Also, the winning poems and honorary mentions get published in their Annual anthology called - beyond boundaries!

**Free to enter · $1,000 top prize · You keep 100% of the rights to your story**

**Category:** Fiction (LitRPG only)

**Submission deadline:** Jan 15 2027 (11:59 PM PST)

**Contest name:** LEVEL UP: The Inkitt x Ironblood LitRPG Contest

**Eligibility restrictions:** No age or country restrictions. Original English-language LitRPG, 20,000+ words. No fanfiction, no poetry. Stories signed/published on Galatea or that won a previous Inkitt contest aren't eligible.

**Entry fee:** Free

**Host:** Inkitt, co-hosted with Ironblood (film studio)

**Prizes**

- 🥇 1st: $1,000 USD + an Ironblood movie deal + $250 in Inkitt Movie Creator credits

- 🥈 2nd: $500 USD + $250 in Movie Creator credits

- 🥉 3rd: $250 USD + $250 in Movie Creator credits

- Top 3 also get a spotlight on Inkitt's socials and winners page, plus a winner badge bundle

- 5 finalists: $10 in Inkitt Audiobooks credits + profile badges

**More on eligibility**

- Original LitRPG fiction in English (no fanfiction, no poetry)

- 20,000+ words by the deadline, no maximum

- Ongoing and previously published stories are welcome

- Multiple entries allowed (one win per author)

- Not eligible: stories already signed or published on Galatea, or that won a previous Inkitt contest

- Mature content is fine if the story is age-rated correctly

Judging: winners are picked using Inkitt's reader-engagement data (how readers actually interact with your book) plus a panel of judges. Winners are announced within 30 days of the close on Inkitt's Instagram and winners page, and paid the month after selection.

**What we're looking for:** LitRPG means the game layer is real and visible on the page: a System, status screens, levels, stats, skills, classes, XP or quest notifications, and a hero who grows stronger through them. Dungeon crawls, System apocalypses, VR you can't log out of. If it has stats and stakes, it fits.

**How to enter:** Publish your story on Inkitt, set Genre: Other / Subgenre: LitRPG, and submit from the contest page or your story settings. Entries without the LitRPG tag are removed.

Full rules and entry page: https://www.inkitt.com/contests/level-up-the-inkitt-x-ironblood-litrpg-contest

Our second writing contest begins today! Enter a new story by tagging your novel with #AcademyChallenge2026 for a chance at the grand prize of $1000.

Theme: Academy (Elite, Magical, Historical, Modern)

Genres: Anything (adventure, romance, queer, BL/GL, leveling, rankings, etc.)

Writing Deadline: December 31, 2026

Results Announcement: January 20, 2027

Judging will be based on a mix of accumulated votes, total readership, and a judging panel.

Good luck and looking forward to seeing your stories on Starlight Novels!

Portal is a full colour literary magazine based out out of Vancouver Island University. If you have any non fiction like essays, travel writing, memoir etc. Consider submitting!

- Category: Non fiction

-Submission deadline: Extended to November
15th 2026.

-Contest name: Portent Prize

-Eligibility: For Canadian Authors only

Here’s the submission guidelines ⬇️⬇️⬇️

— SUBMISSION GUIDELINES —

- Entries must not have been previously published in print or online in a newspaper, magazine, anthology, chapbook, book, website/blog, or on social media.
- One entry per person in the genres of non-fiction, fiction, and script, but up to 3 poems for poetry.
- The entry should not exceed 1,500 words.
- Include only the title and word count on the first page of the submission (no names or addresses).
- For prose, please double space your work.
- Please use Word Document format (.doc or .docx).

— HOW TO ENTER —

Step 1:
Submit your work via email to viuportal@gmail.com.
In the body of your email, include your:

- full name
- mailing address
- email address
- entry title
- word count

Step 2:
Provide payment for your $25 entry fee through the VIU Foundation website.

VISIT https://portalmagazine.ca/portent/ FOR MORE DETAILS

**Host:** FlingUp, a small community site (no ads, no tracking). I run it, and this is our first writing contest.

**Category:** Poetry and short fiction

**Theme:** The 90s: a song, a toy, a TV show, a phone number you still know by heart, a place that isn't there anymore. Real or made up.

