The Iowa Review is holding a writing contest exclusively for military veterans and active duty personnel:
The Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans
This writing contest for U.S. military veterans and active duty personnel is hosted by The Iowa Review and made possible by a gift from the family of Jeff Sharlet (1942–69), a Vietnam veteran and antiwar writer and activist. The contest is open to veterans and active duty personnel writing in any genre and about any subject matter.
Judge: Robert Olen Butler
Prize: $1,000 plus publication in The Iowa Review
Deadline: June 15, 2012
Entry fee: $15
Prize: $1,000 plus publication in The Iowa Review
Deadline: June 15, 2012
Entry fee: $15
Please read all the rules here.
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Publish in Fitzgerald’s old stomping grounds, The Saturday Evening Post:
In its nearly three centuries of existence, The Saturday Evening Post has published short fiction by a who's who of American authors including F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, Louis L'Amour, Sinclair Lewis, Jack London, and Edgar Allan Poe. Now you have the opportunity to join that illustrious line-up by taking part in the 1st Annual Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest. The winning story will be published in the Jan/Feb 2013 edition of the magazine and on our website. The winning writer will receive a payment of $500. Five runners-up will be published on our website and receive payment of $100 each.
Entries must be character- or plot-driven stories in any genre of fiction that falls within the Post's broad range of interest—one guided by the publication's mission: Celebrating America, Past, Present, and Future. "We are looking for stories with universal appeal touching on shared experiences and themes that will resonate with readers from diverse backgrounds and experience," says Joan SerVaas, publisher of The Saturday Evening Post.
Stories must be submitted by the author, previously unpublished (excluding personal websites and blogs), and 1,500-5,000 words in length. No extreme profanity or graphic sex scenes, please. All stories must be submitted via the following form and should be in Microsoft Word format with the author's name, address, telephone number, and email address on the first page. There is a $10 entry fee, which you can pay via credit card. Deadline for entry is July 1, 2012.
In its nearly three centuries of existence, The Saturday Evening Post has published short fiction by a who's who of American authors including F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, Louis L'Amour, Sinclair Lewis, Jack London, and Edgar Allan Poe. Now you have the opportunity to join that illustrious line-up by taking part in the 1st Annual Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest. The winning story will be published in the Jan/Feb 2013 edition of the magazine and on our website. The winning writer will receive a payment of $500. Five runners-up will be published on our website and receive payment of $100 each.
Entries must be character- or plot-driven stories in any genre of fiction that falls within the Post's broad range of interest—one guided by the publication's mission: Celebrating America, Past, Present, and Future. "We are looking for stories with universal appeal touching on shared experiences and themes that will resonate with readers from diverse backgrounds and experience," says Joan SerVaas, publisher of The Saturday Evening Post.
Stories must be submitted by the author, previously unpublished (excluding personal websites and blogs), and 1,500-5,000 words in length. No extreme profanity or graphic sex scenes, please. All stories must be submitted via the following form and should be in Microsoft Word format with the author's name, address, telephone number, and email address on the first page. There is a $10 entry fee, which you can pay via credit card. Deadline for entry is July 1, 2012.
More information: http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/fiction-contest
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Or, if Hemingway is more your thing, try this:
$2,500 Awaits Winners of Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition
Online submissions link: http://www.shortstorycompetition.com/Osubmissions.php
Writers of short fiction are encouraged to enter the 2012 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. The competition has a thirty-one year history of literary excellence, and its organizers are dedicated to enthusiastically supporting the efforts and talent of emerging writers of short fiction whose voices have yet to be heard.
Lorian Hemingway, granddaughter of Nobel laureate Ernest Hemingway, is the author of three critically acclaimed books: Walking into the River, Walk on Water, and A World Turned Over. Ms. Hemingway is the competition's final judge.
Prizes and Publication:
The first-place winner will receive $1,500 and publication of his or her winning story in Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts. The second - and third-place winners will receive $500 each. Honorable mentions will also be awarded to entrants whose work demonstrates promise.
Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts was founded by editor-in-chief Pamela Uschuk, winner of the 2010 American Book Award for her book Crazy Love: New Poems, and by poet William Pitt Root, Guggenheim Fellow and NEA recipient. The journal contains some of the finest contemporary fiction and poetry in print, and the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition is both proud and grateful to be associated with such a reputable publication.
Eligibility requirements for our 2012 competition are as follows:
What to submit:
* Stories must be original unpublished fiction, typed and double-spaced, and may not exceed 3,500 words in length. We have extended our word limit for the first time in thirty years to 3,500 words rather than 3,000. There are no theme or genre restrictions. Copyright remains property of the author.
Who may submit:
* The literary competition is open to all U.S. and international writers whose fiction has not appeared in a nationally distributed publication with a circulation of 5,000 or more. Writers who have been published by an online magazine or who have self-published will be considered on an individual basis.
Submission requirements:
* Submissions may be sent via regular mail or submitted online. Please visit our online submissions page for complete instructions regarding online submissions. Writers may submit multiple entries, but each must be accompanied by an entry fee and separate cover sheet. We do accept simultaneous submissions; however, the writer must notify us if a story is accepted for publication or wins an award prior to our July announcements. No entry confirmation will be given unless requested. No SASE is required.
* The author's name should not appear on the story. Our entrants are judged anonymously. Each story must be accompanied by a separate cover sheet with the writer's name, complete mailing address, e-mail address, phone number, the title of the piece, and the word count. Manuscripts will not be returned. These requirements apply for online submissions as well.
Deadlines and Entry Fees:
* The entry fee is $15 for each story postmarked by May 1, 2012. The late entry fee is $20 for each story postmarked by May 15, 2012. We encourage you to enter by May 1 if at all possible, but please know that your story will still be accepted if you meet the later deadline. Entries postmarked after May 15, 2012 will not be accepted. Entries submitted online after May 15, 2012 will not be accepted. Writers may submit for the 2013 competition beginning May 16, 2012.
How to pay your entry fee:
* Entry fees submitted by mail with their accompanying stories may be paid -- in U.S. funds -- via a personal check, cashier's check, or money order. Please make checks payable to LHSSC or The Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. Entry fees for online submissions may be paid with PayPal.
Announcement of Winners and Honorable Mentions:
Winners of our 2012 competition will be announced at the end of July 2012 in Key West, Florida, and posted on our website soon afterward. Only the first-place entrant will be notified personally. All entrants will receive a letter from Lorian Hemingway and a list of winners, either via regular mail or e-mail, by October 1, 2012. All manuscripts and their accompanying entry fees should be sent to The Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, P.O. Box 993, Key West, FL 33041 or submitted online. For more information, please explore our website or e-mail: shortstorykw@gmail.com
Deadlines and Entry Fees:
* The entry fee is $15 for each story postmarked by May 1, 2012. The late entry fee is $20 for each story postmarked by May 15, 2012. We encourage you to enter by May 1 if at all possible, but please know that your story will still be accepted if you meet the later deadline. Entries postmarked after May 15, 2012 will not be accepted. Entries submitted online after May 15, 2012 will not be accepted. Writers may submit for the 2013 competition beginning May 16, 2012.
How to pay your entry fee:
* Entry fees submitted by mail with their accompanying stories may be paid -- in U.S. funds -- via a personal check, cashier's check, or money order. Please make checks payable to LHSSC or The Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. Entry fees for online submissions may be paid with PayPal.
Announcement of Winners and Honorable Mentions:
Winners of our 2012 competition will be announced at the end of July 2012 in Key West, Florida, and posted on our website soon afterward. Only the first-place entrant will be notified personally. All entrants will receive a letter from Lorian Hemingway and a list of winners, either via regular mail or e-mail, by October 1, 2012. All manuscripts and their accompanying entry fees should be sent to The Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, P.O. Box 993, Key West, FL 33041 or submitted online. For more information, please explore our website or e-mail: shortstorykw@gmail.com
