. Winning poets will win a cash prize, publication in Lilith Magazine, and the possibility of a public reading. You may submit up to 3 poems that do not exceed 100 lines in length. Submit your poems to the same address as the fiction contest, but don't forget to put "Charlotte Newberger Poetry Prize Competition," above the name of the magazine. Poetry entries must be postmarked by November 30, 2008. Please go to their website to check out the rest of their Writer's Guideline's.

"Election Horror" Short Fiction Contest ~

This year's theme for the Annual Apex Halloween Contest is "Election Horror," something I think it's safe to say we can all relate to. (Just the idea of the political arena makes me shudder!) Submit your short story of 1000 words or less (and for which first rights are available), to halloween(at)apexdigest(dot)com by 11:59PM EST, October 15, 2008. Prizes? Yes!

• 1st place winner receives 10 cents a word and publication in Apex Digest Online.
• 2nd place winner receives 5 cents a word and publication in Apex Digest Online.
• 3rd place winner receives a free Apex Book Company hardcover.
• 4th place winner receives a free Apex Book Company trade paperback.

Winning and second place stories will be published on November 4th (election day!) There's no fee to enter this contest, and there's plenty of inspiration no matter where your political affinities lie!

Poetry of the Sacred ~

Do you write poetry that expresses, directly or indirectly, a sense of the holy, or that evokes the sacred? If your work is religious, prophetic or contemplative, why not send a poem to the Poetry of the Sacred Contest 2009? Submit only one previously unpublished poem, written in English, of no more than 100 lines, to Merton Institute, 2117 Payne Street, Louisville, KY, 40206, (or email to vhurst(at)mertoninstitute(dot)org, by December 31, 2008.

• First Prize: $500
• Three Honorable Mention Prizes: $100

Poems will be judged on literary excellence, spiritual tenor, and human authenticity. Winning poems will be published in The Merton Seasonal. Please go to their website for the rest of the contest guidelines, get in touch with your spiritual center and see where it leads you.

"On The Premises" Wants To Read Your Revelation!

Who hasn't believed something that turned out to be false? Web-based fiction magazine On the Premises is giving all of us to whom that's happened a chance to turn our sadder-but-wiser (or maybe happier-and-wiser ... it could happen), stories to our advantage in their current contest: Revelation. They publish winning stories in no-fee contests held every four months. Send them between 1,000 and 5,000 words of fiction in which one or more characters believes something that turns out to be false, by 11:59 pm EST, Tuesday, September 30th, for a chance to be published and win prizes:

• 1st prize: $140
• 2nd prize: $100
• 3rd prize: $70
• Honorable mention: $25 (Between 0 to 3 of these)

They're interested in compelling, well-crafted, creative stories that clearly use the premise, and all the stories they publish are the contest-winning entries. Send your submissions to entries(at)onthepremises(dot)com. If the premises of On the Premises intrigues you, please go to their website and check them out!

Got Bad Poetry? No: Really Really Really Bad Poetry?

This one looks like too much fun! It's the Winning Writers 8th Annual Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. All you need to do is submit a really awful poem to one of those bogus "vanity" poetry contests whose goal is to sell you expensive products and attract you to conferences. (There's a link to "contests to avoid" so you'll be able to find one of those easily enough). After you submit your parody poem to a vanity contest as a joke, submit it to the Wergle Flomp contest. They are looking for poems that are 1) Inspired nonsense, 2) Spectacularly awful, and/or 3) Intended to make fun of "vanity" contests. Prizes:

• First Prize: $1,359 and publication on WinningWriters.com
• Second Prize: $764 and publication on WinningWriters.com
• Third Prize: $338 and publication on WinningWriters.com
• Twelve honorable mentions will receive $72.95 each and publication on WinningWriters.com

Winning writers and honorable mentions will also receive Winning Writers polo shirts. There's no entry fee, and the deadline is April 1, 2009. Even if the contest is not for you, you'll have a blast reading the previous winning poems.