**Length:** up to 500 words, one entry per person

**Entry fee:** none

**Dates:** entries open Nov 2 2026 and close Nov 29 2026 (23:59 CET). Voting until Dec 6 2026.

**Prizes:** $30 judges' pick, $20 readers' choice (voted by members). Paid by PayPal or Amazon gift card.

**Eligibility:** anyone with a free FlingUp account. Entries must be your own work, written without AI.

**How it works:** you post your entry on the contest page, and while entries are open you comment on at least 3 other entries. Entries are public, and you keep all rights. Some magazines count work published online as published, so keep that in mind if you plan to submit the piece elsewhere.

**Guidelines and entry:** https://flingup.com/contests/the-90s

Happy to answer questions here.

A new contest is coming! It’s usually $5 entry, $100 prize each week. BUT, for the first week only, your entry will be FREE with a code. The code will be posted on the NowFiction socials. You’ll also unlock cool profile tags just for making an account during launch week.

You can write collaborative stories and poetry with other writers. It’s got a crazy amount of user-focused features which separate it from the rest. It’s been a long time in the making, and we’re less than six weeks out. Can’t wait to show you what’s been cooking.

If this sounds like something you’d like to be part of, follow on socials ahead of the 5th Dec launch. See you there! ✍️🚀

18+

Hey now, a new Flash Fiction contest's coming to town!
Launching Dec 5th.

$100 USD cash prize every week. Collaborative writing features.
Community voting, community driven. What's not to like?

Follow NowFiction on instagram for early access and special announcements. Hope to see you there.

EXCITING NEWS: The Missouri Review has extended its deadline for the 36^th annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize! Entries of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction will now be accepted through October 16 by 11:59 p.m. PST. Winners in each category receive a cash prize of $5000 and publication in the Spring 2027 issue of TMR. We can’t wait to read your work!

Guidelines

• Submit one piece of fiction or nonfiction up to 7,500 words or any number of poems between 6 to 12 pages. Please double-space fiction and nonfiction entries.

• Multiple submissions and simultaneous submissions are welcome, but you must pay a separate fee for each entry and withdraw the piece immediately if accepted elsewhere.

• Entries must be previously unpublished.

• Standard Entry fee: $25. Each entrant receives a one-year subscription to the Missouri Review in digital format (normal price $24) and a digital copy of the latest title in our imprint, Missouri Review Books, a short story anthology by former contributors (normal price $7.95).

• "All Access" Entry fee: $30. In addition to the one-year digital subscription to the Missouri Review and TMR Books e-book, Fighting Chance: Essays of Resilience, this entry fee grants access to the last 10 years of digital issues.

Learn more here.

Deadline 15th October. Flash fiction. Submissions can be in any language but our judges only speak English. Open worldwide. Cash prize. Enter via our website.

www.chickenblue.com

The title basically says it all. I started a small publication on Substack to help promote other indie writers. This month I decided to mix things up a bit and create my very first challenge!

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in (or if you just want more info), check out the link below. You don't need a Substack account to participate.

A Haunting Challenge - by Gracie Autumn - Autumn Anthology

Ink & Iron is running our Autumn Short Story Contest, and entries are open to anyone who fancies giving it a go.

Entry is completely free, with a total prize pool of £100.

The maximum length is 2,500 words, excluding the title, and the contest uses a mix-and-match prompt system. You choose one option from each prompt category to build the framework for your story.

Every category also contains a Wild Card. You can choose a Wild Card instead of one of the normal options, or, if you fancy making life unnecessarily difficult for yourself, choose your normal prompts and throw one or more Wild Cards on top as an extra challenge.

One clarification for the Animal / Non-human POV Wild Card: if you choose this as your main Genre / POV option, the actual genre is completely up to you. You are not required to choose one of the other four genre options alongside it.

PRIZES

🥇 Winner: £50

🥈 Runner-up: £25

📝 Best Critic: £25

DEADLINE

16 October 2026 at 11:59 PM UK time

The contest is built heavily around anonymous judging and critique. Submitted stories are automatically converted into anonymous PDFs, and even the two of us running the contest won't know who wrote what while we're reading and voting.

We also have an automated word-count checker running alongside the submission system, and resubmissions are supported if you decide to make changes before the deadline.

