Writing contests are a great way to break into the industry, gain access to opportunities you might not otherwise have, and even earn some cash! Are you a writer looking to make money from writing contests? Then you’ve come to the right place! Here’s a list of writing contests that offer cash prizes — and not just screenwriting contests; I also include prose and poetry contests! Whether it’s a collection of poetry or literary fiction, there’s a creative writing contest with a cash prize for just about everyone.
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As always, check the latest entry guidelines before submitting your entry to an annual competition, as rules, categories, and statutes regarding concurrent submissions change often.
The Austin Film Festival
The Austin Film Festival is one of the biggest screenplay competitions in the world! Austin awards several awards each year in different screenplay categories, including Feature Films, Short Films, TV Movies, Digital Series, Podcast Scripts, Play Scripts, and a Pitch Contest. Cash prizes include $5,000 for Fiction and Comedy Feature Film winners, $2,500 for Horror and Sci-Fi Feature Film winners, and a cash prize of $1,000 for the winner. of a short film and all the winners of the television film category.
Participation in the Austin contest comes with other benefits, including free reader feedback, airfare and hotel reimbursement for winners, and access to exclusive panels, workshops and discussions.
Screen Craft
Screen Craft has an impressive array of contests, including Animation, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, TV Pilots, and Action. Screen Craft’s website describes its contests as “career-building contests” and aims to find talented writers to match them with managers, agents, and producers. Many of their contests offer prizes of $500 or $1000. In the past, they have held a feature film competition with a cash prize of $10,000 for the first place winner. They run different contests throughout the year, so be sure to check which contests are currently open and which will be soon!
Final Draft Big Break
Final Draft Big Break is an exciting annual writing contest with tons of prizes! Grand prize winners not only receive a cash prize of $10,000, but also other prizes such as a trip to Hollywood, an iPad, a laptop, professional coaching, and more! Eleven feature film and TV series winners will share more than $100,000 in cash and prizes.
Fiction and non-fiction writing contest with cash prizes
Inkitt describes itself as “the world’s first reader-powered publisher” and hosts a monthly fiction contest with a $300 cash prize for novels of 10,000 words or more. Contest winners are chosen based on reader engagement. In addition to the cash prize, fiction writers receive a competition announcement for their book on Inkitt’s social media channels. The competition is open to all genres of fiction (except poetry and fanfiction).
Inkitt’s website also features other writing contests of various categories with cash prizes. It is worth investigating!
Young Lions Fiction Award
The New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award offers a cash prize of $10,000 to a young writer (person under the age of 35) for their novel or collection of short stories. This award aims to celebrate young authors and help them start and continue their careers.
Drue Heinz Literature Prize
The University of Pittsburgh Press is offering writers the opportunity to win $15,000 for their collection of short stories. In addition to the cash prize, winners are also published by the University of Pittsburgh Press and receive assistance in promoting their book nationwide!
Tufts Poetry Awards
The Tufts poetry award, a poetry competition organized by Claremont Graduate University, offers two of the most prestigious prizes a poet can receive: the first is the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, which recognizes the first book published by a poet and is endowed with a cash prize of $10,000; the second is the famous Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, endowed with 100,000 dollars, which rewards a book published by a poet during his career.
Montreal International Poetry Prize
The Montreal International Poetry Prize aims to encourage the creation of original poetry while striving to build an international readership. While many poetry contests only consider collections of poetry, this poetry contest stands out by asking participants to submit only one poem! With a cash prize of CAD 20,000 awarded to a poet for a single poem of 40 lines or less, this contest is no