Web sites that list writers' contests, markets and grants

Instead of having to search for individual web sites for contests, here are some sites that compile them for you:

• Poets and Writers Submission Calendar - a month by month calendar that lists contests, fellowships and awards

• Poets and Writers' Writing Contests, Grants and Awards database - includes details about creative writing contests—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, and more—published in Poets and Writers Magazine. The magazine promises: "We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it. Ours is the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere."

• It's worth noting separately that the Poets and Writers' database lets you search by genre. For instance, here is the link for listings of Upcoming Fiction Contests.

• Less useful is the writersmarket.com's Contest and Awards listing, which offers 70+ screens of alphabetically listed contests, seemingly without any selective process. (This is the free version; perhaps a subscription to WM offers search capabilities?). [Note: if this isn't a permalink, you can link to it from the WM Paid Services page. According to the site, Paid Services puzzlingly includes services for writers "for which they do not get paid"; I think they mean services for which they must pay.]

Markets for short non-fiction

I made this list of non-fiction markets for anyone who might benefit from it—but keep in mind it's mostly here so I won't misplace it! Markets that specifically publish flash or short non-fiction were hard to find, which is why I included the Creative Nonfiction list of publications from Poets and Writers; perhaps hyperlinking through it will lead to other markets.

Brevity - Check guidelines page for submissions calendar; usually don't accept in summer months.

Conclave - Publishes personal essays 750-1,000 words.

flashquake - Says it publishes flash fiction and non-fiction.

Poets and Writers - Creative Nonfiction list - A list of ALL literary journals in their catalog that print non-fiction, regardless of length. (But I thought the list was useful, so I'm including here anyway).

The Sun Magazine - Readers Write feature - No word limit given on guidelines page, but they normally run length of two columns or less. They list a new topic to write about each month, which Sun readers are to write about.

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Here are some anthologies devoted to short nonfiction (but, given the dates of publication, some of the markets/pubs are obviously no longer going to be valid):

• In Brief: Short Takes on the Personal (1999!)
• In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction (1996!)
• Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary Nonfiction (2005)

Markets for flash fiction

At the flash fiction seminar I went to last Saturday, which was part of the Conversations and Connections conference in D.C., the panelists mentioned the following markets for flash fiction. (I've looked up all the links, so you won't have to!):

Alice Blue

Barrelhouse

Dogzplot

elima

Eyeshot

FRiGG

Hobart

Keyhole Magazine

Lamination Colony

mud luscious

No Posit

Noo Journal

One Story

Opium

Pank Magazine

Pequin

Pindeldyboz

Publishing Genius Press

Quick Fiction

SmokeLong

StoryQuarterly

Vestal Review

Wigleaf

[Note: These are current as of April 12, 2009. I am not planning to update the list anytime soon, but let me know if you find a dead link and I'll update or eliminate the listings, as needed. Also, I have listed these in alphabetical order; the panelists shouted out the titles as they thought of them; the list does not differentiate according to audience, genre, reputation, etc.]

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Someone at the seminar also mentioned Duotrope as a search engine useful to writers. However, I checked the Duotrope list of markets for short fiction, and did not see some of the publications listed above, so use it as an additional but not exhaustive source for flash fiction markets.

Literary publications, contests and submissions guidelines available on the Web

In a continued effort to plump up the "Writers' Tools" section of this blog (and for my own use, so I'll have one place to put all these links), here is a list of useful and FREE (non-subscription) web sites for writers yearning to be published in literary journals:

• Literary Magazines :The NewPages Complete List - an A to Z listing of literary magazines, online and print, with links to their web pages. [Note: Newpages.com also has links to Writing Contests and other useful stuff, so check it out.]

• Poets & Writers Literary Magazines  - presents info in a useful column format, so you can see right away which journals accept electronic and simultaneous submissions, and what their reading periods are. Offers a search and a browse feature, as well.

• O. Henry Prize Stories has lists of journals from which it has drawn stories over the years arranged by frequency. It also offers a list of alphabetical Index of Literary Magazines, which gives contact info and web site only for each. The list appears selective (as in journals from whose works they take submissions for the O. Henry Prize) rather than comprehensive.

• The Best American Short Stories anthologies does not seem to have a similarly helpful web site; their web site offers only the barest of details. However, if you look at a paper copy of the most recent anthology, it lists American and Canadian magazines that print short stories.

• Finally, before entering a literary contest, you might want to check it out against the Writer Beware web page: Warnings About Literary Fraud and Other Schemes, Scams, and Pitfalls That Target Writers.