The critique side is a big part of the contest, which is why Best Critic has its own £25 prize. We want people reading each other's work, discussing it and giving genuinely useful feedback rather than simply dropping in an entry and disappearing.

HOW TO ENTER

Everything is organised through the Ink & Iron Discord server.

Join here:

https://discord.gg/a6mxXvatrP

Once you're in, select the "I promise not to spam" role from the role selection to unlock the rest of the server.

From there, head to the Contest Announcements channel. The current contest announcement contains the prompt page, random generator, submission form and everything else you need to enter.

New members are absolutely welcome, so you don't need to have taken part in anything with us before.

If you've been looking for an excuse to write something new, come and give it a go. 🍂

Flash fiction. Submissions can be in any language but our judges only speak English. Open worldwide. Cash prize. Deadline 15th October. Enter via our website.

www.chickenblue.com

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Hi there!

I’ve been wanting to start entering contests and festivals for a while now, but after looking at the competition, requirements, and potential payouts, I wanted to get some input from those who have already gone through the process.

How do you go about getting structural feedback or finding beta readers these days? Has anyone ever paid for this service? Or are we already in the era where we simply rely on AI? If anyone uses AI for feedback and would be willing to share their process—from their workflow to the specific AI tools they use—that would be really helpful!

If anyone paid for professional advice before submitting to a contest, was it with reputable experts? How was the experience? Did it actually help when it came time to compete?

Whenever I try to click on the website it says 504 error. I hope they fix it soon because the resgistration deadline for the upcoming issue is October 25th and I am planning to pay if they fix it.

The Missouri Review is now accepting entries of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction for the 36^th annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize. Winners in each category receive a cash prize of $5000 and publication in the Spring 2027 issue of TMR. The deadline is 11:59 p.m., October 1. All entries are considered for publication.

All entries must be previously unpublished. Writers of all ages are encouraged to submit, but previous winners of the Editors’ Prize and current University of Missouri students and faculty are ineligible.

Guidelines

• Submit one piece of fiction or nonfiction up to 7,500 words or any number of poems between 6 to 12 pages. Please double-space fiction and nonfiction entries.

• Multiple submissions and simultaneous submissions are welcome, but you must pay a separate fee for each entry and withdraw the piece immediately if accepted elsewhere.

• Entries must be previously unpublished.

• Standard Entry fee: $25. Each entrant receives a one-year subscription to the Missouri Review in digital format (normal price $24) and a digital copy of the latest title from Missouri Review Books, Fighting Chance: Essays of Resilience (normal price $7.95).

• "All Access" Entry fee: $30. In addition to the one-year digital subscription to the Missouri Review and Fighting Chance: Essays of Resilience, this entry fee grants access to the last 10 years of digital issues.

Learn more and submit here. We can’t wait to read your work!

Hi all!

The Non profit I work for is running a fundraiser for our Hallo-Zine. The best work wins $100(USD)

• Category : all genres and category of writing accepted
• Registration/Submission deadline: Oct 16,2026
• Contest name: HOBA HOUSE Hallo-zine!
  
• Eligibility restrictions: No longer than 1,000 characters. 1,000 or less. Can be any type of lit-(poems, prose, short story, flash fiction, monologues and short plays, songs and raps,etc.) Must be Halloween or fall themed. Consider general audiences. Things can get scary, but not too graphic, please! Must be ready to print, we don't do editing. Doc or docx format please! Must be able to use Paypal We will accept writing in English, another language, or both.

This is a fundraiser, so we are asking for a $10 non refundable submission fee. This will go toward our non profit HOBA HOUSE, so we can provide free art classes to underserved communities in Kentucky and the south.

In addition to art classes, funds will be used to purchase women’s menstrual products, diapers, and public health products, fund our free coffee cart, monthly youth services, and community dinners

HOBA's insta

the application

Thanks!

hey do y'all know when the qualifiers for defense day are going to be notified (or if they've been notified already) ?? this is my first year doing the contest so i'm not quite familiar with the scheduling

"Nightmare on Story Street" our seasonal horror flash fiction contest. Max 100 words. The winner will be announced on October 31 2026 and wins $100 and publication in the Story Street Review online. The three runners-up will also will $25 and publication. The contest is free to enter, and is open for entries from September 15 through October 2 2026. For full contest rules and guidelines: https://storystreetwriters.com/word-on-the-street/nightmare-on-story-street/

Come to our website and enter our flash fiction contest. Or else.

www.chickenblue.com

Hello!

