Posts Tagged Flash fiction
Emerald Writing Workshops Competitions 2012
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions on August 18, 2011
Emerald Writing Workshops 2012 Competition Calendar is out now!
These competitions are entering their third year with an increased prize pot of £100 per competition – First £65, second £20, third £15 plus three runners-up each receive a book of short stories. Entry is only £1.80 (overseas entrants can pay via PayPal) and I think that’s really good value!
All the competitions are for a 500 word piece of flash fiction and the 2012 themes are as follows:
- Story set on a train – closes 28/02/12
- Story including the words ‘Nobody will ever know’ – closes 31/5/12
- Story about anything you like – closes 31/8/12
- Story on the theme ‘Trapped’ – closes 30/11/12
Plus, if you enter any of the above (or have entered any of the 2010/2011 comps) then you can submit a Four Sentence Story. This is free to enter and 5 winners will each receive £20.
Entries are by post only but entries from different people or for more than one competition can all go in the same envelope.
Full details of how to enter are here along with winning entries from previous competitions.
Good Luck!
Emerald Writing Workshops – Flash Fiction Competitions
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Successes, Writing on March 17, 2011
It was my birthday on Sunday and the day was made even more special by receiving an email from Eddie Walsh of Emerald Writing Workshops to let me know that I was a runner-up in his Airport themed 500 word short story competition. A book of crime short stories is on its way to me – an unexpected ‘extra’ birthday present!
The winner was Tracy Fells from West Sussex. Her story was set around the baggage reclaim carousel and you can read it here. Congratulations Tracy!
Eddie Walsh is an Irishman living in Nottingham. He mainly writes fillers and letters but has recently become interested in fiction writing. In his competitions he is aiming to encourage the hobby writer and believes even getting on a shortlist stops a writer from giving up. He provides critiques of entries whenever he can, as writers rarely receive independent feedback.
Eddie runs a 500 word story competition every three months with a £75 prize fund for each one (£50 first prize, £15 second prize, £10 third prize plus books for 3 runners-up). There are 3 competitions currently open to submissions:
- First 500 words of a novel – closes May 31 2011
- 500 words on an open theme – closes August 31 2011
- 500 word ‘Riches to Rags’ story – closes November 30 2011
The entry fee is 5 second class stamps (or a cheque to that value). There are discounts for multiple entries into the same competition. Entries are acknowledged on receipt and periodically the site is updated with the number of stories received for each of the competitions.
Eddie is also currently running a 4-sentence competition which is free to enter and has a £75 prize fund to be divided equally between the 3 best entries. However, entries will only be accepted from people who have previously entered one of the 500 word competitions.
So if you’re looking for a competition with a friendly feel try Emerald Writing Workshops . And remember that the cost of second class stamps will be going up in April, so buy them now to use for your entry fee or if you intend paying by cheque, get your entries in before the price increase takes effect.
Markets for 500 Word Stories
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions on January 31, 2011
Not got much time for writing? Fancy trying something short and sharp? Have a look at these competitions for 500
word stories. But beware, just because they’re short it doesn’t mean they’re easy. It’s very difficult to get a beginning, middle and end, plus a bit of character development into 500 words.
- The Flash 500 Competition is a quarterly competition with an open theme, the next closing date is the 31st March and there is the option of receiving a critique on your story. Entry fee is £5 and there is a £250 first prize plus publication in Words with Jam
- Emerald Writing Workshops also run a quarterly competition with the next closing date being 28th February. The theme varies and the for the current competition the story must be set in an airport. Previous winning entries plus the judge’s comments are available on the website. Entry fee is 5 second class stamps for a total prize fund of £75.
- Spilling Ink Review have a flash fiction competition for stories up to 500 words in length. The closing date is 1st April 2011 and it is an open theme. Prizes are £250, £125 and £50 plus a free copy of their annual print anthology. Entry fee is £5
But if they all sound like too much hard work then take the easy option and enter my free prize draw instead.
Good Luck!
Sally Jenkins 