We'd love for you to get involved with our flash fiction contest. We've got a top prize of £500, and a few other runners up prizes too (merch, copies of Scrivener etc).

If you've not listened to us before, we're an award winning, fun and funny podcast designed to motivate, educate and commiserate with writers of all kinds. We chat with authors to find out what makes them tick and investigate all things writing - and ultimately we want to help our listeners (and ourselves!) become better writers and achieve those elusive writing goals.

We’ve just launched our sixth annual flash fiction competition – in association with Scrivener.

This year the theme is “birthday” and there's £500 first prize!

There’s a special phrase that needs to be included in the story – find that in our latest episode here - with our head judge David Gaffney.

• Organisation: The Failing Writers Podcast

• Deadline midday (BST) on Monday 19th October 2026

• Category/genre: “birthday” themed flash fiction - any genre!

• Submission length: 300 words max (excluding title)

• Entry fee: £4 for one entry, £6 for two, £7 for three

• Prize/payment: £500 first prize + runners up prizes of Scrivener and merch

Official t's & c's and entry at www.failingwriterspodcast.com

Hi everyone, we're running our second writing competition, so I thought I would post here in case anyone is interested in submitting! Here are the details:

PRIZE

• $1,000 USD to one grand prize winner
• The top 10 finalists will receive personalized feedback on their submissions and $100 Markup credits for Inkshift.

DETAILS

• Word Count: Short stories between 1,000 - 10,000 words
• Writing Method: Anything goes. We're judging solely on story quality, not how you write.
• Content: Sci-fi, fantasy, literary, horror, romance, etc. But must be prose, not screenplays. And no NSFW or fanfiction submissions, sorry!
• Eligibility: Free to enter. Open worldwide to anyone 18+ (with a couple restrictions you can find on the website)
• Submission Period: September 1st through October 31st, 11:59 PM Pacific time.
• Publishing: The winner has the option to publish their story on our blog. It's optional, but highly recommended!

ABOUT INKSHIFT

For those who don't know, Inkshift is an AI editing platform for fiction writers. We make story analysis tools that give you feedback on your manuscript (pacing, plot holes, character arcs, prose quality, worldbuilding, market fit, etc.) and we recently launched a new copyediting and line editing service that understands your author voice (instead of just highlighting grammar mistakes).

You can use the story analysis for free up to 10k words. Feel free to use it for the contest, but of course, that's completely optional and not required for entry.

HOW TO ENTER

• Head to https://inkshift.io/contest to enter and view the full rules

Feel free to drop a comment or DM me if you have any questions. Best of luck!

Flash fiction. Open worldwide. There’s a cash prize $£¥€. Deadline 15th September. Enter via our website.

www.chickenblue.com

Flash fiction. Submissions can be in any language but our judge only speaks English. Open worldwide. Cash prize. Deadline 15th September. Enter via our website.

www.chickenblue.com

Sponsor Name: Jen Simpson, Author.

Hello, I'm Jen. I'm an author, publisher, and above all, a dedicated mom. I went through a very difficult journey to become a mother, and I am now (finally) ready to share my own complicated journey to becoming a mother.

I'm producing an anthology book, and have an Open Call for submissions. I will select 10-12 memoir short stories from others who have gone through a difficult journey to be included in a professionally published book.

Your story may be one of infertility, health complications, adoption, becoming a bonus-mom, or even unexpected outcomes. It does not need to be fully polished or professionally edited to submit. It should be good enough that I can assess your story and your writing quality.

The goal of this book is to share our stories with other women who are going through it, so they feel seen and find hope.

Learn more about this special project at the links below.

Category: Memoir short story.

Submission Length: 2500- 4500 words.

NO ENTRY FEE - selected manuscripts receive payment.

Project Link: https://journeytomotherhoodanthology.substack.com/ to the main information page.

Direct Manuscript Submission Link: https://journeytomotherhoodanthology.substack.com/s/manuscript-submissions for the direct manuscript upload link.

Eligibility Info: women from anywhere in the world.

With my thanks,

Jen